Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Why Are You Following Me

There has been a lot of talk lately about followers and blogging, why do we blog and why do we follow blogs?

First of all the reason I started blogging was simply to relay my opinions whatever they were at the time, I have always been the type to write my feelings down to get them off my chest so to say and from doing this I began writing about my friends and family, Just My Opinion was where we started and from that came Jimmy’s Opinion.

Why do I follow blogs? This is an easy answer for me, I follow blogs I can relate to and people that I enjoy reading, there are a number I started following for this reason and feel I have formed a friendship with many people by doing this, sort of like real life, you make friends with people you like and can relate to and you don’t follow those who get on your nerves so to say.

Friendships are formed and some go stale and you drift apart, this holds true for following blogs too, sometimes you find one that you really enjoyed for a while and you made the commitment to follow this person but for some reason when you commented they seemed to snub you and this didn’t happen just once but every single time you commented, the decision to stop following this one is easy because you didn’t feel welcome here, others you made the commitment to follow and got good responses from when you commented and they returned the favor by following your blog too, this is a win/win situation it seems until the comments you get from them are a bit more off color or filled with vulgar language, now I for one understand using a few cuss words but I can’t see any reason to use the “F” word in every other sentence so this is a blog I would not continue to follow.

Now there are others that I made this same commitment to follow and they followed me back and to this day we read each others rants and raves and also the wonderful tales of each others lives, I may not get to each and everyone of the blogs I follow each day but I sure try and I also try my best to comment on everyone’s blog as often as I can and to reply to every comment I am honored with, so if I miss replying to you it’s not because I am being rude it’s just because I got myself busy with life and missed replying for a day or two, I will catch up I promise.

Why are you following me? I hope it’s because you enjoy reading my stuff and I sure hope that you are not following me just to get me to follow you in hopes of boosting your numbers, the followers I have I dearly appreciate and have a friendship with the majority of you, the ones of you I have chosen to follow is because you have touched me in one way or another and I like reading you, for those of you playing the numbers game I hope you get as many followers as you are looking for but expect me to drop off eventually if you haven’t noticed me gone already.

Blogging is a good thing, we share our lives with each other and make friends while doing so, and we put ourselves on the line so to say in hopes of a few positive comments to say we have done well or for some words of encouragement from our fellow bloggers. Thank You to those of you who comment regularly and for those of you who have chosen to follow me I am honored that you chose to join our little family, I added an email subscription box today so if you want me in your inbox then add your email and you should get an email when I post something new, heck I added mine so I will know when I post something new too, now that’s the sign of a committed blogger.

To sum it up Why do we blog? If you blog then you don’t really need to ask this question because you already know the answer, and why do we follow? Same answer if you blog you already know. If you are just looking for numbers and not friends then that is what you will end up with, just a bunch of numbers. If you are seriously looking at finding some good blogs to read that are backed by good people then look at my list of Favorite Blogs on the right side of the page and you wont be disappointed.

13 comments:

  1. Dear Jimmy,

    Thank you for writing such an encouraging post. I am completely new to blogging and I'm hoping it will be a good way for me to share some interesting thoughts, opinions and maybe even have a discussion or two, and hopefully make some blogging friends along the way.

    I recently suffered a very sad break-up of a relationship/friendship I valued greatly; the friendship side of things is what I am missing most as we used to discuss a myriad of different things and shared many interests.

    I was this morning wondering if I would carry on with the blogging, but your post gave me great encouragement!

    Thanks again, Jimmy

    Dorothy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, first of all, I read your blog because I thoroughly enjoy reading what you share each day, and because I sincerely enjoy your friendship. And Cindy's too.

    I blog because I love to write and express myself, but mainly because of the "connections" I've made with some really wonderful people who I've met in person.

    I don't use the follower widget, and for the exact reason you mentioned. I find that too many people use it to play the numbers game. Those who I follow are on my blog roll.

