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Things I Don’t Understand About Blogging

by sj

This is the Snobbery’s 100th post.  I started with a rant, so I’m celebrating this milestone with a rant.   Appropriate, yes?

  • The ideal post length is 250-450 words.  Says who?  I hate that we – as citizens of the future – have such short attention spans that we can’t pay attention to things for longer than a paragraph.  It makes me sad, really.  I had a friend the other day tell me that she skims my posts because they’re too long and she’s got chat, email, facebook, etc going at the same time.  I’m not mad at her for being honest, but if that’s the case – and you know I get long-winded – why even bother clicking?  To tell me that you didn’t read it?  
  • Mediocrity is praised and quality content languishes in relative obscurity.  I read a lot.  Books and blogs, and this is a problem for both currently.  We don’t want to take the time to read something that is well-written and thought out and (god forbid) makes us think, so we pass it by in favour of the shorter, less engaging read.  Because the first (arguably) better blog/book/whatever was skipped past, we have no idea what we’re missing, so that crap sandwich the second book/blog/whatever is feeding us starts to seem like it tastes pretty good.
  • Tagging things as ‘Humor’ when you (as the author) are perfectly aware that your post is not even remotely funny.  If it’s a story about how your kitty dying led you to accept Jesus as your Saviour…THAT IS NOT FUNNY!
  • People who click on every post with a given tag, only to ‘like’ it without reading the content.  I’m serious.  There are a few people I’m positive open every single blog that tags a post ‘Books,’ click like, then immediately move on to the next one.  It’s obviously a ploy to drive traffic to their own blog, right?  Why is this acceptable behaviour?  AND WHY DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE THOUSANDS OF FOLLOWERS?
  • For the Freshly Pressed gods – why do your ‘Tips For Being Freshly Pressed’ say that you don’t pick mature blogs, and that you’ll ask people to fix typos before they’re put up?  Lately I’ve been seeing a LOT of mature content and the worst typos ever being featured.   It’s disheartening that you’re not even following your own rules about it.  Please make an effort to at least have something worth reading once in a while?  Please?
  • Photo Blogs.  Okay, so there are some that make sense.  Some people actually are photographers, and their work is amazingly beautiful, and I can understand why people want to look at it.  What about the people that are just posting crappy pictures of their vacations, though?  ”Here’s me in front of some stupid sign that no one but me will think is funny!”  SHUT UP!  Why are we praising this?
  • Oops, I’ve hit the word count limit, you’re probably not reading anymore.  Oh well.
  • So-called Curators.  These are the blogs that don’t even bother trying to come up with their own content, they just re-blog all the other idiocy some other lazy person came up with…when usually they stole it from someone else in the first place.  It’s even worse for me when the ‘curator’ doesn’t even take the time to comment on the stuff they’re re-posting.
  • Bloggers that don’t even acknowledge when anyone comments on their posts.  Ever.  Why leave it open for comments if you’re not even going to answer a direct question?

Back tomorrow with less ranty content.  There are a few books that Meg and I have both read, so we’ll be talking about those.  Thanks for sticking with us through 100 posts, guys.  <3

Posted on March 23, 2012 at 9:48 am in Rant   |  RSS feed |   Respond   |   Trackback URL

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55 Responses to “Things I Don’t Understand About Blogging”

    
  1. reverend61
    March 23, 2012 at 9:56 am

    I know what you mean. I can’t stand it when people seem to have no attention span, and will skim through a post because they can’t concentrate for more th- SQUIRREL!

    Reply
  2. Michael Cargill
    March 23, 2012 at 10:00 am

    Some real passion going on there sister and I agree with some of it.

    The word-length thing, I actually agree with the ideal length of a post and it is probably down to how I ‘see’ blogs. For instance I can happily read a long and detailed article in The Economist about the Brazilian economy, yet I often look at long blog posts as a chore. It depends on the blog of course and how the post is laid out – your posts are broken up with amusing pictures for instance – and a few other variables, but it is probably because people view blogs as being something for quick entertainment.

    Same for YouTube videos, I find myself skipping any intros that last more than half a second. Yet I will happily sit down and watch 15 hours of WWII documentaries.

    The fly-by ‘likers’ are annoying though and that re-blog button is a stupid idea.

