Blogging Help: Blog Readers’ Biggest Blog Pet Peeves

Last week, I asked readers a very simple question. What are you biggest blog pet peeves?

I learned a very quickly that if you ask readers their opinion, they’re going to answer. 😀 And we bloggers have lots to learn from the feedback that readers give us.  There were about 95 responses on the blog post and on Facebook.  Let’s just jump right in to the top answers, and then I’ll list the others at the bottom. These are listed in order from the most mentioned, to the least mentioned. I’ll admit, the #1 pet peeve really shocked me! Here we go…

1. Bloggers sharing too much personal information (21 responses)

Are you as shocked by the #1 answer as I was? Here’s what I gathered from reading the comments: Readers enjoy getting glimpses into the personal lives of the bloggers behind their favorite blogs. Key word: glimpses. Little tidbits of info here and there are great. What they DO NOT like is when, for example, they get hooked on a DIY blog, and then for one reason or another, the DIY gets replaced with posts about constant up dates on the new baby, every detail of your upcoming wedding, little David’s baptism, little Sarah’s first day of kindergarten, your summer vacation, your grandmother’s 80th birthday, your best friend’s wedding, your college reunion, etc.

In other words, readers want what has been advertised. If you claim that your blog is a DIY blog, readers want DIY. They want you to stay on topic, while at the same time, offering glimpses into your personal life, your personality, etc.

2. Pop Up Ads (20 responses)

I don’t really think I need to explain this one. Pop ups are annoying. I think this would pertain to pop ups that aren’t ads as well. Do you have a pop up that asks people to subscribe to your RSS feed? You might want to get rid of it.

Bottom line: Readers want quick access to the meat of your site, without having to close down things to get to it.

3. Music On Blogs (20 responses)

Again, this should be self-explanatory. People read blogs in many different locations — home, library, work. Music can be very disruptive and even startling. And let’s face it…your taste is music is your taste in music. Your readers may like something completely different. Chances are that if they want to listen to music while browsing the internet, they’re already doing so.

4. Giveaways (18 responses)

Are you shocked? Giveaways came in at #4. And to be clear, I separated out these responses from those who mentioned “giveaways that are only open to US citizens” and “giveaways that require too many steps to enter”, etc.

In other words, giveaways in general came in at the #4 spot of blog reader pet peeves. Interesting. And I thought I was the only one who hated giveaways! I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve entered a giveaway.

5. Automatically-Playing Video Ads (18 responses)

This is my current top personal blog pet peeve, but it seems that these have frustrated many blog readers. We’re talking here about they “DIY Tip Of The Week” videos and similar videos. Keep in mind that if you have one of these on your blog, it will start playing from the beginning each and every time a reader clicks to a new page. How many pages do you think they’ll view before they get irritated enough to click away? Is it enough to keep them away for good? Some readers said “yes”.

6. Sponsored Posts (16 responses)

As bloggers, we want to make money. That’s clear. But I think we really do need to realize that we’re not fooling anyone with our sponsored posts. Yes, we all say that we give our honest thoughts, but readers see right through that. Let’s face it. If a company is paying us money, we don’t want to say we hate the product. In fact, I can’t recall ever seeing that on a blog. Have you?

If you must do sponsored posts, consider keeping them to a minimum. Once a week or more is probably too much, especially if you’re letting sponsored posts take the place of original non-sponsored content. One commenter even said that too many sponsored posts makes a blogger look like “an unscrupulous product pimp”. I actually agree with that, and I’ve stopped reading a couple of blogs this summer because of it.

7. Disorganized Blogs (12 responses)

I lumped several different answers into this one big category of “disorganized blogs”. Some issues specifically mentioned were: general disorganization, poor navigation, no project gallery, no social media buttons, RSS sign-up hard to find, etc.

I touched on making a blog user-friendly last week, and lots of these issues seemed to be pet peeves for many readers. It’s very important to visit your blog often to see what readers see when they visit. Try to forget your own familiarity with your blog, and see if the important stuff is easy to find.

8. Excessive Religion (12 responses)

I think this is similar to the #1 answer. Your readers don’t mind knowing that you’re a Christian, Mormon, Buddhist…whatever. Mentions here and there are fine. What they don’t want is post after post about your personal spiritual journey, why your chosen faith is so amazing, why you recommend your chosen faith to your readers, etc.

