Here We Go Again!

            Yes, I know its been done many times by many bloggers and you may even be one of them.  I know I've covered the topic of following more than once and now I'm going to do it one more time.  I just want to clarify where I stand on the issue.

            On Monday I alluded to a fine post by Jeffrey Beesler on the topic of following as in doing something because others were doing it.   The comments on this older post of Jeffrey's reopened and I noticed this comment from Michele Gregory of Beautiful Chaos:

i'm a crowd follower too, but am trying to change that. i'm cheating at this - doing all my posts ahead of time, and i know i can't get to every blog. i can barely get to the blogs i follow now. on top of that, it feels fake to follow a blogger just to get a blogger to follow me. i should probably do a post about that. or maybe not.   (I've added the underlining to emphasize my topic for today.)

         I asked Michele if I could quote her in this post.  She responded with this clarification:  

 no problem. it's the topic that i think of most when i hit the follower button. i want to be genuine in all my interactions with people and though i follow because i think a blogger has said something that resonates with me (as in i don't just hit the button to get someone to my blog), i know my chances of getting back to that blog to comment or read is iffy at best. i have a few i always read no matter what, some that interest me sometimes, and others i wonder if i should stop following because now i'm not interested and my time is limited.



on the other side, i've met some really great bloggers because i followed them or they followed me - you, Kristie Cook, Lisa Yarde, Alex Cavanaugh and others. i might have missed those friendships if i hadn't followed their blogs. i don't think there are any easy answers. and i do want people to follow me because i try to be encouraging, etc. it's not so much about promoting my books as it is to give readers a lift. i know that i have to follow and comment to get people to come so they'll read those posts.


not sure if any of that makes sense, but there you go. and you can quote this response too if you'd like.

           What Michele's said does make sense and I want to thank Michele for allowing me to quote her because she expresses concerns that many of us think about.   In the list below I want to try to clarify my personal opinion, philosophy, rule, or whatever you'd call it concerning the multiple definitions of "following"

1.     I want to have a large "following", that is number of followers to my blog.  With this comes the understanding that not all of the followers will always be readers.  The numbers are mostly for show, but also for that possibility that a non-regular reader might occasionally come back to check out what's happening on my blog.   A large following looks good to most people (including agents or any professionals wanting to see something about my platform).

2.     I believe in the reciprocation of the follow.  Whenever I can I will follow back anyone who follows my blog.   It always helps if when someone follows my blog, they let me know in a comment so it is obvious to me.   Silently following me does not guarantee a follow back.   I want to be told.

3.     There is no limit for me as to the number of blogs I will follow, but no matter if I'm following 200 or 20,000 blogs, I will not be "following" the majority of these in the sense of reading them on a regular basis.  I will prioritize according to the commenters on my blog first, and then the ones that happen to catch my interest.

4.   If the follow has to do with reciprocation then I don't think there is anything fake about it.  I believe it is a ritualistic blog act that is often found associated with blogfests and "follow days".   When most of us hit the follow button I think we know that there is no guarantee of a close, lasting, on-going relationship.  It can develop, but it is something that relies on mutual interests and goals.

5.   I will unfollow only if a blogger is rude, crude, or is in such extreme opposition to my values that it might hurt my reputation if anyone knew I was following that blog.   That has happened very few times.

6.   I tend to be wary of those bloggers who invite me to follow their blogs as though they are in some way so special that they never have to visit or follow anyone else's blogs.  Unless the content of that blog is so utterly amazing that I am compelled to stay, I will unfollow them eventually if I have happened to follow from their original invitation.  Those bloggers do strike me as fake and not at all interested in any mutually beneficial relationships.

7.  I only hit the follower button if I feel that there might be a possibility of some future blogging relationship, even if it seems remote at the time.  There have been blogs that I have followed that initially seemed of little interest to me, but there was something there that spoke to the future.  The act of following may amount to nothing in the long run or it might eventually blossom into something special in the future.  It's like a business adding people to a mailing list.  Not everyone will become a customer, but maybe someday they will.


            Those are some of my rules about following.  The main thing is to distinguish between the ceremonial ritual of following as in collecting numbers of little portraits, the building of an actual list of potential blogs to visit, and the literal act of following as in reading blog posts.   I wish Blogger had come up with a different term than "followers".

           On Monday I passed 700 followers and currently the sign-ups for A to Z are most certainly destined to go past the 600 mark.  That's a lot of blogs that neither you nor I will ever be able to visit on a daily basis.  I don't think anyone has been fooled into thinking otherwise.   Just like the local library has more books than I'll ever be able to read in a lifetime--but it's nice to know that they're all available just in case there happens to be one I'm looking for.

