Confession time! I used to blog on Blogger. Do you want to know why I left that particular format? Drum roll please…..I LEFT blogger because of the GFC Follower widget. Yes, you read that correctly. I LEFT a blogging format because of one little widget. But apparently, that 1 little widget packs a powerful punch with certain individuals not only in the blogging community itself but also in the publishing world.
I didn’t like the math of the whole situation. I had something like 300+ followers and I was only getting 1 or 2 comments on a post if I was lucky. That is NOT why I blog. I blog because I LOVE books and I want to actually have a discussion with my readers. I’m still working on getting my reviews and discussion posts to a place where they encourage MORE discussion but I’m headed in the right direction I think.
Now that I’ve moved to wordpress, I feel I have a little more freedom. I feel like I’ve liberated myself from the ever-present GFC Follower widget. This is also about the time that I realized that I prefer blog READERS (people who read my blog and take the time to comment) to blog FOLLOWERS. Now this post isn’t about telling other bloggers how to run their blogs, that isn’t my intent. And I really don’t feel the need to explain myself either. I just wanted to take the time to say Thank You to those who read and comment on my blog.
Why do I prefer READERS to FOLLOWERS? Great question. I spend a LOT of time on my blogs (both Tales from the Crypt and The Book Junkie’s Bookshelf) and it makes me feel really good when someone leaves me a comment on a review or something that I’ve posted because they took the time to drop by and READ what I’ve got to say. It makes you feel like your headed in the right direction with your blog when you know you have people who READ what you have to say on a regular basis. Right now I’ve got a small following of regular READERS that drop by on a regular basis and comment. LOVE YOU GUYS/GALS!
In NO WAY am I saying that Followers and blog stats aren’t important. They are, I fully admit that. But for me personally, right now I blog mostly for myself and those who READ my blog. Right now, all that other stuff is just that stuff.
I read a post recently about how to get Blog Followers versus Blog Readers. I really enjoyed the article. It’s actually one of the posts that pushed me to become a follower of that blogger’s blog. All of the suggestions are great suggestions…Twitter, Facebook, email, comments…3 out of the 4 I’m TERRIBLE at. I’m working on being a better commenter. When I post a post the link is automatically sent to my Twitter account and my Facebook account, but beyond that I’m failing on my failboat with those forms of social media as well. But my main focus right now is to better my content on my blogs. Followed closely by getting better at all of those things.
So what do YOU think? Do you prefer READERS to FOLLOWERS? What are your thoughts on the GFC Follower widget? Do you think I’m splitting hairs?
Tales from the Crypt 
I admit, I am not good at commenting. But I do try (A) And I do read the things that I find interesting 🙂 And yeah, I know how you feel. Although I do love the GFC thing (A) But I do wish people would comment on my posts. They comment on WoW/IMM and those things, but not often on my reviews. I did like this post though 😀 And I actually read it all (A) lol 🙂
Love, Carina
Maybe we should start a support group… Bad Commentors Anonymous? We all get points for trying to be good commentors. I feel you on getting a bunch of comments on our meme posts but the reviews seem to be neglected. Thanks for stopping by!
I do indeed prefer readers to followers. Sometimes it’s kind of difficult for me because on WordPress, you see your subscribers not your followers. I don’t “follow” all of the blogs that I find, but I put them in my Google Reader and it updates with every new blog.
I do try to comment as much as I can, but there are days that I can literally only read. I follow a crap ton of blogs.
And, I’m really bad about checking the box for follow up comments. Ooops. Maybe I should do that so I can have real conversations. 🙂
I do agree that it’s a little tougher on wordpress to follow blogs but I try to look at it as a positive. I’ll be following the blogs that I REALLY want to follow. I LOVE my google reader! Sometimes it doesn’t love me back though when I don’t check it for a couple days. 😦
I’m TERRIBLE at checking the box for follow up comments too! Actually I used that feature for the first time yesterday. So far I’m liking it, but we’ll see.
I’ll admit, I tried out a blog hop today- you follow me, I follow you type deal. I wasn’t surprised to see most chose RSS over email. Me? I like email. I like to get someones posts straight to my inbox.
*sigh* Today just wasn’t my thing, though, I did find a few interesting blogs, so it’s not a total loss. :]
But, I’m the on fence with the follower/reader preference. If followers made possible readers, then I would say yes to that, but as I learned today, I don’t like to blindly follow blogs. *double sigh of doom*
Honestly, the GFC intimidates me. I’m partially jealous, and then, at the same time, I really hate it. Because, like you said, it packs a punch in the publishing world and they’re looking at the number of followers they have instead of the quality of the blog. (Which isn’t true ALL the time, but I suspect it is most of the time.) Part of me thinks it’s unfair, which is just crazy.
I have a hard using social media, and I’m a pretty lame commenter. Though, within the last few weeks I’ve been better at it (thanks in part to memes). It’s hard to get out of that lurker state I’m usually in. xD
/long comment over. =P
The whole followers mindset bothers me too. I joined the Book Blogs network and it seems there are posts on every page of the forums about people looking for followers. I’m like you, I don’t want followers, I want readers. I like the confirmation that I’m introducing people to the books I’ve come across and we can talk about them.