I have noticed how much people whine and complain about not getting stats lately. I won’t say anymore on this subject as you know who you are. If you did your homework well, you would know that stats go up and down at certain times. It’s a natural flow in our daily lives. Networking is a process of connecting to others and promoting your blog. It lets others know you are out there. Truth is, I am guilty of this insane habit too. I go through my email everyday, networking to create responses and overflow to people in the blogging world. Sometimes, I have so much clutter in my email that I quickly glance at the posts, deleting unnecessary ones or uninterested (boring) ones. I go through my reader, clicking the blogs that get the most followers to follow. You can’t tell me that many of you haven’t been there either. It’s human nature. In the three months I’ve been blogging, I found it essential to keep up with bloggers everyday. I sit by my computer hours each day, frantically looking for social media and channels to promote my books. Not just promotion, but to connect to others also. It’s been amazing as I’ve met some incredible people all over the world. Plus, my busiest time was last week with the help of Harsh Reality Challenge (thanks Jason and Shawn for reblogging) and Meet and Greet (thanks Janice). Staying in touch with others, even with a like or hello, is interacting, much more with a follow. What happened to just having fun with it and enjoying yourself? My goal is to find at least 10 blogs or more a day to follow. I won’t set this in concrete but have had success with following blogs and getting followers, especially this past month. Are we such a social media frenzy ‘society’ that we have to have great stats these days? Rather, has blogging become a chore to get the most viewers and not great content? In the past decade, social media has become an overkill universally known to profit among readers. With the majority of the average viewers, we are in awe as we digest all the social media crap piling up inside our heads; the garbage that collects unless we unload our mental hard drives.
Is Social Media Becoming An Overkill?
30 Monday Mar 2015
Posted Monday Madness
in
I agree with your premise. Stats are nuts, but without metrics, how do we know anything?
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Thanks Fred. I thought I would get some angry email but so far it’s been positive. 🙂
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Thanks so much for the shout out Anne!
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You’re welcome. 🙂
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Correction: Thank you for the Shout OUTS! =)
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You’re welcome. No thanks necessary. 🙂
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Thanks for the mention and tag! 🙂
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You’re welcome. No thanks is necessary. 🙂
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Checking stats constantly is a sure fire way to drive yourself crazy! I refuse to go through that again.
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I agree. I found myself feeling disappointed when my stats weren’t high and maybe a little too confident when they were high.
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Just when I think I’ve broken out of the “I must check my stats” syndrome, I return to checking them again. When I think I have a good day, I want to see them. When I think I’ve had a bad stats day, I don’t.
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Yes, It can be a tough habit to break.
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Yes it can. 🙂
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I believe we all do that from time to time. I think real success is when we don’t allow stats to persuade us either way. Thanks for the reply. 🙂
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I agree with you that we should connect with our audiences, I have 1900+ followers moved from my other blog. But most of them are dead zombies lol
It was my fault for not connecting with audiences back then but I have revised everything on my newest blog.
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Raymond, thanks for the response.I have learned that keeping in touch helps, especially making ‘connections.’ People tend to lose interest after while or die out because no interaction. They move on to other things, as they should, I agree. I think it’s great on your followers. Best wishes. 🙂
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I don’t look at stats anymore. I have made a vow to myself to concentrate on the quality of the writing that I share. If I post once a week, fine. If I feel like posting a lot in one day on different subjects, that’s fine too.
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Thank you Bethie. I think it is tragic that we have to be concerned for stats instead of enjoying blogging. Well said! 🙂
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Thanks Anne,your post spoke directly to me I am one who was getting discouraged by not getting viewers and yet I was not investing time in visiting other bloggers sites. I am grateful for your advice. Having said that I would like to say I try to share what is important to me with the hope that someone will find the post inspiring or thought provoking. Thank you for the hint Anne.
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It takes time to “smart” network with others. But that is the ingredient that does it. By touching base with other bloggers (it’s time-consuming I know) and following up with some sort of interaction (follow, like or post), one can increase their followers. Glad you found it helpful. 🙂 Best wishes and thanks for replying.
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I agree. That’s why I choose to use wordpress only.
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Thank you and for the follow. 🙂
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Welcome 🙂
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Good food for thought, there. What I like to see grow is not so much the number of followers per se, but the (much small) number of followers I truly communicate with.
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I think that is important to consistently communicate with other bloggers you have a connection to. Good luck and best wishes. 🙂
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Thank you & likewise 🙂
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Yeah I gave up on stat checking a month ago, it’s tends to drive you batty. All of us start blogging for ourselves and sometimes forget that. As for keeping up on the reader while trying to promote your stuff GOOD LUCK, unless you just sit in front of your computer 24/7 it’s impossible. I have people I like to read daily but others I just miss from time to time.
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I agree. Stats will drive you crazy and I stay on the computer way too long. I should be out with this beautiful springtime weather. It’s starting to get warmer here lately. Thanks for the reply. 🙂
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This is an interesting post! I’ve only been blogging for a few short months as well. But one thing I always try to remember (despite how exciting the first few comments of praise I got!) was to post good content that can help my students or others learning English. I think sometimes stats are kind of useless because often times bloggers will just like something to get attention from other bloggers. The quantity of likes does not always mean there is quality content. But, getting actual feedback from your genuine readers is what matters more. 🙂
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Thank you so much. I find it interesting that you teach people to understand English better. That is a hard job. I admire your honesty and believe that people are preoccupied with stats, instead of just enjoying blogging. As I quoted in post, I am guilty of this too from time to time. It wasn’t written to be critical or anger people, but rather to think about what they are doing. Thanks for the response. Best wishes! 🙂
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Yes, I am guilty of it sometimes too! Thank you and thank you for your post. 🙂
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I am at the point where I’m intermittently connecting with an audience, although it’s not that reliable yet. I’m not sure what the skill set is but at least sometimes I feel like I’m hovering around it.
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Thank you, Joseph. It took me a little while to connect to an audience. Constant posts, likes, follows and comments. I think the mindset is to get the greatest number of viewers, although I think the connection you make to others is most important to me.
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Great post on a tough subject! I do watch stats–though not as obsessively as I did at the beginning. I feel best when I write something I love. And I feel best when someone responds with a thoughtful comment that connects us. This evening I’m visiting bloggers. YAY! I love doing it–getting ideas and perspectives, having a chance to have my say in writing! It’s all good. And yes, it’s very time-consuming. So I also know that I have to say No to it all some days and just do something else. Very hard to do. As I’m still finding out….
Elouise
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Thank you, Eloise. I appreciate the kind comments. I thought I would have some angry responses but so far they’ve been positive or neutral. Anne 🙂
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Hi Anne, on the subject of follows, thank you for your vote of confidence. I agree it’s important to network or I like to look at it as having a cup of coffee together and a chat. My blog is personal and therefore I like to communicate with people that way. Aside from sharing knowledge, and writing as therapeutic, by far the best part about blogging is creating connections – the community.
Be well 🙂
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Thank you! I agree connection with other bloggers is important and it certainly one of the reasons I blog. Being personal is actually where you want to be at as far as communicating with others. People tend to relate to that more and most can tell when you are upfront with them or not. Anne 🙂
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I feel for you, hon. Been there-done that and I am so done with it all. 🙂
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Thank you, Elizabeth. Sweet comment and I appreciate your reply. Anne 🙂
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Thank you, Elizabeth. Sweet comment and I appreciate your reply. Anne 🙂
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Great posting with meaningful info for the blogging community.
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Thank you.
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