3000: A rather pointless milestone.

~ beetleypete

I just noticed this evening that I now have 3,002 followers, according to WordPress. That doesn’t include everyone of course, so it might be a few more.

Many other bloggers have far more than that of course, but anything ending in three noughts is to be celebrated, if not least to be aware of our endurance. I should be jumping for joy, but I am blog-realistic. I know that it sadly means very little. The most recent follower, the one who tipped it over from 2,999, is yet another of those ‘Outlook.Com’ followers. They have no blogs, no details, and leave no likes or comments. They are presumably yet another following ‘scam’ of some sort, and I just ignore them

Earlier today, I was followed by a panel-beating company in America, their site full of offers to repair my car. Yesterday, I was followed by a car-hire company in Australia, keen to rent me a car when I was next in Sydney. Of course, I have never been to either country. Then there are the ‘follow me back’ new bloggers, who just follow in the hope of me following them back. Which I don’t. As I have told them until I am blue in the face, Blogging is not Facebook, and it’s not Twitter either.

Still, I do have many great followers. They are much appreciated, and always considered to be part of the wonderful blogging community. But there are not 3,000 of them. Probably not even 1,000 of them. To believe the WP figures would be vanity indeed. But whatever the number, I am no less appreciative of their likes, comments, and reading of posts. In the last four days alone, my posts have been read by over 1,200 people. And for that, I am really very grateful indeed.

So, fellow bloggers. Don’t concern yourself too much with followers, and other statistics. If you ever have around 500 followers, that will be a treasure indeed. And if each of those followers read and comment on your posts, you can consider yourself a very lucky blogger. I know that I do.

Thanks to all of you who have followed my blog. Not wishing to sound ungrateful, I am less concerned about those who want to rent me a car in Australia, sell me their SEO expertise, or give me advice about investing in Nigeria. For everyone else, my very heart-felt thanks.

3,000 looks good on the page, if nothing else.

Best wishes, Pete.

90 thoughts on “3000: A rather pointless milestone.”

    1. I would be more impressed if more than 10% of those followers actually engaged on the blog. But I agree that it looks good! 🙂
      Many thanks for reading, and leaving a comment.
      Best wishes, Pete.,

      Liked by 1 person

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        1. I believe that I got so many followers for many reasons.

          1) I worked hard to engage and build a community.
          2) I reply to comments – always!
          3) If I follow a blog, I read the posts, and ALWAYS leave a comment there.
          4) I try to be polite, not offensive or sarcastic, and to be myself.
          5) My life online is an open book. No pretence, or artifice.
          6) I tried hard to make it work, and still do, every day.
          7) I tend to attract like-minded people, who are also very nice and polite.
          8) I have lots of different categories, and vary my content.
          9) I avoid controversy and politics, although I have another blog for that.
          https://redflagflying.wordpress.com/
          10) I think I am a classical ‘nice guy’, and I really care about my fellow bloggers.

          Stats show that I get around 300 views most days, so less than 10% engagement. I know full well that at least 40% of my ‘followers’ are just businesses, SEO people, or those just hoping I will follow back.
          I estimate around 1000, or one third of my followers are not active, but that’s fine. I am happy enough with those that are. I have made true friends through blogging, and have no complaints.

          Best wishes, and thanks for your reply. Pete.

          Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks, AAB. it takes a long time to break into blogging. At least half of the followers shown on my blog have never left a like or a comment, so best to take such numbers lightly. Good luck with your own blogging journey.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

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  3. You work hard for your followers, Pete, however many of that 3,000 are ‘real’ 🙂 I don’t look at my stats any more but I know they can’t compete with yours. As for the Outlook spammers…. they are really annoying me! Congrats on the milestone 🙂

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  5. I dunno Pete. I reckon you have more legitimate followers and admirers than you realize. It’ll come as no surprise that I’m one of your biggest fans. Not only are you a kind and supportive blogging friend, you are one of the most talented writers I’ve come across. YOU are one of the reasons why I’m so glad I stumbled across blogging. So, in honor of this milestone I’d like to personally say Thank You and Congratulations! Never doubt you are a brilliant, valued, and invaluable member of this community!🤗😙🍾🥂💐

    Liked by 2 people

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  13. I am always suspect of anything WordPress tells us. However, experience shows that the readers you do have are eloquent, witty, passionate and devoted. (And one crank from Boston, but that’s another story.) Quite the tribute to any writer, and, if I might add, quite deserved.

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    1. Very kind, Chandler. I tried to read that in a Boston accent, but I don’t really know what one sounds like. Another American blogger informs me that Bostonians would pronounce the name Barb, as ‘Bob’. But that’s the closest I have got, so far. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

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  15. Well that is an impressive number Pete. I am not even at the 2000 mark on my Travel blog which is probably the most prolific and much, much less on the Cornwall one. I do purge my followers though so my figures tend to go down rather than up! As you have said it is the ones who comment and like and interact that are the best thing about blogging, we can learn so much from each other and have a lot of fun doing so. Here’s to the next thousand Pete!!

