Has Blogging Reached Its Peak?

September 23, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 103 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?

Still On Top!

September 23, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 31 Comments

In 2016, I published a post about a British Acid-Jazz band, Jamiroquai.

Whatever happened to?: Jamiroquai

This soon became something of a phenomenon on my blog, with an incredible number of views. Since then, not a single day has passed without that post getting at least one view.

Today, I noticed that it had been viewed twice, so checked my all-time stats. Sure enough, it is still there at number one, with total views of 5,847.

Comments Changes On WordPress

September 20, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 77 Comments

Since posting recently about not being able to leave comments on blogs I follow, I have managed to cure that problem by using the Reader to comment on posts where that was happening.

However, there seems to be something else happening with WP, double comments.

When someone comments on my blog posts, I get an email notification. That’s as it has always been. But now when they reply to my reply, I get two emails containing that reply. One is notified as a reply to my comment, the second one notified as a ‘new comment’ on my blog post.

To add to that, I am also getting notifications about my own comments, as if it is not my blog. “Beetleypete has left a comment”.

This has trebled the amount of emails I receive in the space of two weeks, as sometimes there will be six email notifications about one comment and a reply.

Has anyone else noticed this development, or is it just affecting me?

Both Unwell

July 22, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 86 Comments

Just a quick update.

Ollie managed to finally lie down at 10:30pm last night. He also had a drink of water, his first for over 10 hours. He is not that much better today, and was very stiff-legged on his short walk. But at least he can rest properly now.

I am also unwell, so I will not be posting anything, or reading anyone else’s posts today. Sorry about that.

I hope to be able to get around to replying to all the comments on my posts tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I am going back to bed.

Reblog Blogger

May 10, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 44 Comments

You might have noticed that I have reblogged a couple of posts today. While I seem to be languishing in a ‘blogging downtime’ where my own posts are concerned, I thought I might as well do something useful, and reblog posts from some of the people I follow. Think of me as a ‘Reblog Blogger’ for now.

So with that in mind, if you would like me to reblog something, please add a link below in the comments.

Not too many photos though please, (it counts to my allowance) and you already have to be following this blog.

Best wishes to all, Pete.

WP Help Requested

March 6, 2022March 6, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 8 Comments

***UPDATE. I now have the answer, so please ignore this post.***

Does anyone know what has happened to the list of the most popular posts on the Admin pages?

At one time, I used to click on ‘View All’
then ‘Insights’,
then ‘All Time’
On the next page would be lists of various things, including most popular posts in order.

That part seems to have disappeared, or maybe I am doing something wrong.

If you can still access that, I would appreciate knowing how.

Thanks in advance, Pete.

Trouble Keeping Up

January 30, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 43 Comments

With the decluttering finally drawing to a close, (Six bags of my old clothes and shoes destined for the Charity Shops) I have had another busy weekend.

Now dinnertime is approaching this Sunday evening. I have had no spare time to write my next serial episode, and the posts of bloggers I follow keep arriving in my inbox.

So, I cannot keep up today.

Bear with me, and I will read and comment on all of your posts eventually.

My First Musings Of 2022

January 1, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 87 Comments

I’m musing on the wrong day here, but at this time of year I have to look at my calendar to know what day it is. Apparently, it is Saturday. As it is a ‘sort-of’ public holiday here, and most people will not be out and about or back at work until the 4th, it feels like yet another Sunday.
(The 3rd is the official public holiday, because today fell on a weekend.)
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I managed to stay up and awake to see 2022 arrive. In fact I didn’t go to bed until 2am. My perkiness was assisted by only having one glass of wine with my dinner. The Tapas-style buffet we chose to prepare was delicious, and eaten over a decent amount of time as we sat around watching the poor choice of seasonal TV provided.
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I am going to try to be a little more positive about things this year. Here is one example.
It rains too much in Beetley, and that gets on my nerves. So here is a positive slant on that for New Year’s Day.
Too much rain = never having a water shortage.
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My driving licence expires in March. That is because I will be 70 years old. In Britain, that means I have to make a ‘Medical Declaration’ that I am fit to drive, and also supply proof of my identity all over again. It is such a faff to do this. They recommend you do it online, but I have no scanner to scan documents. The paper form requires that I send original documents as proof that I am who I say I am, and it comes with a warning that there is a very long backlog of applications already. I was hoping to win the lottery so that I could just abandon driving and employ a full-time chauffeur.
Sadly, that did not happen.
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Ollie is going to be 10 in February. For his breed, that is a considerable age, close to 80 in human years. His fur is still patchy, and refusing to grow back. Some other dog-walkers seem to be avoiding me recently, as they are convinced his skin condition must be contagious. Covid-19 has made people fear anything unusual.
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I intend to cook a Chinese meal tonight. Duck in hoisin sauce, stir-fried with suitable vegetables and noodles. After days of making do with leftovers or eating huge traditional roast dinners and High Tea, I am yearning for something Asian and spicy.
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The brakes on my car are making a nasty ‘squeaking noise’. When life gets back to normal on the 4th, I fear I am going to have to take it in for examination and repair. No doubt this will be my first financial downturn of 2022, as I can already hear the mechanic’s cash register ringing up a huge bill.
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On the plus side, I am looking forward to reading all your posts in the coming year, and I might even be having my usual moans about bloggers who follow with no link to their site, or others who think that a one-word comment like ‘Nice’ is acceptable. (It isn’t, and you get spammed for it by me)
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The sun is shining brightly. That’s two days in a row. I am taking that as a sign!

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