I've never been one to be afraid to speak my mind. In the blogosphere though, I felt like I had to hold back a little because I didn't want to offend anyone. Then I reminded myself of why I started my blog: to have a little corner of the Internet that was mine and mine only, where I could share my thoughts on books and everything bookish.
So with that in mind, I finally shared a discussion post that I had been thinking about for a while talking about why I hate the "US only" label. A lot people commented and I'm glad because I realized that some of my frustrstrion was about stuff that no one could control. Now, I know that topics like that are effy in the blogosphere, but I don't really care. I don't mean to offend anyone but if nobody talks about it, how can we try to solve any problems that might exist?
With all of this said, I am back today with another discussion post: Not caring about stats doesn't mean not caring about followers.
I'm writing this following something another blogger mentioned. I don't remember who it was or where I saw it, but I want to make it clear that I am not attacking anyone, simply explaining myself since I'm one of those "I don't care about stats" people. And yes, I still do care about my followers.
You see, when I started my blog back in July 2015, I knew I wouldn't have a lot followers at first, but I was still constantly checking my stats to see how many page views I had, or if anyone had posted a comment. I liked knowing where my blog was at. But after a couple of months, I still had close to zero comments and followers.
That's when I stopped caring.
Call me selfish if that's what you think of me, but I started this blog for me. I repeat it: for me. Of course I also wanted to meet people, but the original idea behind it was to find a new hobby and to share MY thoughts on everything and anything bookish. Yeah, it was a bummer to see that I had almost no followers. That my post didn't get comments. But I realized that it wasn't important. What was important was that I kept on doing what made ME happy, which was writing post, reading, and talking to the few good friends I had met online.
Now, the fact that I rarely look at my stats anymore does not in any way mean that I don't care about the people who follow my blog! While I might not care about the amount of people who follow me, I DO care about each and every single one of you who read my blog. The three person that read it at the beginning, the people who take the time to comment... I appreciate you so much! Hearing that people enjoyed what I write, or even that they disagreed with me like my last discussion post makes me so happy! It lets me know that I was the source of a reaction, of a train of thought that got someone really thinking! And I love knowing that!
I try to take the time to reply to every comment I get, to comment back on everyone's blog too, because I want to show my appreciation. I want to engage with people, which is the point of commenting, right?
What I am trying to say here is that while I blog for me first and while I don't give a shit about the numbers, I care a hell of a lot about the people. Knowing that something that makes me happy can make someone else feel something, it's the best thing in the world!
Have a great day guys!
Sophie
I totally agree! I started my blog about 3 months ago, and my total amount of page views is smaller than what other bloggers get per month... But that by any means is not gonna stop me from blogging! I stared blogging because I wanted to be able to scream at the Internet how much I love books, and I'm gonna keep doing that, even if only a very small portion of people get to enjoy my blog with me xD
ReplyDeleteThat's the spirit!
DeleteThough sometimes it can be hard remembering why you started in the first place, stats are just numbers and people, while there might only be three at the beginning, are worth SO MUCH MORE!
And you know, you'll always have at least one follower *raises hand
;)XXX
OOOOOH this is such a great way to put it. I do see a lot of people say "I don't care about stats, I blog for myself" but this is another thought that now that I consider it, applies to me too. (I do care about stats ... like way too much ... but my blog readers are more important than the stats, even though the stats say something about my readers. Anyhow, I am beginning to ramble now, but just YES to how you present caring about your audience doesn't necessarily mean caring about stats!
ReplyDeleteThat's why I wrote this post, to clarify any misunderstanding that might exists regarding people who don't care about stats (aka me!) I'm sure some people don't really care about their followers either, and if that works for them, who am I to tell them it's wrong?
DeleteI do care about my followers, simply not the numbers. The relationship I have with my followers, who I consider more as friends to be frank, define me more as a blogger than a graphic telling me my stats are the same as last week.
Thank you for your lovely comment! I always love hearing your thoughts on what I have to say!:) And ramble all you want, I love it!
I agree with you on this so much! I also feel that the number of followers isn't as important as, say having even a small number of people who keep checking in and genuinely want to discuss books and make friends with you.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post <3
Aww, thanks Annika! Your comment just put a smile on my face!:D
DeleteI still don't have a ton of followers, but the ones I do have, I consider them more as friend to be frank;) And I think that's a hundred time better than a bazillion followers that I don't have the opportunity to get to know that well. (although I have nothing against people who DO have lot of follower! Great for them:D)