Community

Has Blogging Reached Its Peak?

~ beetleypete ~ 100 Comments

With new followers as rare as hen’s teeth, and many of the ‘Lockdown Bloggers’ disappearing as quickly as they arrived in 2020, I am left wondering whether or not Blogging has had its day.

From limited research, it would seem that Instagram and You Tube have attracted people who might otherwise have been blogging. The instant gratification of a photo or video is a lot less work that an 700-word blog post or a fiction serial, let’s face it.

Over the past few months, I have noticed that comments on my posts are almost always from the same group of people. No complaints about that, as they are my blogging friends, and I value their input and contribution to our community more than I can say.

But casting my eye over other blogs, there is definite evidence of a ‘slowdown’. Many are receiving fewer comments, and no replies to replies. The Reader seems to be being used to just ‘Like’ posts almost immediately, and the amount of comments generated by most posts is falling all over WordPress.

So, does this matter? Personally, I would blog to online tumbleweed, comments or not. But many bloggers are becoming frustrated by the lack of engagement in 2022, and I understand that frustration. I confess that I am lucky. I have amazing followers, regular comments, and daily blog views are usually around 300 since the ‘slowdown’.

Becoming part of such a community takes commitment, and a lot of time at the keyboard. Content is king. So if you do not post regularly, you will get sparse views of your old ones.

Let’s all agree to keep up with the blogs we follow. Show some encouragement, leave comments as well as likes, and keep the circle of blogging alive.

If not, what was it all for?

The Missing Bloggers

~ beetleypete ~ 69 Comments

I got to thinking about the bloggers who have gone ‘missing’, with little or no explanation.

I miss their posts, their comments, and their occasional emails too.

Some of you will remember them.

Michel. https://raistlin0903.wordpress.com/

Kim. https://cadburypom.wordpress.com/

Abbi Osbiston. https://abbiosbiston.com/about/

Wilma. https://lolawi.blog/

That is just a selection of four of them, but there have been many others. I believe some of you followed those featured.

I am worried about them. In some cases, I have emailed them a few times, and received no reply. Others have left their blog open with the last post published showing the date of their departure, reminding me of the tale of the Marie Celeste.

It is not my place to pester them, but blogging is all about community, and caring about our blogging friends.

So if any of you see those links or pingbacks, please let me know you are okay.

Enough Followers?

~ beetleypete ~ 72 Comments

I checked my Stats earlier, and realised that I am fast-approaching 9,000 followers on WordPress.

8,395 WP followers.
47 following by email.
382 following on social media.
Total : 8,824.

Okay, we all know that most of those don’t really ‘follow’. Some probably don’t even exist, or have long since stopped blogging.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that I have 2,000 active followers. They produce around 325-475 views a day, and generate a lot of comments, depending on how many posts I publish.

Many people begin blogging hoping to get 10,000 followers. Some would like to have 100,000 followers, or ten times that.

But if you love to interact with the community, as I do, and if you love your fellow bloggers and cherish them, as I do, then how many followers is too many?

Would you have time to comment on all the blogs you follow, or to reply to the comments you receive from your own followers?

If you are a serious community blogger, with a love of blogging, and a sense of responsibility to your followers, then there is a limit, based on what time you have available on a given day.

So I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but almost 9,000 followers, active or not, genuine or not, is enough for me to cope with.

Still Worried About Michel

~ beetleypete ~ 52 Comments

Despite my earlier post, and trying again to contact him by sending emails, I can still find no trace of fellow blogger, Michel.
https://raistlin0903.wordpress.com/

His blog is still online, but there hasn’t been a post on it since November the 25th, 2020.

It is so unlike Michel not to post, not to comment on the blogs he follows, or to reply to emails.

I have a bad feeling something awful has happened, and would dearly love to hear from anyone who has been in touch with him in 2021.

If you don’t want to reply in the comments, please send me an email (address on my About page) and I will keep your information to myself.

Thanks in advance, Pete.

Blogging: The Time Of Calm

~ beetleypete ~ 75 Comments

Not yet halfway through 2021, blogging on WordPress seems to have calmed down. I haven’t been put in Spam for some time now, and I am really pleased to still be able to use the Classic Editor for the time being.

Checking out the revised Block Editor, I found it was a lot easier to create a basic post, even adding photos and links. Many bloggers have completely embraced it now, and wouldn’t return to the old editor even if it was an option. Some of them are also producing excellent tip posts and video turorials which are a real help to those of us who find the technical changes daunting.

It seems we have found some middle ground, with those of us still clinging on to Classic currently able to do so, and some who hated the Block Editor coming around to see the benefit of its extra features. I don’t blog on a phone or tablet, I use a PC. So I cannot speak for those of you blogging on mobile devices. However, it does all seem to be going a lot more smoothly than expected in 2021.

And no, I am not going to say anything negative this time, I’m trying to be positive about my blogging hobby from now on.

Another bonus has been the number of new bloggers who seem to understand not only what to do, but how to do it well. They leave nice comments, reply to comments, and don’t expect everything to happen overnight. Well done to all of you who can recognise yourselves in that category. I hope you carry on blogging, and soon become part of this great community.

So that’s all really. After more than two years of constantly slagging off everything to do with ‘Mr Blocky’, I have finally stopped.

