Blogging Etiquette
So, I’m not entirely sure what “Standard Practice” is, but I have a request. While I love that I get people liking my posts, I would love it even more if they were being read! When I get a “like” within a few seconds of the post going live, or when a post goes up where you need to click a link to finish reading it and it’s clear that the link hasn’t been clicked (like, a recent post which the link was broken for the first 3 hours the post was up, until someone called that to my attention), I’m pretty sure that the post hasn’t been read.
I like to pretend that I’m all kinds of awesome (or, rather, I try to pretend that I am), but I’m pretty sure I’m not awesome enough that everything I write is golden. Hopefully no one else is making such assumptions either! I would much rather have someone take the time to read what I have written and make some comments than to blindly click the star and move on. Quality over quantity. 🙂
Eclectic Alli 
Yes that’s what we all want. We strive to make our writing as interesting as possible so people won’t want to read it. Sad thing is some do and some don’t. Don’t let that deter you keep writing. Also I would recommend that you read many of the post as you Can & make comments as well.
LikeLike
I have a rule set for myself that I’m not going to “like” a post unless I actually like it.. and if I do like it I’m going to try to comment on it. It means that sometimes my commenting comes in droves, and sometimes I have to dig through my reader to get back to a post that caught my eye but I didn’t have time to read in the moment, so I can give it the time it deserves.
It’s kind of strange to actually feel more deterred in my writing by people “liking” when they haven’t read than I do by putting up a post that no one “likes”!
LikeLike
Your philosophy is similar to mine. It gets more and more difficult to read everything that you think you would like. And then I forget to follow and I have to go back and try to do that. But we’ll get better. One of the things that I remember from my writing group is that our first sentence should capture the imagination so people will want to read on. I try to do that but I don’t always succeed.
LikeLike
It can be hard! I think I do better with the one-sentence capture on some of my regular posts (maybe?) but the story posts are even more challenging because it is an ongoing story… I know I’m re-thinking how those particular posts look here (and on the story-blog page itself). Such a learning curve!
LikeLike
I find that if I’m interested in someone else’s writing they tend to read mine as well. You can’t attract everyone.
LikeLike
I agree with you. I wonder how someone can “like” something I posted without reading it!
LikeLike
It’s completely confounding to me! And then when a friend pointed out the broken link on this particular post (my story-post from earlier today) it just kind of confirmed for me… I mean.. people can like the idea that I am posting on this story, sure… but.. it’s kind of far from helpful from a writing standpoint.
LikeLike
I never like unless I read the post. Sadly, some do and I see one has liked this post already. (Okay I do it with some wordless art posts.)
I posted one yesterday that was a long post. I wrote it in Blogpad Pro. Before I could open it in my Safari browser this same person had liked it. It was a one second read, apparently.
LikeLike
Indeed!
I also find that when I realize people are liking without reading it makes me want to pay less attention to what they are posting — even if I was initially interested in their posts. Where as comments make me want to go an investigate their pages more — and repeat commenting makes me look even further.. probably because a large part of what I was looking for out of this blogging was the social connections and community.
I think also, because I got the Freshly Pressed- which pumped up my “followers” numbers, the comments are a way for me to find out who actually is reading and interacting, versus who just kind of followed for that one post and just ignore, or are trying to get more interest on their page by indiscriminate “liking” (which is one theory I have for such things).
LikeLike
I’ve gotten pretty friendly with some of my regulars. This is the best part about blogging. I read every post my friends make, and browse the rest.
LikeLike
I am in the same boat. While I would like to believe that I have something worthwhile to say, I have noticed that a lot of my traffic on here is hit and miss. It is frustrating, I know. I had a few days where I had zero traffic, and those were the days I actually published something other than a story!
While I understand that some people may not agree with my views, I would at least like someone to actually visit, even on a slow day, whether it is to read a story I posted or to find out what “mindless nonsense” I might post.
I have finally set things up to where anyone can repost anywhere they desire or simply share to other sites. It can be pretty disheartening when you have your stats running and find the sudden sound of crickets in between the BIG hit days. even if someone does not agree with something I say, I would at least like a comment, as long as they keep it civil.
LikeLike
Not that I post anything highly controversial (I don’t think!) but I agree, I’d love to have someone start a conversation on one of my posts pointing out things they may disagree with me on.
I’ve started to figure out some of the stats, and now I’m (trying to) not, other than to try and discern trends (like, when I do a post that ties to another group it tends to get more traffic, and days when I don’t post at all there’s even less traffic…) My range of views has stabilized a bit more, but it is strange to see the peaks and valleys on the stats graph!
LikeLike
If a post catches my eye, like this one, I’ll even read the comments. 🙂
I will say this, though. WP is really particular about HOW the stats are collected. I’ve found that unless you visit the actual page – not just the pop-up thing – those views don’t seem to count. Same with the likes. Unless it’s liked from the actual page…? Meh. Very weird tracking criteria.
LikeLike
I have noticed the stats are really interesting… Like, when I was working over on my other page one day I suddenly have well over 100 views! Sure, they were all just lil’ ol’ me checking out how different layouts looked and such but.. uhm…
I think that is part of why I’ve tried to pay less attention to the stats — and even more reason why I love when people actually comment on things! That tells me that people are really reading, really interested in interacting, or that I’ve said something thought-provoking (or asked a good question). It’s encouraging and helps to feel less like writing into a vacuum. Don’t get me wrong, I can write into a vacuum forever — I have files upon files on my computer to prove just that — but I started a blog hoping for something more 🙂
LikeLike
Very much in agreement with you 🙂 Quality v quantity
LikeLike
I am still at the point where I am thrilled with all traffic (or likes) but I agree that comments mean the most. It is so nice to hear from someone who was genuinely interested enough to read the piece to the end and take a moment to share a thought.
LikeLike
I think I’m mostly just getting disenchanted with the random likes (and trying to not pay attention to the stats) because of the numbers. I have over 800 followers on this blog now (something I’m giving my “Freshly Pressed” encounter a lot of the credit). I am fairly convinced that at least half of those are spam-accounts. And I’d say that probably less than one-tenth of them actually read anything I post. Of those, even less seem to respond at all, and it’s a mere handful that respond with comments. It makes it kind of hard for me to get a feel who what kind of traffic I actually get, who I’m actually reaching.
I am however LOVING how much feedback and interaction this particular post is getting! It lets me know that I have managed to find some who are interested and able to engage 🙂
LikeLike