    As much as I love blogging, I've learned something very important. To always write first and foremost for myself, and then allow those who wish to read, read. I can't control who will and will not read my blog. I've gained and lost readers so many times in the past 4 years, that its taught me to blog for my own passion and delight. Readership and followers will take on life on their own. Some will be be loyal, others will drift away. But, I don't take it personal anymore.

    GREAT post, my friend!

    And thanks for being a great blogging pal!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jimmy,

    I'll be honest. I follow you because I keep hoping you'll drop some money and I can scoop it up.

    OK, OK, that's not really the reason. I love your blog because you are so honest and real and I know what you write comes straight from your heart. I know when you visit my blog, you do so not out of a sense of obligation, but because you want to.

    I love to visit people's blogs and I visit a lot of them. There are so many wonderful people out there who have been supportive of me through their comments. The only way I can manage it all without going crazy is to click on their follower widget so they will show up in my Google Reader. I hate to say it, if a blog doesn't have a follower's widget I probably won't visit it on a regular basis. Even on my reader, I have trouble keeping up sometimes. I would really feel bad if someone felt snubbed by my lack of comments, but I hope they'll come back.

    I love the connections I've made through blogging. Like you, I avoid blogs that have a lot of cussing in them. I never do blog hops, never do follows, and don't even post or pass on awards, and yet have some great followers. Like you.

    Have a wonderful day, Jimmy!

    --BB

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jim-Man-

    I am one of the newer bloggers.. about 6 months I think.. and I don't post everyday as sometimes me brain is dead.. I follow a very small amount and have a small following.. I love it... KNow why, I can get to every post and comment and enjoy what they shared that day. you are top of my reading chain because I feel like i just stepped into a friends backyard when I read your pieces. yu are easy, funny, comfortable and just down right pleasant to read. You have supported me from day one, and that my dear means the world to this old word scribbler.

    So if you don't mind, I think I'll hang around your blog until you kick me out. :-)
    (and I would never leave the "F" word on a comment.. maybe in one of my poems..lol

    Lynne

    ReplyDelete
  5. Excuse the typos (and I have the nerve to call myself a writer)..lol)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post, Jimmy.
    I wonder a lot about the blogging thing too. I think lately, I should slow down, I may be running out of ideas. But whether I update mine or not, I will still be stalking you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey Dorothy, I am honored to have you join our little family here and look forward to hearing more from you, I just came back from your place and think I will hang around if you don’t mind. I am sorry about your break up and hope that blogging can help you deal with it and see that life is grand no matter what happens it is up to us to find a way around the bad things and concentrate on the good.

    Ron, Yes I know you have not used the follower widget and it really bothers me to not see you on my list, because that’s one more number I could have Ha Ha, but seriously I am so happy to have you on my blogroll and see myself on yours because yours is one of the friendships I would not have without this blogging experience and I am so happy to have you in our lives Buddy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Betty, You weren’t supposed to tell anyone about the money :^)

    The awards are cool but the blog hops and so on are just too much for me to keep up with, they appear as a number game to me and a waste of time taking me away from fine blogs like yours, You have snubbed me a time or two and it hurt my feelings so bad that we named our favorite chicken after you, seriously we did name the chicken Bossy Betty and you have always treated me with respect which makes me feel so happy to know you my Friend.

    Lynne, I have so enjoyed getting to know you and expect to see you around for a long time, I don’t write everyday either but with blogging I don’t think we are actually required to and that is another reason I like this so much.

    I hope you do hang around because I have no plans to kick you out, typos or not Ha Ha—Spell Check is my friend.