            Have fun blogging.   And enjoy the treasure hunt.
            What are your blogging rules?   Are there any of mine that are still unclear or that you disagree with?

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Does the Blog Math Matter?

           I'm not here to argue the importance of having a good basic knowledge of mathematics.  Most of us would agree that learning basic math skills is pretty important to anyone trying to get by and that the subject of mathematics is an essential course for all students in school.   Today I want to look at the more specific math as it applies to our blogging activity--that is the quantitative mathematics of amassing followers. My question is this:

Does the math of amassing more followers to your blog really matter?

        This is a topic that has been addressed in one way or another on many other blogs and has been one that I too have explored.  It is something that remains of interest to me and indeed was the catalyst the sparked the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge, which if you are not aware is to celebrate this blog having reached 200 followers by April 1.  Many blogs commonly make some kind of hoopla over reaching some milestone number of followers.  Why does it matter?

           Some bloggers will argue that they don't really care how many followers they have. They might insist that they blog for themselves and they doubt whether anybody else really cares about their blog.  This doesn't make sense to me.  If nobody is going to read a blog, or the writer claims that they don't really want anybody to read it, then what is the point of writing it?  I think this a blogger in denial trying to make an excuse for not taking the time to acquire a following.

           I don't care what anyone says, whether they write it in a notebook or blog it in a blog, they want someone to read their thoughts, otherwise why not just keep them in one's head?  Blogging or writing takes an effort and almost anyone wants their efforts to be recognized.

          Based on the premise that bloggers want to be read, one would have to come to the conclusion that one would have to have followers, whether they be visible or invisible.  To think that if you blog it, they will come is unrealistic.  This was my approach when I first started posting the mostly unread pieces in my first month or so of blogging.  I soon realized that I had to make an effort to create an awareness that I existed so readers would come. I had to work to increase my followers so I would have increased odds of having a reader now and then.
     
         Most of you understand the premise and especially after this experience of the A to Z Challenge it is that much more evident.  Receiving recognition in other blogs helps, but you probably are not going to get that very often.  The key factor is to have readers who follow your site on a regular basis.  The more followers you have, then the more potential readers you will have for each post --the numbers are important, the math does matter.  Agree or disagree?

M also as in Middle:

         We have reached the halfway point of the A to Z Challenge--my congratulations to all who have kept up.  See, it wasn't that bad, was it?  Now we're on the downhill side and it should only get easier from here.  So hang in there!  You will finish now.

          On Monday May 3 I will be recapping the Challenge with my observations and some of the things I learned during this month.  I will talk about what this has meant to me and how it helped me.  I hope that the rest of you will also share your thoughts, reflections, opinions, or anything else you have to say about this challenge on this day.  The cumulative posts could be a treasure trove of information for all of us as participants and very helpful to the other folks who did not participate.  Will you join me on May 3?  I would really like to know about your blogging experience during April and how it affected you and your blog.  I will be posting more about this over the next couple weeks.  Perhaps you can spread the word as well for those who miss my posts.   Thanks to all of you brilliant bloggers!

And speaking of brilliant bloggers, make sure you check these:

Country Girl -- Jessica Tate is a student who on top of working a job is also working on two novels.  I don't guess she's all that busy.

Dragon's Muse -- Writer Christina Weigand's thoughts about whatever is on her mind.  She is currently working on two fantasy novels when not blogging and doing all the other things she's doing.

Ella's Edge -- Coming to us from North Carolina for now, Ellie is a wife, mother, and woman of many varied skills-- she has a lot to write about.

Kath Ink -- Don't get confused by what you see in the sidebar.  Kathleen has mixed it up a little and made alphabet soup.

Life Lessons -- Jan is a doll maker-- check out some of her beautiful work on her blog.  She also is a fine blogger.

This Journey Called Life -- Tori Cooper has probably already visited your blog so you have probably visited hers.  If you haven't, you should.  She writes beautifully.

Symphony--  Leo is the name on this blog.  This wordsmith offers poetry and other word pictures that are like beautiful music.

Author Blog --  Cheri Chesley is an author.  Her blog is called Author Blog because it's about her books, her writing, and her general work as an author.  I guess that makes sense.

Hope you will pay these bloggers a visit and leave them a comment.  And go ahead and become a follower while you're there.  Let's tend to the blog math.