Friday, June 24, 2016

Book Blogger Hop No. 55: Preferred Blog Following Method




Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop,
hosted by Billy @


For more information, click HERE.


What to Do

1.) Post on your blog answering this week's
question:

What is your preferred method
of following blogs?

(submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

2.)  Enter the link to your post in the
Linky list on Billy's blog.

3.)  Visit other blogs on the list and
comment on their posts. 

4.)  Be sure to find out next week's
question when you visit
Ramblings of a Coffee-Addicted Writer!


My Answer

I do have a preference for the GFC widget, just because I use the Blogger platform, and this method is very visible. Not all blogs use this widget, obviously; in their infinite wisdom, Almighty Google decided to limit it to  Blogger blogs only. Despite rumors that it was on the way out, though, it's still available for those bloggers who still want to use it, provided they use the Blogger platform.

For  book bloggers who like to participate in tours, the GFC widget is a good indicator of how many readers are interested in a particular blog. At least, it seems that way, because not all the people whose faces appear in the widget actually are active on the blogs they 'follow'.  Still, blog tour companies do use the number of GFC followers in deciding whether or not they will accept a given blog as a tour host. So I do think, despite the discrepancy between followers and actual blog comments, that this widget is pretty useful -- for joining blog tours only, though. 

My second favorite method is Bloglovin'. This method has the advantage of letting you see what your followed blogs are up to, just by checking your reading list. You can go there and easily catch up with your favorite blogs. Plus, you get email notifications every time your followed blogs publish new posts. Some people might find this annoying, however. I can understand this, too, as I don't follow blogs with the email following option myself. My inbox gets lots of emails at it is! I do provide this option to my readers, though, because I know there are those who do prefer it.

My third favorite method is Linky Followers, although I see that many people don't actually use it that much. I don't see why, since this is a nice alternative to the GFC widget, for bloggers who use other blogging platforms, such as Wordpress or Tumblr.

Two social media sites I also like to be followed and to follow with are Twitter and Google +. I also like Goodreads. Along with these, I used to include a button for Facebook in my sidebar, but no longer do so. That's because I'm REALLY ticked off at Facebook!! And here's why....

I have an FB fan page for A Night's Dream of Books, and I would regularly publish new blog posts on it, just like I do now on Twitter. Well, I used to get as many as 100 views per post, even though I had more fans than that. Still, I thought that was pretty good. Then one day, out of the blue, I noticed that I was only getting 9 to 11 views per post!!  When I did a Google search on this, I found out that FB had altered their algorythm, and also were expecting people with fan pages to PAY to promote their page AND posts!!  If they didn't, then their posts would not appear in as many feeds as before. I now have more than 1,000 fans, but so what? I stopped posting to that page because of the low viewership. Why go to all that trouble if only a handful of people are going to see my posts? And, whenever I DID promote posts in the past, I had no way of knowing if FB was sending them to people who would REALLY be interested in such posts, instead of just a random collection of people.

So Facebook is definitely NOT one of my preferred following methods, in regards to social media. If I were a famous, bestselling author, of course I would be able to afford to promote my posts, as well as my fan page. But I'm just a poor blogger, at this point in time. Let's see if inspiration hits out of the blue....lol.

Since I don't encourage people to follow my blog with FB, that means I don't follow other blogs with FB, either. 

I will always follow other blogs with GFC, Bloglovin', Twitter, Linky Followers, and Google +, but my overwhelming favorite is the GFC widget.   
     


What are your thoughts?
Please leave a comment,
and I'll go check out your post!





18 comments:

  1. How we connect and follow each other is so very interesting.

    In terms of keeping up with blogs I find that using Blog readers is the best way. I used "The Old Reader" for several years. When it stopped working properly for me I switched to Blogovin' which I found to be very superior. I find the interface great.


    As you know I like to talk about books on Twitter.

    I have neglected my Facebook account as I have relatives who seem to do nothing but fight one another there. I could start a page just dedicated to my blog. I did not know about the issues that you mentioned. It is too bad that those issues exist. Needing to Pay Facebook to have one's posts appear in feeds sounds like it is not worth it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Brian!