    Reply
  3. reverend61
    March 23, 2012 at 10:02 am

    Sorry. I was teasing a bit there. I agree with most of what you’ve written.

    Photo blogs are thorny ground. I know what you mean about dull pictures of signs, but stuff like that is incredibly subjective (unlike, say, writing, which is sometimes good writing and sometimes bad writing, end of). For example, I consider my own photo blog to be worthwhile because I have handpicked a selection of images from the many that I own that I thought worth sharing, for one reason or another. But then I have a natural bias.

    Replying to comments, also, is a double-edged sword. If someone says “Ha ha, this is funny!” on one of my blogs, I will always hesitate before replying. And sometimes I don’t. Because where do you go from that? Saying “Thanks! I thought so too” or even just a simple “Thanks!” feels a little like fishing for further compliments. Sometimes less is more.

    I’m probably a little guilty of liberal tagging as well, if only because all my blogs are in their relative infancy and to be honest I need all the exposure I could get. I don’t go down the humour / unhumour path, although having said that I do remember being in a conversation years ago about the death of a friend’s mother that was, for a crazy, bizarre reason, absolutely hysterical. Perhaps you had to be there. Still kittens / Jesus…don’t rule it out!

    (And keep writing. I always enjoy your posts.)

    Reply
    • sj
      March 23, 2012 at 10:38 am

      I suppose I could have been clearer. I was mostly talking about the blogs that are a photo-documentation of the day. “Here I am eating breakfast, here’s my breakfast, then I ran to the restroom, here’s the toilet, then we went to visit my great-aunt that I’ve never met before, here’s her dog that’s almost as old as she is…”

      I understand the comments that you’re talking about (and I guess I’m lucky that I don’t get too many of those), but I was primarily thinking of the bloggers that never respond to comments. I have followed a few of them, and try to engage, only to unfollow once I realize that there will never be any interaction at all.

      I realize that humour is subjective, I really do. I think we all know that there are some people, though, that realize no one is going to think their post is funny, but they still do it anyway because they know that tag is visited frequently.

      (and thank you)

      Reply
  4. Tiffany (lifewithblondie)
    March 23, 2012 at 10:15 am

    There’s a word limit? Uh-oh…. I’ve been told my blogs are too long, and I always think to myself, do you want the commercial or the show? Come on now, how hard can it be to read one page?? If it makes you feel any better I know someone with a very personal connection to the WordPress CEO and that STILL did not get me Freshly Pressed! LOL

    Reply
  5. lucysfootball
    March 23, 2012 at 10:34 am

    Agreed! AGREED!

    I ignore all the rules. I know I could have more followers if I followed them – but would they be quality followers? Probably not. Don’t care. I’m mostly there to entertain myself, anyway. I’m just happy that some people are digging it.

    Freshly Pressed confuses the hell out of me. It’s almost a page of blogs for me NOT to visit at this point.

    I LOVE responding to comments! It’s one of my favorite parts of my day! I don’t understand bloggers that don’t. It makes me think they think they’re *above* all that, and that turns me right the hell off. I know, I know. We’re all busy, and some comments don’t need replies, etc. – but put in a little effort, the commenters did! Sometimes I have the best conversations in my comments!

    Reply
    • sj
      March 23, 2012 at 10:41 am

      Thanks, Amy. <3

      I was thinking of your blog a lot when I was posting this. You're one of my favourite people to visit on a daily basis because you always make me laugh and I DON'T CARE that you frequently break 2000 words. Like, at ALL.

      Re: FP – there was one the other day that was on a subject you'd recently posted about and yours was by far superior. Theirs was a bunch of info copied from wikipedia with a poem by a famous poet pasted in. How is that "the best of" anything? Seriously? Are the posts even being read before they're chosen, or is it all based on title and tag now?

      Comments are the best part of my day, too. Really. Just knowing that anyone at all bothered to read my ramblings and let me know that they did so still makes me super happy.

      Reply
  6. Brenna
    March 23, 2012 at 10:44 am

    I don’t even know what “Freshly Pressed” is. That must mean that I’m an utter failure at blogging. Congratulations on making it to 100 posts!

