Blogging

Long Day, Late Start On Blogging.

~ beetleypete ~ 29 Comments

I had a lot to do today, something very rare in the world of beetleypete. Ollie had to be left for almost six hours, which hasn’t happened in over four years.

He was exceptionally pleased to see me when I got back, and received extra treats for being so well-behaved on his own.

Anyway, the point of this short post is to apologise for any late replies to comments or messages, and to let you know that any posts I have missed will be caught up with tomorrow.

I am still around for a while this evening, but by my standards, I will be having an early night.

Ollie’s Blog?

~ beetleypete ~ 64 Comments

With the extra posts about Ollie being ill recently, I have been reminded of the fact that my dog is genuinely the most popular thing on this blog.

Anything I write about concerning Ollie beats all other posts hands-down, and by at least 20% more views.

The second most popular thing here is anything to do with ‘Blogging’. Whether that be tips and advice, or just plain moans, those posts always get a big audience.

Photos have always been popular, and adding any image helps to create interest. But include a photo of Ollie, and those views go off the scale.

So let’s be honest about it. This is really Ollie’s blog. Maybe I should change the name of it? 🙂

I’m A Bot!

~ beetleypete ~ 64 Comments

I just left a ‘Thank You’ comment on the blog of a new follower. Well, I tried to leave that comment at least.

When I hit ‘Comment’, I got a reply from WordPress.

“Blocked. As a supicious bot”.

I am not sure if I should be angry, or impressed!

Blogging: A Worldwide Community

~ beetleypete ~ 69 Comments

I had a big moan about dodgy comments and fake blog followers the other day.

So I thought I would counter that with something really positive about our great blogging community.

Little did I imagine when I started this blog in 2012, that eight years later I would be part of a huge worldwide community of bloggers. Just taking into account the smaller community of my own followers, and those who I follow, it is still an amazing thing to feel included in.

I have followers who comment from over 30 countries around the world. Most of those countries are ones I have never visited, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, The Philippines, America, Canada, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Thailand, and Cambodia. (Among others) Yet I am able to connect with people who live there, in English, and learn something about their lives, thoughts, customs, culture; even their hopes and fears.

It has taught me a great deal, especially that wherever we live, we often are just the same. Separated by oceans or continents, most of us are trying to connect, to be decent people, and to share our life experiences, writing, photography, poetry or culinary skills with anyone who might be interested, irrespective of where they live.

The current Covid-19 pandemic in particular has highlighted our similarities, as bloggers write about their experiences of the virus, and how they fear the impact of it on everyday life, and their own future. I have found out about countries where there has been little or no social distancing, and others with far better reactions to dealing with the crisis than we have seen here in England.

With the George Floyd incident bringing racism into the spotlight once again, it is just wonderful to see that this is virtually non-existent in the world of blogging, where tolerance is our watchword.

Bloggers are rarely concerned with the colour of a person’s skin, their religion, or their wealth and influence. Blogging gives you a blank sheet of acceptance, whatever else is going on around us in this troubled world.

Whenever you might be close to losing hope, just think about Blogging. It is not an exaggeration to say that it can ease loneliness, help to combat depression, and offer true friendships from complete strangers who you will almost certainly never meet.

For A Change: Blogging Stuff

~ beetleypete ~ 78 Comments

I have been posting a great deal of fiction during this ‘Virus Year’, as well as regular reports about the effects of Covid-19 in Beetley, and reblogging old posts for all the new followers.

So I thought I would go back to one of my favourite topics today, Blogging.

Regular readers will be clasping hands to foreheads, knowing that they are about to get a recap of my familiar moaning.
I say “Clasp away”, because that is exactly what is going to happen.

Remember when I said I would Spam anyone who left a link to their own blog as a supposed comment? Well it is still happening, and I am very happy to tell you that I have spammed no less than 22 bloggers who ignored my warning. Here it is again, in case you missed it.

A link to your own blog or blog post is NOT a comment, and never will be. If you do that on my blog, you WILL be Spammed!

What about the ‘Followers’ who do the same thing? They follow this blog, then immediately comment on any post by linking to their own.

Same deal! You WILL be Spammed!

Another pet hate. Inappropriate one or two-word comments on post that they obviously haven’t read. Case in point, a post about one person dying from Covid-19, and the terrible effect of that on his family and friends. The comment from some clown? ‘Nice Post’. (With a smiley face)

You guessed it. He was Spammed!

Another one? One of my best friends died of Covid-19 in May. I wrote a very sad post about his death, and how it had affected me.
The comment received? ‘Nice. Please check out my blog’.

Another twit Spammed!

Keep doing it, and I will keep Spamming you. Your choice.

The Twitter Cascade

~ beetleypete ~ 55 Comments

I am once again struggling to keep on top of Twitter. As I tried to read a tweet earlier, in anticipation of leaving a comment, it disappeared. Overwhelmed by the cascade of new tweets, so many of which were the same tweets being retweeted, seemingly every few seconds.

