Yesterday when I was scrolling my Pinterest feed, I came across a pin about why companies fail. There was this tip about having followers on social media etc. It was about a business but it’s good advice for blogging too. Having copious of followers on your blog doesn’t mean they actually read your blog. I always say the quality is better than quantity. You can have thousands of followers but you can never guarantee how many of them actually read the blog. Maybe some only collect followers so they can feel good about themselves. Blogging is not only for reading but also for interacting with others. I can understand if you don’t know what to say or you’re shy about leaving a comment. I don’t always comment on other people’s blogs either. Only writing ‘Great post’ isn’t really constructive. A like is better than an unimaginative comment.
There is a lot of tips about how to gain more followers but you can forget that. A lot of those tips are about how to get customers. Not so much about blogging as a hobby. Getting followers is a marathon. It takes time. Some blogs might get more in a short time but for some, it takes longer. It’s not a competition where the person with the most follows in a week or a month gets a big prize. Promoting your blog on social media is waste of time if you ask me. If your blog is on WordPress, only people who also are on it can follow your blog. Correct me if I’m wrong. None of my friends on Facebook or even on Twitter read blogs. I don’t think anyone has found this blog on social media even if I post there regularly. Especially on Twitter. It’s like talking to a wall sometimes. It’s more likely to get readers to your blog through WordPress Reader than on social media.
Having followers and having readers is two different things. Many celebrities have millions of followers but how many of them actually read what they write. Maybe people only follow them because it’s cool. None of these celebs interacts with their fans for real. How would they have time anyway? Sometimes you can see some of them responding to their fans. Like Pink or Stephen Fry. It’s not an issue for them if people are followers or readers. For them, it’s just sharing things. For us ‘normal’ people it’s more important. Maybe not everyone but some of us rather have readers to our blogs than just followers. We want to share things but we also want interaction. You really can’t wait for people to find your blog. You have to comment on other people’s blog post too. This is something I forget about it myself. I try to reply to every comment I get. If I don’t, at least I like the comment just to prove I read it.
Having too many followers and following a lot is a bit superficial. No one has that much time so they could read every blog they follow. I would rather follow a blog if I actually read it. Some people brag about how many followers they have. It’s really off-putting. You got to have some dignity and not sell yourself short. I wonder if these people ever got enough attention at home or why do they have such urge to get noticed. If you want to become an internet prostitute, be my guest. Most of us want to keep our self-respect. Our life is not about how many followers we have. Having copious of followers doesn’t mean a thing. It’s about people who actually care.
In my world 
You’re right, very few of my FaceBook friends read my blog, they just click like on FB, but I know they haven’t actually read the post. I was just about to say the same thing as Taswegian–you can have a thousand FaceBook “friends” but how many are real friends? Better 10 genuine friends than a thousand pseudo friends.
Same thing goes for Instagram. Everyone clicking likes so they get likes back. I’ve seen some with 20 thousand followers yet only 300 likes, that’s not a good ratio. My Instagram is sadly neglected, I just don’t have enough hours in the day. However, with only 200 followers and between 30 and 60 likes thats a better ratio. Sure we all like to be liked, but I don’t get my self-worth by what others think.
What I do like about blogging, is being able to express myself and use it as a creative outlet, it’s a fun hobby and I like meeting interesting people around the globe.
❤️carmen
LikeLike
Internet is both a blessing and a curse. Thank you for your well put comment.
LikeLike
I don’t have a huge number of followers. I check the list from time to time and I’m sure some of them are not real people or not really interested in the blog. I know there are a small group who read it regularly and comment or like and that matters more to me. I can’t read all the blogs I follow every day and I don’t expect others to either. Some I do, others I just “drop in” if they have written something that appeals to me or just to see what they have written lately. I usually notice if favourite bloggers have disappeared for a week or so without explanation.
I did share my posts on Facebook until they changed the rules recently and I know that a few people read it. My Facebook is only available to family and friends though. I haven’t yet decided if I want to start a Facebook page just to publicise the blog. The small number of people involved made it just as easy to post the link to the blog and if people want to go there and follow it via the Reader or email they can. I haven’t noticed a big drop in views so I don’t feel Facebook was a big factor. Most of the things you read about getting followers are about getting customers really. This is my hobby and I’m not interested in tailoring my writing to certain groups of people the way a business based blog would do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My Facebook is also for friends only. I had a FB page to my photography blog but only 5 people followed it so I deleted it. I had it about 2 years or so. I don’t think you can find new followers through a page. Maybe if you’re lucky.
Some people want more followers even if they don’t have a business. All these ‘How I got 1000 followers in a week’ are silly’ I looked that up yesterday just for fun 🙂
I did once follow someone who ‘collected’ followers and then kept bragging about it. It was on Tumblr. I stopped following that person just because of that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would have too. It’s like people who collect Facebook friends. They are not real friends, especially not celebrities. I quite agree with you.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have tons of followers and I think they are all Russian hackers because 14,500 people do NOT read my blog! I get tons of followers. I have no idea why because I never hear from them again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s what the problem is with internet in general. All these bots, hackers etc spoil all the fun for other people.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true! I’ve thought all along that numbers of followers is a truly superficial indication of the importance of bloggers….unless of course the blogger is trying to make a living off of their blog with advertisers then they need the numbers to statically have a chance to get enough click throughs to make it work. Personally, I’d rather have a personal connection with my readers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too. I couldn’t make money blogging. Too much stress.
LikeLiked by 1 person