Reciprocating Follows

Image provided by Katherine Anderson
@ https://www.flickr.com/photos/misstinykitten/

I started blogging in 2004 — or was it 2005 — or was it 2003. Anyway, I’m not a newbie by any means. As a personal blogger, one of my major activities should and is traveling through the blogosphere visiting other blogs and writing comments about what I’ve read. It’s known as common courtesy. They visit my blog. I go visit theirs.

During the past few years, I’ve tried to tighten my blog travels to the blogs where my comment just isn’t “Nice post”, “Another good one”, Enjoyed the read”, etc. Much more often than not, these bloggers aren’t visiting my blog for anything interesting either. They do it so their count of ‘followers’ stays up. Some don’t even reciprocate the visit even though they’re ‘following’ me. I’ve been guilty of the same thing in the past. The appearances have ended up feeling more like a competition, which in my estimation isn’t what the activity should be about.

I don’t know how it is at other blog hosting sites, but at WordPress.Com, this type of activity is going on constantly. I’ve been with WP for over four years. I can tell you honestly that this behavior wasn’t half this bad when I first joined the site.

My opinion: This practice is bogus,  phony, cheesy. I know. It sounds harsh and cruel. Nonetheless, is this manner of conduct something I want to be known for, to be a part of? No. I want to be know as a person who is sincere, caring about the people I know, authentic, and truthful. It should be this way in cyberspace as well as in the off-line world.

How do I go about creating and keeping a conscientious and decent presence? Of course, a lot has to go into this, but for this post, I’ll address my mannerisms within the realm of the blogosphere.

I do not follow other bloggers anymore just because they’re following me. If the person’s blog has posts I find interesting — sure, I’ll follow that blog even if that person decides he or she doesn’t want to follow me anymore. Approximately every two to three months I’ll go peek at blogs on that recommended list at WP just to see what else is out there. If I find one interesting, I click on ‘Follow’. I do not expect a ‘follow’ back. Occasionally, I come across a blog, because I received the notice of him or her following me or I just happened to come across it, where I find some interesting posts but not many. No, I will not click that button. However, if the person has a Twitter account, I’ll follow him or her there. We have common interests but our life paths are completely different. Still, running into each other and reading each other’s post then would be enjoyable.

Do I sound like an egotistic ass? That isn’t my intention but if that’s what you think, I can’t do anything about it. It’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it.

In addition to being unfeigned — true, I only have so many hours in a day. How many blog posts can I read and still have time to write and do the daily chores of a housewife? Maybe — just maybe I could get a few more in if I didn’t have a physical disability that hinders my maneuverability. Most housework takes me half again as long as it would if I was ‘able-bodied’. The same goes for pounding on the keyboard during my writing sessions. (Sorry about bring up the disability so often, but it’s necessary to explain some of what each day is for me. I hope you don’t interpret it as a social crutch.)

Right now, I’m subscribed to 37 blogs. I know that this is a meager number to most bloggers at WP. Be that as it may, I hit each of those blogs every time there’s a new post — or at least I read one of the person’s posts once each week. My comments are not as I mentioned above. I put some thought into my replies to the posts. After all, these people put some thought into writing the entries.

I want people to see me as and think of me as being  ingenuous and real.

Reciprocating follows may  incite an atmosphere of good will and maybe even spark some friendships, but if exploited will waste time and give false impressions.

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What are your thought on this?

 

“Unless your heart, your soul, and your whole being are behind every decision you make, the words from your mouth will be empty, and each action will be meaningless. Truth and confidence are the roots of happiness.” ~ author unknown