Anyway, I just wanted to once again thank everyone who retweets any of my blog posts.

You know who you are, and you are all much appreciated.

Sorry I cannot get the chance to thank you on Twitter, but there have been another 200 tweets since I started typing this!

Best wishes to you all, Pete.

A Strange Year Of Blogging

~ beetleypete ~ 65 Comments

Who could have guessed that 2020 would turn out like this? Six months on, the world of blogging has been increased by the huge number of ‘Virus Bloggers’, those who have started blogging to make their own record of this memorable year. I have read a great deal of blog posts about Covid-19, from heartbreaking personal memoirs, detailed record-keeping of the spread in certain countries or cities, through to those that have a feeling it never really existed.

In the last few weeks, Twitter has started to see many people who have had enough of lockdowns, and want to quickly get back to real life, as they see it. Some of those tweeting are also bloggers, but not all of course. In the main, I am happy to see that most of you in our well-established community are content to still fear the effects of the virus, and the possibility of that second wave. You are keeping safe, and so am I.

But we have all seen images of crowded beaches, parties, and other gatherings on the news media. Predominantly younger people who still regard themselves as being immune, for some inexplicable reason.
But I digress.

As far as blogging is concerned, those ‘Virus Bloggers’ are providing an amazing resouce for future historians. Just imagine if there had been the Internet, or other forms of widespread communication, at the various times the Black Death ravaged Europe, and other parts of the world? We might have even been able to learn something, about surviving a pandemic.

Or maybe not.

‘Invited To Follow’

~ beetleypete ~ 58 Comments

In case you didn’t know, WordPress has a feature that enables you to invite other bloggers to follow your blog.

Admin Dashboard>
Users>
Invite New

Since I started blogging in 2012, I have never once ‘agreed’ to follow anyone who has contacted me in this way, and I still get around five a week on average. The people who use this facility are usually innocent of the implication, I am sure. But nontheless, they expect me to follow their blog without so much as a ‘Like’ or comment on even one of my own posts. In many cases, the blogs are brand new, with little or no content, so I have no idea what I might even be following.

I think WordPress should remove this general facility. If I want to follow a blog, I will find it eventually.

I have ignored no less than three of these already today, though part of me feels sorry for those bloggers who think it might be the normal thing to do.

Beetley Brit Brings Brutal Beatdown in Bi-Coastal Braintease Bacchanal

~ beetleypete ~ 20 Comments

I just had to reblog this strange news report from America. It seems I have had the good fortune to crack Chandler’s quiz on not one, but two occasions. That will of course be of little interest to anyone other than stay at home film buffs like myself, but it is some sort of achievement
I think.

csrmastershockaward

CHANDLER SWAIN REVIEWS

“If He Can Do It, I Can Do Anything” says North Korean spokesperson for Slim Fast,Kim Jong-un, upon hearing of Beetley’s own GrouchyPete’s second internet championship crown in conquering the CSR Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, news that has ignited spontaneous religious fervor around the globe now that proof has conclusively arrived that both Pigs Can Fly and Hell Will, indeed, Freeze Over.  In an unrelated story, during his annual nightly state cocktail bash (see above) Canadian Prime Minister Justin “Bieber” Trudeau acknowledges the accomplishment of his English ally from across the pond  with the stirring pronouncement: “Huh? Who?”

  Supposed Ex-Royal Interloper Meghan              Stews at Attention Grabbing Moose                           Stalker From Beetley

 Reported to Have Asked “Grandmummy” to Declare                     …

View original post 246 more words

Indian Bloggers.

~ beetleypete ~ 66 Comments

A recent perusal of my blog stats has told me that my Indian readers are now the third most numerous, after the USA and Britain. This is undoubtedly helped by the fact that so many people in India speak English, and write their own blogs in English too.

As well as that, they represent a significant percentage of my blog followers, and many of them are fully-engaged bloggers who regularly comment on my posts. This pleases me a great deal, as we have hundreds of thousands of people from an Indian background living in the UK. When I lived in London, I met and worked with many, and was always interested in their culture. This not least because my dad spent a long time in India, serving there in WW2 from 1941-1946. He showed me numerous photos of his travels there, and regaled me with tales of that exotic land in my youth.

Sadly, I never got around to visiting any part of that country, and fear it may be too late for me to do that now. But through the wonder of blogging, I can see and hear the lives of people there, and appreciate the differences, good and bad.

I have featured some Indian bloggers and authors on this blog before, but I would like to do more.

So if you are one, and follow my blog, please think about sending me a guest post, telling me and all my readers about where you live, what you do, and what life is like for you in that vast country, with its huge population. If you are interested in doing that, then send me an email to petejohnson50@yahoo.com and I will let you know what is required.

Best wishes to you all, Pete.