New Bloggers: A Helping Hand

~ beetleypete ~ 97 Comments

It seems that a lot of the new bloggers who have arrived on WordPress this year are keen to read about some tips and advice to help them get a start in blogging.

My three recent posts on the subject have received well over 2,300 views in a very short time.

Now we all have different ideas about what makes for good blogging, and also different views on blogging ‘etiquette’. For the new people to become part of any community will take some time of course. Meanwhile, we can all help them along the way with any useful tips and advice that might spring to mind.

I won’t be asking everyone to put up a post on the subject, don’t worry. You are all busy with your own blogs and lives, so another suggestion from me is the last thing you need.

That said, adding a comment to this post won’t take you long. It might help a new blogger, encourage them to continue to blog, and eventually grow this wonderful community that we all enjoy being a part of.

So all I am asking is that if you have any blogging rules you swear by, or some valuable tips that you have yet to share, just add them as a comment below.

The post will stay up, and hopefully be found by many of those new bloggers.

Thanks in advance, and best wishes to everyone. Pete.

Concern For A ‘Missing’ Blogger

~ beetleypete ~ 41 Comments

Has anybody heard anything from Michel, who blogs at https://raistlin0903.wordpress.com/ ?

He hasn’t posted anything for ages, not since November 2020, and didn’t reply to an email I sent him a while ago.

I remember him saying he had been unwell, so I am really worried about him.

Perhaps you can let me know, if you have been in contact with him.

Thanks, Pete.

The Modern Salonnière

~ beetleypete ~ 46 Comments

Pippa has let us know the sad news of the death of Sarah Vernon. Accomplished actress and artist, and one of the cornerstones of our blogging community for many years. She published the sites Rogues and Vagabonds, First Night Design, First Night History, and First Night Art. One of the first bloggers I followed, and someone I am proud to say I counted as a good friend.

SCRATCH POST

This is a post from 2013 dedicated to my great friend, Sarah Vernon, who died last week.

Through bad health and bad luck, Sarah’s acting career was cut short. Like many actors’ children, she could never be sure if she would have gone into the entertainment industry if her parents had not been actors. It wasn’t an industry for Sarah: it was a romance and an art. Being an actor wasn’t a job for Sarah: it was body and soul, an act of love uniting emotional aspiration with technical accomplishment, a child’s dream of perfection made real. Don’t put your daughter on the stage.

Sarah could have been a casualty of the devil’s profession, but she had a brain, a life-sustaining sense of humour, and other artistic and literary talents. She engaged in the present and the past with equal intellectual force, she was computer and internet savvy, and…

View original post 74 more words

Happy New Year

~ beetleypete ~ 126 Comments

I would like to wish all my lovely blogging friends a Happy New year for 2021. I doubt it could be worse than 2020, and we do have some hope now, with vaccination programmes being rolled out around the world.

Let’s all keep blogging, keep communicating, and continue to expand this great community that we love to be a part of.

My very best wishes to you all, Pete. X

A Blogging Year

~ beetleypete ~ 73 Comments

Only a couple of days to go before the end of 2020, a year that most of us will be pleased to see the back of. Let’s hope that vaccination programmes will lead to some major improvements in 2021, and life might start to feel normal again for many of us. Those who have lost loved ones will still find it hard to cope of course, and the businesses forced to close, and those who have lost careers or jobs, will face a complete readjustment of their lives.

In the world of blogging, lockdowns and lack of movement saw an explosion of new bloggers like never before. Many hoped to increase their income, or just start an online business. Whether by offering SEO and other blogging services, online courses, or just selling cosmetics. Thousands of entrepreneurial people took to blogging as a route to make some money. Most found out that it doesn’t work like that. Bloggers do not rush to buy such services, especially blog promotion services, fake reviews, and social media accounts that are built up to 5,000 followers before being offered for sale.

Do people actually buy Twitter Accounts, Instagram Accounts, or someone else’s blog? That was a new one for me, in a strange year.

Like some other bloggers, a little more time on my hands meant that I posted more. As well as fiction serials, I explored some more random stuff, and the popularity of those posts took me by surprise. I hardly posted photos during the past year. I lost the ‘muse’ for photography, along with any desire to read fiction. That surpised me, as I had been doing well with reading up to that point. But lack of concentration seemed to be one side effect of tthe pandemic that tended to overwhelm me at times.

2020 also saw an increase in followers, as new bloggers looked around for blogs to follow, and blogging communities to become part of. The other side of that coin was losing some regular followers that had been around for years. Maybe they stopped blogging, got fed up with following my particular blog, or just found a new hobby to pursue.

Some died during the past year, which was sad to hear. Others took extended breaks from blogging; whether through illness, lack of continued interest, or the pressures associated with dealing with familiy and work during a very difficult time. I hope some of them come back, I really do.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who has stuck by my blog, during this unprecedented year in our lifetimes. All the followers and friends who have been around since the start, and those new followers who have thrown themselves into blogging, and become great members of our small community.

I thank each and every one of you for your comments, your likes, and your emails. Thanks for reading my very long serials, and my everyday stuff about walking a dog in all weathers.

In your own ways, you have got me through 2020. I doubt I could have done it without you.