I started this blog in 2018 mainly to talk about my woodcarving. It gradually expanded to talk about my pets, my adventures as an applied anthropologist, and anything else that took my fancy. Anything else was the mildly fictionalized adventures in Coastal Living I had in Maine. And then my experiences at boat shows, and a bit more. I’ve had an outrageously good time working on the blog despite a lacklustre performance in bringing in new carving work. Along the way, I discovered that bloggers form an electronically mediated community.
It’s an interesting community. Unlike certain other types of social media, a successful blog requires a certain amount of creativity. At least in the corner of the blogosphere I inhabit, you can’t just idly defame, post mindless memes created elsewhere, or carry on endlessly about your friends’ sexual proclivities. Yes! I love to read about Marlene’s latest quilting project. Martha’s walks with her dogs. Mason’s detective stories. Heather’s poetry, Piper’s adventures, Andy’s affection for Greenies, and What Fandango is writing about. That’s just a fraction of it.
How successful your blog is is more than how many times a day people like it, read it, or comment on it. The dimension beyond is the impact the interactions have on you. What are you learning from the blog?
If all you are getting out of it are statistics or sales, I’d suggest that you are doing something wrong.
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We have a wonderfully eclectic and fun group here! I love it.
even though we’ve never met in person the connectedness is great!
I love how we all learn from and connect with each other. Such a great mix. That sense of community was not something I was expecting when I started my blog, but it is one of the reasons I stick around.
Exactly!
It is THE reason I stick around though sometimes I write something good.
I started blogging in 2011. Seems wild now that this would go on so long. I think the best thing has been finding our individual voices and how coming upon someone post (that you enjoy reading) can make your day. Like yours.
The only fly in the ointment is that someone has started hijacking blogs. I don’t know if you follow Fandango, but his block has been pirated, and he is taking his blog private, an may stop blogging. It seems that thereis always someone who wants to profit off another work.
Yeah, it’s frustrating to have to take my blog private after investing so much time and effort into it, but there are some bad actors out there who seem to want to ruin it for others and to take the pleasure out of blogging. I still haven’t figured out HOW they do it (and WordPress has been no help at all), but I’m also stumped when it comes to WHY they do it. What benefit do they get from hijacking someone else’s website? What’s in it for them?
I hope to revert to being public again in a few days and will likely have to set up a new blog. But if that new blog also gets hijacked, I will be outta here.
And, Lou, Thanks for the shoutout earlier in the body of your post. I appreciate your kind words.
Shoot! I didn’t know. I get people that try to connect through comments, but I check them out before responding.
ot a bad idea in this environment.
So True!!
I started this in 2013 after I read a book that said self-published writers HAD to have a blog on WordPress. I had a blog on Blogger and I liked it, but I started one here. There were a lot of things I thought were stupid in the beginning (like writing to a daily prompt) that I do now — even to the point that I post 2 prompts/week. The community tightened during 2020 and that has been great.
It did tighten, you are right.
Thank you! I’ve learnt to appreciate every little blessing. Thanks for reading!!
I enjoy reading your blog. This is a wonderful community filled with fun people and interesting ideas and stories. Thanks for mentioning and reading my blog. Have a wonderful day!
“Or carry on endlessly about your friends’ careless sexual proclivities” – I’m sitting here laughing so hard right now. My kids think I’m crazy. lol. Just came across your blog, love it and subscribed! Looking forward to reading more. 🙂
I’ve been blogging for years and had another site that I stupidly shut down after a while before starting my new one here, and all I can hope – while I love to write about everything EXCEPT my friends’ sexual adventures – is that it makes people smile. <3