      You know, I hardly ever look at my blog reader! It seems to be working properly, but I guess I just take it for granted, and don't even remember it's there. Lol. But I do like using Bloglovin'. I agree that it's very user-friendly.

      I have found out that Twitter is good, but only to a point. I not only tweet my blog posts, but post a lot of retweets, as well. Since discovering that Twitter is a hotbed for controversy and conflict, I've been staying away from political tweeting and retweeting. Except that I can't resist dissing Trump from time to time. (I do the same with Clinton; I am not going to vote this year for sure.) But, for the most part, I'm tweeting and retweeting mostly about books. As you know, I also post about art and music.

      I love the reason you have neglected your FB account! Too funny! Yes, fighting relatives' posts appearing in your feed is not appealing at all!

      As for starting a page for your blog, now you know that it's really not worth it. As I stated in the post above, if I were famous and wealthy, I would pay FB to promote my page and posts. But I'm not, so that's totally out!

      Thanks for another terrific comment!! :)

      Delete
  2. My preferred method of READING, no necessarily following blogs...
    1) "The Old Reader
    2) She Writes
    3) BlogLovin' (which actually was how I caught this post...though I believe you are on She Writes too.
    I'll try to join the next one... if I catch it;-) (I used to love these hops!!!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, there!

      You know, I don't even use my blog reader. I can't believe it! It's easily accessible, after all. I guess I just take it for granted. Lol.

      I really like Bloglovin'! I do use it -- it's very convenient!

      Now you're telling me that I'm on "She Writes". Gosh, I don't recall joining that site, but I could be wrong. Maybe I joined so long ago, I don't even remember.

      Yes, the Book Blogger Hop is fun to participate in! I do hope you come back next week!

      Thanks for the great comment!! :)

      Delete
    2. Oops, I might not have seen you on She Writes, but have seen your name before. Glad I stopped by and will try to make the next hop;-)

      Delete
  3. gosh the typos...UGH! but you know I mean well;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem! You only had one! Lol. Thanks again for stopping by and commenting!! :)

      Delete
  4. I use Bloglovin and Feedly to follow blogs and probably Twitter the most for promotion. I've heard some real struggles with Facebook and just can't make myself set anything up over there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Katherine!

      Yeah, Bloglovin' is great! I find it very user-friendly.

      I use Twitter to promote my blog posts, and also RT other people's posts.

      As for Feedly, I've never heard of it. I'll be sure to check it out, so thanks for letting me know about it!

      Yeah, Facebook has become very disappointing. I hardly go there anymore.

      Thanks for the great comment!! :)

      Delete
  5. I prefer e-mail. I use Bloglovin' too.

    I really don't know how to get to my blog reader. Can anyone help me? You can reply via e-mail. I use Blogger.

    THANKS.

    Happy Hopping!!

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Blog Hop Answer

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Elizabeth!

      Some people prefer email, like you, which is why I offer it in my sidebar as one of the follow options for this blog. I don't follow blogs with this method, though, as my inbox is already crammed with emails! I don't even have the time to be deleting them on a regular basis.

      I have sent you an email with instructions on how to access your blog reader. Hope my instructions help!

      Happy Hopping to you, too!! Thanks for always stopping by and commenting!! Enjoy your Sunday!! <3 :)


      Delete
  6. I prefer email, I may switch to Feedly though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Vicki!

      I don't like email following myself, as my inbox is already "overflowing"! Lol. But, since some people do prefer this method, I offer it as an option in my sidebar.

      I've just found out about Feedly, and need to check it out.

      Thanks for commenting!! Hope you're having a GREAT day!! :)

      Delete
  7. Replies
    1. Thanks.

      I looked and it says get started for Free. I didn't know if after so much time you have to pay.

      Delete
    2. I really need to check this out. This is new to me. I've just found out about it, thanks to Katherine, who mentioned it above.

      I hope this service is completely free. Like you, Elizabeth, I wonder if there's a "trial period", after which you have to pay.

      Thanks, Vicki and Elizabeth, for your additional comments!! :)

      Delete
    3. That sort of threw me off and had me thinking that it was free for a short time.

      Let us know please if anyone is certain about the cost.

      Thanks.

      Delete

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