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As I posted here last week , every blogger hopes to have interested readers because we believe we have something unique to share.
Yet, there are two sides of blogging:
As a blogger and as a reader.
Why do readers read blogs? What do I as a reader want from a blogger?
Just like all written text, there are genres, appealing to diverse ages. There are bloggers who inspire me to reach out, who make me laugh with their quick wit, or who move me with their stirring narratives.
Sometimes, a blog post manages to make me feel several emotions, simultaneously.
Actually, personal bloggers frequently do this.
Most bloggers write on the often divergent facets of their lifestyle and personality, which makes their blogs refreshing, thought-provoking and stimulating.
Which is why I prefer following personal blogs.
I relish reading a personal blog that makes me consider their intriguing perspectives on life. Frequent bloggers quickly reveal their character and personality. Making it often easier to become virtual friends than in my ‘real’ world.
Blog reading is in some ways even better than reading a book. While a voracious book reader, I appreciate the ability to instantly continue the dialogue with a blogger, instead of a solitary internal dialogue with a book author. Plus, I am able to dialogue with other readers of the blog.
Just like any medium, following a blog broadens my life experiences through immersion
into another’s life, albeit momentarily. So, I follow an eclectic assortment of personal blogs. While each typify their specific enthusiasm and life motto, all make me laugh, cry and reflect on life.
As more bloggers join the on-line community bottledworder’s posts, including Quality vs Quantity, address several vital issues on blogging, including frequency.
But, unless a blog I subscribe to posts every day, I couldn’t say if they post alternate days or weekly. It doesn’t matter to me.
What matters to me as a reader is whether it is worth my while.
Worthy of my time.
Following a blog defines the cliché that the world is indeed shrinking. The virtual world is not limited by my physical ability to connect. The potential walls of distance, language and culture fade as we bloggers united in and through our mutual sharing. There was a time when the increasing proliferation of multimedia generated frequent mutterings about the impending irrelevance of writing and reading. However, the quiet revolution of blogging certainly makes jest of that muttering.
As a blog reader, I appreciate this momentum of collective blogging narratives.
It is creating a cornucopia of well-lived, and increasingly thought-filled, well-blogged lives, shared with us- their captivated readers.
RELATED ARTICLES
- Are Only The Biggest Bloggers Worthy? (soulati.com)
- What Makes a Link-Worthy Blog? (successful-blog.com)
Live Life in Crescendo 
I, too prefer personal blogs over the larger syndicated blogs. I like being able to read how people view the world as individuals. AND I follow a lot of blogs. A LOT!
I think that Facebook and Twitter have taken away a lot of blog readership in the personal blog arena. While the two can be tied together, that is much harder to do for those that want to seperate their blog from their personal life. The fact, that Facebook is so public tends to limit how much a personal blogger would share.
Then the topic of sharing….I have pulled away from commenting on a number of blogs as they spiraled into very touchy, personal stories about their private lives. Not that I am unsympathetic but it’s hard to be helpful as they post intimate details about their failing marriage, abusive relationships, alcohol and drug problems and even worse their poliltical leanings. I want the blogs I comment on to be thought provoking, interesting, humorous, creative, but I don’t want them to make me uncomfortable.
With that being said, I notice the readership of those willing to “put it all out there” is by far and away the most read blogs. So as a blogger, I see that readers want edgy and outrageous more than they want what I would be willing to put into a blog.
Last year another Realtor in my area that does a blog went from a low readership to a huge readership with lots of advertisers. She has now written two books and has a deal with Random House for two more. Her blog is about people she wants to punch.and is always laced with words like Motherfu***** . Don’t get me wrong…she’s funny,…very funny. I, too read her blogs but the blogger side of me can’t go where she goes. Oh, and there is the fact that about 85 percent of the time, I disagree with her point of view and most of her 4000 followers are “high fiving” her. I might, in fact, be out of touch with how the “blogger readers” demographic thinks….and more importantly what blog readers want to read.
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I appreciate and understand most of what you’ve written here, Cheryl. I prefer and follow only those blogs that are thought provoking, humourous and creative. Ones like yours.
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Thanks for reading my post “Grandma in Her Garden”. I like your philosophy about blogging – there is enough outrage out there naturally without whipping people up with outrageous posts.
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pingback: http://sparklingbterfly.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/the-inspiring-blogging-award/
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Wow. Thanks for the nomination. My aim with my blog is to be inspiring, so I am so glad that it inspires you. I see you also like C.R. Lamothe, the writer. Her FB page is amazing. Congrats on the award, and for letting me know, so I can follow you!
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