    Reply
    • sj
      March 23, 2012 at 11:02 am

      Freshly Pressed is the wordpress equivalent of the hand of god reaching down and giving your blog his/her/its blessing for the day. Several posts are picked each weekday to be featured on the front page, so theoretically, you can receive tons of traffic and followers.

      Sometimes there’s something worth reading there, but lately it doesn’t seem like anyone is trying at all. It makes me sad because I know they sometimes have awesome posts featured (like my friends whose blogs have been FPed), but more often than not it’s the same thing you see written about on hundreds of other blogs. [shrug]

      Reply
  7. ariella42
    March 23, 2012 at 11:03 am

    I understand if some people aren’t interested enough in a particular blog post to read the entirety of it if it’s long, but not reading anything that’s over 450 words is a little ridiculous. If someone doesn’t want to learn how to make sheet music flowers, they shouldn’t read that post. Not because it’s 834 words long.

    I also agree with your comment about mediocrity being praised, because no one takes the time to read anything truly literary. I’ve read, and will continue to read, plenty of crappy yet entertaining novels (and blogs). I spend a lot of time reading law books (as I’m a law student), so sometimes it’s really nice to read something that I don’t have to put much thought into that I’ll be finished with in a few hours (or seconds in the case of blogs), but I recognize that material for what it is. The problem is that for a lot of people, that’s all they ever read, so they think that something on the upper end of shit is a fantastic literary work. They’ve often never read anything of any real merit that they weren’t forced to read in high school or college.

    Reply
    • sj
      March 23, 2012 at 3:00 pm

      The problem is that for a lot of people, that’s all they ever read, so they think that something on the upper end of shit is a fantastic literary work.

      This. I absolutely agree with this.

      I feel like there’s a certain school of thought that goes “I’m doing them a favour just by clicking on their blog, why do they care if I read it?” If I wasn’t writing things that I would hope people would want to read and have an actual discussion about, I would either not post them or I’d keep a private journal/blog. If it’s public, I’m hoping we can have a conversation. I’m not asking that everyone agree with everything I say – I put it out there because I’d like to actually – y’know- discuss it.

      Reply
  8. John
    March 23, 2012 at 11:44 am

    We all want to be read so I’m of the “do unto others” mindset. But in the end, at least from my perch, it’s all about the quality of the content. I hold myself to the fire and try to pop up stuff that required effort/thought of some sort. (And I’m probably not as strict with myself as I should). If what I write or photograph attracts genuine interst, great. If I get Freshly Pressed, that would be nice too. However, neither are my ultimate goal. My goal is to produce quality and improve my craft. I just happen to be doing it in a public forum.

    Reply
  9. Brian James Freeman
    March 23, 2012 at 12:05 pm

    Sorry, I stopped reading at word #251…
    ;)

    Reply
  10. becomingcliche
    March 23, 2012 at 12:51 pm

    I am one of the short-attention span readers. Although if a blog is well-constructed and well-written, the more words the better. Trashy Tuesdays, for instance.

    I have read (or tried to read) a number of blogs that were walls of text without paragraphs. Sorry. Can’t do it. If the thoughts aren’t well-organized, I usually don’t have the time to wade through it.

    I have learned not to judge FP by the post that actually GETS pressed. It seems they now pick the blog itself ahead of time, but they may actually FP the most recent post. So it’s not necessarily the blogger’s best work. I was bummed when i saw which post of mine had been made FP. Definitely not the one I would have chosen.

    Happy 100!

    Reply
    • sj
      March 23, 2012 at 3:07 pm

      I think this is no longer the case with regards to Freshly Pressed. Especially recently, they’ve been choosing posts from a month or more ago, and there will be many more recent posts from that blogger to choose from. As I’m sure you’re aware after having been FPed, most of your visitors comment on one or two posts, but then don’t even bother to look around at your other (sometimes better) content. I find that both frustrating and saddening.

      I agree that sometimes the walls o’ text can be off-putting, but to just dismiss it when you see that it’s a longer post than you’d anticipated makes no sense to me…especially if it’s a subject that you’re interested in. I never follow someone based on just one post. If I read it and see that it’s something I like, I usually go through and read at least two pages of their backposts to see if they’re consistently something I’d enjoy reading.