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Thanks, Jude. My greatest pleasure is to see that all my original followers from 2012/13 are still around. We have all been on this journey together, and stuck with it. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete. x

      Liked by 2 people

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        1. That post is read more or less every day, but so far only one person has left a comment.
          It is on a par with ‘Dereham, A Norfolk Town’, ‘Beetley Village’, and many other posts that are about Norfolk. People looking for somewhere to live, I suspect. 🙂 x

          Liked by 1 person

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  17. I’m often amazed that someone who might have started following me more than four years ago will suddenly leave their first-ever like and comment. We can never know the extent to which people interact with our site. I think it’s rather nice when someone bothers to click like or follow. Even if they are fishing for a return follow.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Thanks, Lucinda. You are right of course. The blogging friends I have made over the last six years have become part of my life in so many ways. I am just making the point to those bloggers who have very few followers, that the totals don’t really matter.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 2 people

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  24. Hey, having 3,000 followers is pretty impressive and I congratulate you on this pointless milestone! I have a tiny fraction of that but am still pleased with anyone who takes the time to read a post, and leave a like or a comment! It’s a good thing all 3,000 of yours do not, or you’d never get anything else done. Happy Monday and I hope it’s sunny where you are, like it is here today! 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Very true, Susanne. If they all left a comment every day, I would never catch up with answering them. 🙂 I would have to employ an admin clerk…
      We did have some sun today, but the temperature dropped 10 degrees C on yesterday’s high.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

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  25. A very realistic assessment of your statistics, Pete! Still I like to congratulate you on reaching this important milestone.
    I am at over 500 approaching 600 followers. Yet, I interact with at most 10% in a meaningful manner. In a way I am very grateful. For I could not handle more followers. All the best wishes!

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    1. Interacting with over 50 followers is more than enough, Peter. That’s more or less the same as me, in terms of regular comments. Thanks for your congratulations, I am just being honest about the true meaning of that figure. For one thing, I know that at least 20 of them have not been blogging for years. And many of them have never once left a like, or commented. One of them is one of my friends who has since died, so I approach it all very realistically.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

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  26. I’ve also been getting plenty of those where there is no blog to check or anything and I have no idea what’s the use, although I hope they honestly enjoy reading the posts, as I have no idea who they are or why they might be interested. Take care and congratulations (even if you take it with a pinch of salt) Pete.

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    1. Thanks, Olga. I have noticed that those Outlook.Com people never comment at all. I have no idea what they hope to gain from following, other than I might send them an email. (Which I don’t)
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Like

      Reply

  27. Ha ha ha!! Well, congratulations even if it doesn’t mean anything. I got Welcomed into the Great Brotherhood Illuminati Kingdom the other day on my blog by someone, so you know that they are serious about following me! 😂😂😅 I completely understood your feelings though! (as I stated on a prior rant on your blog, lol! So, I’ll leave it at that!) have a great day and you can always celebrate a LITTLE! 🎉🎉

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Oh, it is undoubtedly worth noting, and 5,000 would be even better! But I am grounded enough to know that the same 50-75 people actually read and comment on most of my posts, and I am very pleased to have such loyal blogging friends.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. If I get 50 comments on a post, despite those supposed 3000 followers, John, I am very happy indeed. Sometimes, I get as many as 80, not including my replies. That’s good enough for me, old friend.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

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  29. That’s an impressive amount of followers there, Pete. Genuine followers are out there. Such a shame that we have to wade through so many that are not genuine.

    I did laugh at your descriptions of some of the random blogs who have started following you. How do these sites latch onto you? LOL

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. I did a post about having trouble with my car. They obviously search tags to find opportunities. Then I comment a lot on some Australian sites. They no doubt think my next step is to visit the country, so I would need to hire a car. 🙂 That’s the way that SEO-driven sites work, and paid-for links too. There are a lot of companies wasting their money, that’s for sure.
      Best wishes, Pete.

      Liked by 1 person

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  30. Pete, every few weeks I go to my admin page and mass delete hundreds of spam comments…most are from online car rental sites…I agree with you: while it’s nice to have a lot of clicks on a story, a comment from a real life person is preferable for sure! Now if you’ll get to the “Acting With A D” post, I’ve got a good one to share!

    Liked by 2 people

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  31. I remember George Best saying he’d be happy to go out and play if only one fan turned up. I think he just loved playing football and that just one appreciative fan turning up was excuse enough. It’s a good sentiment.

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  32. A milestone is a milestone, Pete. Congratulations.

    You’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs before you get a prince(cess).

    Speaking of which, I see we’ve been lumbered with another one to support. Remember when they were all going to be ‘first against the wall?’

    Liked by 2 people

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