I understand that personal faith is important to many of us. As a non-denominational, Bible-believing Christian who spent 1.5 years overseas as a missionary, I can tell you that my faith is the most important thing in my life. However, my blog is about decorating and DIY, not religion. Because I’ve “advertised” my blog as such, that’s what people expect, and understandably so.

Now is it okay if I make a piece of DIY artwork that has my absolute favorite Bible verse on it and share it as a project on my blog? Of course! That’s something that I would definitely hang in my house as a decoration! The key here is not to HIDE your religion, or be scared to even mention it for fear of losing readers. Remember…glimpses are good. But just realize that Bible lessons, preaching, proselytizing, excessive posts about your own personal spiritual journey, etc., when you’ve “advertised” your blog to be something completely different, will turn off folks who don’t share your faith.

9. Slow Loading Pages (11 responses)

This doesn’t need explanation. Just remember that when we get on the internet, we suddenly have the attention span of a gnat. We want information at our fingertips in a matter of seconds. A page that takes a minute to load because of slow-loading ads, too many large-format pictures, etc., seems like an eternity to a person when they’re online.

10. Negative Attitudes, Complaining and Whining (10 responses)

Readers know that we’ll have a bad day here and there. They understand that every once-in-a-while, we will use our blogs to voice our opinions about something that has upset us. I don’t think that’s what most people were talking about. I got the sense that readers are okay with these occasional posts. However, the lingering negative attitudes that show in post after post, the complaining over and over, definitely seems to be a big turn off for readers. Also, bloggers talking negatively about other bloggers is a big no-no. If we have issues with another blogger, it’s best for us to take our issues to that blogger in private rather than airing grievances publicly.

Those are the top 10.  Do any of them shock you?

Now for the rest of the blog pet peeves that were mentioned.  If you don’t want to read all of them, here’s the nutshell version of all of the pet peeves as I interpret them…

Readers want what has been advertised.  Do you claim to have a DIY blog?  If so, that’s what they want.  They want to get to know you, and get glimpses into your personal life, but they want that WHILE getting what was promised.

Readers don’t like when things like giveaways, link parties, sponsored posts, guest posts, features from other blogs, etc., are used as a “stand in” for original content.  They read your blog because they want to see your projects.  Obviously, there are only so many hours in a day, and we can only get so much done, so there will be fluff.  Just make sure the fluff doesn’t overshadow the original content.

Readers want posts that are easy to read (good grammar), easy on the eyes (left alignment, no excess use of various fonts and colors, quality pictures), filled with just enough quality pictures to get your point across without going overboard on the photos.

Now for those of you who want to read the specifics, here they are in order from most-mentioned to least-mentioned.  I’ve only listed the ones that were mentioned two or more times in the 95 comments…

  • (10 responses) Bad grammar and spelling to the point it becomes distracting.  Overuse of exclamation points was mentioned specifically at least three times.
  • (9 responses) Link parties
  • (8 responses) Word verification requirements on comments
  • (6 responses) Bloggers portraying a “perfect” life, coming across as fake
  • (6 responses) Tons of pictures of one project all taken from slightly different angles
  • (6 responses) Too many non-original posts
  • (6 responses) Boastful bloggers, a “look how talented I am” attitude, a blogger continually stating how much she loves her project
  • (5 responses) Having to sign in to comment
  • (5 responses) Giveaways that require multiple steps to enter, i.e., comment, “like” on Facebook, tweet, etc.
  • (5 responses) Center alignment on posts
  • (4 responses) Blogs that claim to be about low cost DIY, but seemingly have an endless cash flow for high dollar projects, handymen, etc.
  • (4 responses) “Click to read more” on a blog post
  • (3 responses)  Constant references to other bloggers, name-dropping, “cliquish” feel
  • (3 responses)  Giveaways only open to U.S. residents
  • (3 responses)  Too many contributors and/or guest posts
  • (3 responses)  Poor photography
  • (3 responses) Self-proclaimed blogging experts who establish lists of “do’s” and “don’ts” for other bloggers
  • (2 responses) Bloggers who don’t link back to original content or link to their Pinterest page
  • (2 responses) Roundup posts
  • (2 responses) Overly detailed DIY tutorials
  • (2 responses) Project posts with no tutorial
  • (2 responses) Self-proclaimed design professionals
  • (2 responses) Too much time between posts, or long periods of time off of blogging
  • (2 responses)  Random fonts and colors through post text
  • (2 responses)  Monthly sponsor shout-out posts, or post to introduce new sponsors
  • (2 responses)  Profanity, including acronyms for profanity
  • (2 responses)  Mobile site that isn’t user-friendly

