If you're a Writer or a Reader then I Want to Follow Your Blog!

It's official people, I just realized it. I don't follow enough blogs. It's the holiday season, stress is rampant and guess what I do when stressed?  I read and comment on blogs! I just went through my Dashboard today and yesterday and have run out of blogs to read and comment on. That just won't do. Yes, it would be nice if I cleaned out closets or mopped the floors or went to the gym when stressed out, but that's just not me.  My stress relief is reading and commenting on blog posts.

So help me out writers! If you are somewhere along the writing journey, and I don't follow you, or show up on your blog, then please leave a comment so I can find your blog, visit and follow. Because I've set a goal to find 50 new blogs to follow before Christmas. I'm getting desperate. The stress is building, and while many of you are cutting back on your posting, I'm needing more and more. And not getting it!

So if you want a new follower, leave a comment and I'll be there. Although here's the thing-- I'm not doing blogfests so if your title says blogfest and I haven't showed up, that's why. I can't take the added pressure of a blogfest right now, maybe later. Freewheelin' no pressure blog following, that's what I'm after. And if you already follow my blog & I don't follow back, please leave a comment to that effect, and I'll be sure to do so.

Are You Ready to Find a Bunch of Awesome New Followers?

It's time for the Blog Party BBQ to begin!

I've jazzed up my blog with some new color, how about you? Are you ready for a bunch of new visitors and followers? The original party invitation is here, but to recap here's how it works:

* Follow my blog and I'll follow yours cuz that's how it works yo

* Comment on this post telling what food you'll bring to the BBQ, and telling us something about yourself and your blog

* Find at least three new party-goers to visit, comment on their blogs and follow if you like

* Click on the twitter and/or facebook icons at the bottom of this post to invite more people to the party. That means more followers for everyone!

Quite a few left comments with their food *yum yum slurp* on the last post, so you can all go back and click to their blogs plus hopping to whoever comments on this post. And if you commented before, please feel free to do so again here. You might use another blog url if you have more than one, tell us more about yourself, or just check back in to make sure you don't miss any of the fun, food and drinks galore! Oh, and make sure that your profile page gives the link to your blog so people can find you.

This post will be up the entire 4-day Labor Day weekend, giving everyone plenty of time to find new friends and followers. And I plan on making a virtual pig of myself with tons of virtual food!  Mmm, a dream come true-- calorie-free deliciousness. And I'm bringing 6 dozen of my famous chocolate chip cookies!

PARTY ON!

Saving Time with Twitter or I'll Follow you and You Follow Me

Before I started my twitter account, I believed this: "Like Facebook only a faster way to waste time." I'm still not sure I get it although I'm learning how to waste time connect with twitter.

Today I went through my dashboard to visit blogs I hadn't been to for awhile. I was procrastinating wanting to stay connected. Quite a few had twitter buttons. Aha! I follow & can now learn about their new posts through twitter instead of having to scroll through my dashboard. So yes, a faster way to waste time stay connected.

There's a lot I don't get about twitter. Like those who follow 10,000 people and somehow find my new account and start following me? He didn't look like a spammer. But, why? What's the benefit of following 10,000 people on twitter? So they'll follow you?

All this I'll follow you, you follow me, I'll friend you & you friend me, whether it's on twitter, Facebook or blogs has got me wondering: Are followers the new currency? *and btw I really really want to get to 275 here on my blog pleasepleaseplease*

Forget dollars, Euros or pounds. The new measure of success is our follower count. I'm waiting to hear this: "I want to be a millionaire hit a million followers by the time I'm thirty." (Correction: I won't hear it. I'll read it because it'll be a tweet.)

Following and Followers

That last post where the font got screwed up is driving me crazy whenever I look at it-- there's my lovely giraffe, (how I love my giraffe), then scroll down, and I see the stupid post with its funky font that I couldn't fix. So I'm writing another post to get past it! Good time to ask this blogging courtesy question I've been wondering about. Here it is:

How do you feel about following followers? Like if someone adds themselves as a follower, is it expected, to be polite, to return the favor and add yourself to theirs? I will often do this, not so much to be courteous, but because I'll go check out their site and really like it, and want to follow it. It's a good way to discover new blogs without having to work too hard at it. And I'm always on the lookout for new blogs to follow.

But then sometimes I don't pay attention, especially if the follower never leaves comments, and I don't go check out their blog or follow them. Is this rude?

Just wondering. Sometimes it's hard to know what common blogging etiquette is! And while we're on the topic, I must refer to the incredible Nicola Morgan, who posted about blogging etiquette last fall. That insightful post is here. But she doesn't mention follower etiquette. I already checked.

Are you here for the writing or the reading?

In my six months of being here in blog land, I've come across quite a few categories of bloggers. Outside of the *experts* with their hundreds and thousands of fans and followers, there's a fairly common pattern that distinguishes blogger-types. Here's what I've noticed, have you any to add?

Some people sign up mainly for the reading. They have their favorite blogs, rush to the new posts and read every word plus all the comments. These reading bloggers write posts, which may be very good but quite short. For them, the reading is more enjoyable than the writing. When they find a new, intriguing blog they like, they're quick to add it to their blogroll, so they don't miss any new posts. They follow more people than follow them.

And there's the non-blogging readers who will never comment or subscribe. Like my mom, husband and son-in-law, who start by reading my posts, then all the comments, then all the blogs in the side bar, and all those posts and comments. My son-in-law came over one day anguished. He had spent 6 hours of his only day off that week reading blogs. Never again, he vowed. Ha, that's what he says.

Then there are the bloggers who are here to write. They post often, sometimes every day, sometimes quite long posts. Because they love to write. They're obsessed about getting new followers/readers, since writers need readers, writers crave readers. What's the point if there are no readers? That's like cooking dinner and no one comes to eat it. These writer bloggers have their favorites too, but they may skim over the reading of posts and still comment. After all, they're here for the writing-- posting, commenting, whatever.

Finally, there's a few blogger/writers who don't read, follow anyone, make any comments or respond to the comments that others make on their posts. A minority, since most bloggers like to interact with others. Some of these types might have followers and commenters, but not as many as they could have if they were more interactive. They're like a rare species of bird that no one ever sees outside its normal habitat.

These are the main categories I've noticed in the blogging world. What kind of blogger are you? Are your here for the writing or the reading? Or are you a nicely balanced blend of both? Or perhaps some entirely new species altogether?