      Reply
  11. Tom Baker
    March 23, 2012 at 1:04 pm

    This is a great list and I just wrote two posts on your number four point (People who click on every post with a given tag, only to ‘like’ it without reading the content). Surprisingly you do not even have to visit the post to click like. Oh, and I’ve been subtly teaching bloggers the art of replying to comments. it seems to be working! A wonderful list and a blog worth looking into. I’m a huge Doctor Who fan too!

    Reply
    • sj
      March 23, 2012 at 3:10 pm

      I did go check out your posts, and I have to say that it never even occurred to me that people were liking straight from the Follow page. I follow many different subjects and always click through to read if it’s something I’m interested in. I would never have thought to just click the like button without bothering to even OPEN THE POST! Ugh. So frustrating. Now the people I see over and over liking everything make more sense.

      I feel like I may have come across as more angry when writing this than I’d originally intended. I even spent a good bit of time revising it this morning before I posted it because I didn’t want it to seem like I was mad at the people who regularly visit and read, but don’t have a whole lot to say. That’s not the point I was trying to make at all. It’s the Like Spammers that really get to me, and the people who don’t have an attention span greater than that of my five year old.

      Reply
      • Tom Baker
        March 23, 2012 at 3:26 pm

        SJ, as you probably saw, I felt the need to redo the original post because I think some people misunderstood me the first time. Liking and not commenting for those who regularly drop in were not the object/subject of either post. Thank you for reading. I appreciate it.

        Reply
  12. arinndembo
    March 23, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    Interesting rant. I was not aware of most of these things, perhaps because I do not blog as seriously as I should.

    Reply
    • sj
      March 23, 2012 at 3:12 pm

      Hi, Arinn! Thanks for visiting (truly).

      I don’t know that I’d consider myself a serious blogger. If I did, I probably wouldn’t be bothered by these things – I’d just accept them as the standard. I guess that means I will likely never actually be taken seriously, but I do have a small core group of people that I can usually count on to at least read the majority of what I put out. That does make a difference and never fails to put a smile on my face.

      Reply
  14. Howlin' Mad Heather
    March 23, 2012 at 5:55 pm

    Congrats on your well-deserved milestone. This is certainly a quality blog and one I actually read (well, at least up to word #250).

    My biggest pet peeve are some of these blogs that are obviously complete and utter garbage: lame photos, tons of typos, every other word is OMG…you know what I’m talking about. And yet these people seem to have hundreds or even thousands of followers, and yet intellectual blogs like this one may not. I guess it’s just like high school. The vapid airheads become popular and the serious students are called nerds. Ah, well, I say quality over quantity. :) Keep at it!

    Reply
    • sj
      March 25, 2012 at 1:03 pm

      Yeah, Meg and I were talking about that the other day. It seems if you’re a 19 year old hipstery girl that calls herself a nerd, you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a popular blog. Sad, but…[shrug]

      Reply
  15. rumpydog
    March 23, 2012 at 7:36 pm

    Ya know, you are welcome to do your blog any way you want to. There are no ‘rules,’ despite what people say.

    Reply
  16. Kate Sherrod
    March 23, 2012 at 9:50 pm

    I read this all the way to the end. What do I win?

    Reply
  17. beckyday6
    March 24, 2012 at 7:23 am

    You make some great points, the last one especially annoys me!

    Reply
  18. workinacheeseshop
    March 24, 2012 at 1:02 pm

    Bah, you have too many comments, so I don’t think I can read to the end of your post. :P

    Reply
  19. inmidnights
    March 24, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    “People who click on every post with a given tag, only to ‘like’ it without reading the content.” THIS. You can like my entries all you want, but I ain’t checking you out.

    It is also very annoying when you have a giveaway post and people can’t be arsed to read the entirety of the instructions. (I would rather think this, instead of the alternative that they’re just too stupid to understand simple instructions.) And then they have the gall to complain when you disqualify them, what the actual fuck.

    Reply
    • sj
      March 25, 2012 at 1:17 pm

      I only make a habit out of visiting people who comment. Maybe that’s snobby of me (which is possible ;) ), but if you’re not making an effort to engage, I don’t need to waste my time.

      I’ve never done a giveaway myself on the blog (although I’ve been considering it – I have a ton of ARCs that could probably go to good homes), but I’ve heard similar complaints from other blogging friends that have. Another common one is the people who enter and then never get back to you once they’ve won. Whaaaaaaa? Why bother entering?