    Hey Joe, You will never be out of ideas my friend because life goes on and what better subject matter do we have other than our lives, Thank You my Good Friend I expect you to stalk us here because I do like having you around.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Now this is strange...only yesterday I looked up what blogging actually meant, and found out that it was started in 1997 as an on-line diary or journal. The term "weblog" was originally "we blog", which was two guys chatting over the internet.
    Ye, I am fully with you that swear-words are just a way of trying to become popular, and would these people actually speak like that in "real life".
    I follow blogs that I am genuinely interested in or like-minded people, but following, just for the sake of following a popular blog is just a waste of time. I only follow about 40 blogs regularly....so more than half of my followers have never even left any comment, but I know that there are people out there who only read blogs, but sometimes you find a real little gem with only a couple of followers, and I do enjoy these blogs. A friendly word can brighten up anyone's day, or a nice comment.
    Now, I am guilty of not always answering everyone that leaves me comments.....and I know that I should, but sometimes there is just not enough time in the day, so I follow via my dashboard and see if there is anything new posted.
    Very interesting post, Jimmy. I was going to do one tonight about these little grey profile photo's...now I find these very annoying! If you are going to follow, then please say something! sort of thing.
    I really enjoy your posts and the journeys that you take me on.
    Big hugs to you both.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jimmy, as you know, I only recently came across your blog. As I usually do when I find a blog new to me, I go back and read through posts to see what that person is about and if I have some connection to them. Unfortunately, I think most people only read the most recent post and don't go beyond that before making their decision to follow or not. Since I decided to follow you, it was obvious that I saw some connection. As you probably know, most bloggers are female, and most are much younger than me. So right off the bat, you and I had some common ground. Plus, your posts showed me that you're a nice guy. Another common denominator.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey Alice, “I follow blogs that I am genuinely interested in or like-minded people” I think this is it for me too, if everyone did this then there would be very few of the gray profile pictures providing no comments on a lot of blogs, I look forward to your post on this subject.

    Thank You my Dear Friend, it’s people like you that make this worthwhile. Hugs right back to you.

    Matty, I have not read too far back on your blog as of yet but far enough to show me that we do have a lot in common and makes me proud to have you with us here, you are right most bloggers are female or younger folks and there are just a few men in our age range that are blogging, just goes to show that nice guys don’t always finish last because the ones I have found like you here are #1 in my book.

    ReplyDelete
  12. As always, I have some thoughts on the subjects.
    The whole follower subject can get pretty confusing. The number of people following me changes a lot. Sometimes the number goes up and sometimes it goes down. When somebody leaves I usually don't even know who it was. When I get a new follower, I appreciate it. I give them the courtesy of a look see, but if I'm not interested in their blog, I won't follow it. If they truly like what I post, they seem to hang around, if they really only expect a "follow-back," they leave. I don't care... Even if I got up to a 1000 followers, I know there is always going to be a core group of folks who I've really connected with and I will try to read every post they make, because I like them and I like their blogs. It's interesting that I know and really like 4 of the 7 folks who commented on this blog post. I think you and I connect with many of the same people.

    As to the swearing... Sometimes I have to because my blog usually isn't about what I think, but more about incidents that have happened in my life. Seriously, you know about my mom. If I quoted her saying something like "you darn well better, get your fudging room clean or there is going to be heck to pay!" You know that it wouldn't be an honest portrayal of the woman. so, sometimes it's just gotta be there. But I don't swear much in normal conversation, so if I did it regularly in my blog posts, it would be totally contrived, and I'm sure people would like that even less than the swear words.

    Anyway, back to the "core group." If I totally stopped blogging, I'd continue to follow about 30 blogs or so because I really like the folks who run them. You are one of them for sure!
    So are Betty, Joe, Alice, and Lynne.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey Pat, I am with you on the core group of friends, with my blog here there is a core group and you and I do share a large number of them, I am proud of our little family and do get concerned when someone disappears, I worried about you but at the same time knew where you were :)

    The swear words come into play for posts at times and I have never had a problem with them, the ones I have a problem with are when they are inserted into normal conversation so to say and repeated randomly, this does not impress me and drives me away quicker than anything, your blog was not one in that category but you already knew that.

    Followers are great and I do appreciate each and every one I have but the ones who are there just for the numbers kind of go against what we are all about in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by, jump in and tell me what you think, or just say Hi, I really appreciate your comments.