      Reply
  20. lightlycrunchy
    March 24, 2012 at 8:50 pm

    I don’t find you too wordy at all. In fact, I enjoy reading through your coments too – sometimes you are even better in the comments, so I’m glad you make the effort.

    I have a hard time coming up with appropriately pithy comments at times – especially when I feel like my original post was lame and wonder if people aren’t just taking pity with their comments.

    Maybe I should try blogging drunk..

    Reply
    • sj
      March 25, 2012 at 1:21 pm

      Well, thank you! It’s probably no surprise that I enjoy responding to comments. It’s a good feeling to know that people enjoy something I’ve written enough to let me know, or that it was good enough to provoke a response.

      I appreciate that you at least take the time to respond to everyone who comments on your post, and have never thought that your replies were mundane. I really do enjoy your blog, I’m glad I found you – even if I can’t remember where it was now. :)

      Also, you may be able to tell that I occasionally compose posts after a glass or two of wine. Usually it’s the TTs, I have to find someway to get through it!

      Reply
      • lightlycrunchy
        March 25, 2012 at 2:57 pm

        Aww.. (shuffle shuffle) shucks. Thanks.

        The TTs might definitely require booze – I remember being creeped out by VC Andrews in grade 8. Though sometimes silly books can be like ice cream – the treat is worth the brain freeze.

        Reply
  21. smallscreensadie
    March 24, 2012 at 9:50 pm

    I don’t know, a dead kitten leading you to Jesus is a little tiny bit humorous..

    Reply
  22. muddledmom
    March 25, 2012 at 8:50 am

    Coming from a newspaper background and having been made to write long to fill space at times, I can’t stand to read stuff that is super long. I like short and sweet stuff that is tightly edited but I know not everyone can do that and it’s hard for me to edit my own work that way. But that is what a lot of readers like now, shorter blurbs. When you read a newspaper and open to the jump, do you cringe when you see it’s a full spread inside? I do. That’s why I like to keep my posts on the shorter side.

    As far as followers, I was recently FP and now I am getting some followers who aren’t even real. Anyone know anything about that?? That is not cool.

    Reply
    • sj
      March 25, 2012 at 1:31 pm

      You know, in my mind, it depends on the person that’s doing the writing. Really, I’m more annoyed by lengthy posts that are broken apart into pages. It’s obvious that it’s done to up their hit count and that drives me crazy. I’m more likely to read a really long post if I only have to scroll. If I see that it’s four pages, I’ll likely just close it without reading. Of my top 10 posts, 7 are over 1500 words.

      You’re getting fake followers? Like, they’re not attached to a blog, or…? If that’s the case, you don’t have to have a blog to have a wordpress account. My husband signed up for one just so he can like my posts (when he visits, which is infrequently – he’s one of the short attention span people that thinks I write too much), so maybe that’s what you’re seeing?

      Reply
      • muddledmom
        March 25, 2012 at 4:37 pm

        Interesting. I’ll have to see if any of them comment. Can you not comment as another kind of user then? Also, some look like spam. I’ve gotten a few different kinds of followers that I hadn’t had before. I’ll have to go back and look again. It’s all still new territory to me.

        I’ve never seen a post that leads you to other pages. Four? I would close it too. I don’t think there’s a rule about it, but some readers just prefer shorter posts. Just do what you like. It’s your blog.

        Reply
      • ariella42
        March 25, 2012 at 5:21 pm

        I break up my posts, but only so that the home page doesn’t get too cluttered. I actually prefer to be quickly look through someone’s home page and just click to read the whole post on things I’m interested in. I never thought about the fact that it contributes to my views, though clearly it does. I just prefer it when looking through other blogs, especially ones that I’ve just discovered and want to browse the material on, but not read everything.

        Reply
  23. The Byronic Man
    March 25, 2012 at 12:28 pm

    More than anything else, possibly, the thing I struggle with is making the posts short enough. On one hand, I naturally don’t want to pander. On the other, though, I want readers to enjoy my writing, and have to accept that readers aren’t slowly savoring each brilliant word of my prose, catching the allusions, spitting their coffee at some delicately inserted irony, etc.

    I am, as ever, split.

    Reply

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