So, bloggers!  What are your thoughts about this rather lengthy list?  Can you relate to readers’ pet peeves?  Will you be making any changes to your blog after reading this?  Share your thoughts!

 

 

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51 Comments

  1. LOL I commit many of these pet peeves as a blogger but I feel that certain things are going to just be reasons why you do or dont read my blog.

    I do use the “read more” because my tutorials are often long with pictures and it loads faster if it isnt all there and you are able to scan the page for what your interested in. I was surprised by that one and by the abbreviations for curse words. That one actually made me laugh out loud because that is just me.

  2. Whoa, Kristi, whoa. They did not hold back did they? It’s so good for us to hear, but I really really don’t think I should have read this post right as I’m sitting down to do a little writing myself. I’ll be second-guessing everything! It’s a project, it’s mine, I think the photos are decent, so I should be safe but…. too many photos maybe? Too many different angles? Too much explanation? Not enough? Hehe. Thanks for doing this awesome research for us though. I really appreciate it!

  3. Kristi – thank you so much for first posting the question and then putting in all of the work consolidating the answers. From the background of a technical writer (that’s my past), the attention to detail we give to our writing, content, and readers will pay off greatly. People want to hear our stories (that’s why they’ve found our blogs). My advice….if you’re new to writing – take a writing class. If you need help with online delivery – take a workshop or class. There are so many offerings out there to help us all be the best we can be! My own piece of advice is “think globally”. Our blogs will be read by people all over the world. Make sure that you are staying open enough in your language and opinions that you don’t lose readers.

  4. Oh my. Thank you for making me feel like I am not alone. I swear, and not in a blogger using profanity sort of a way that ranked as a pet peeve sort of a way :), I nodded my head in agreement with each and every point listed. I am not alone! *I found this post through FB : Blogtalk. Great post.

    1. That probably depends on the blog. I get about 9,000 visitors per day. There’s no way all of those (or even a majority of those) are all bloggers. I think it depends on the size of your blog, the age of your blog, and who you “market” your blog to.

    2. I was a blog “reader” for 2 or 3 years before I jumped in. A lot of this resonated with me…but I also blocked much of it out on a personal “blog writer” basis. I avoided blogging for a long time because I was overlly stressed about readers’ approval. I came to realize I enjoyed it so much that I could do it as my own hobby, regardless of the response. So, few readers or many, I do what brings me joy.

      Awesome topic, as always, Kristi! You are one of my faves 🙂

  5. I regularly comment on some of my favorite blogs. I understand that some blogs have a huge reader base but it would really be nice to once in awhile get a personal reply-even a comment or two-just to make me feel like I am valued as a person who really cares about what she has written. I feel like I have so many blog friends it is the pits to always feel like a “lurker.”. Just saying…

  6. Great post and I agree with so many of your responses. And yes, I’ll be thinking about this next time I’m writing a post!
    Debbie 🙂

  7. This is so wonderful that you took the time to compile this list. This is a huge service to every single blogger, especially DIY bloggers. I was really surprised by #1, but only because I thought I was the only one who felt this way! Definitely keeping all these points in mind as I continue to improve my own blog. -K

  8. That is great feedback! Thanks for summarizing it for us.

    But you leave out one big CAVEAT in all this: It is still YOUR blog. Just because readers may or may not like the things you do is not a good enough reason to change it. If you write a blog and you do it because you love it, and doing some of these things (like telling a personal story about your kids) will steal some of your joy from being a blogger, then NOBODY should tell you shouldn’t do it. KWIM?

    Yes, we want people to love our blogs and to want to visit, but if you spend all your time as a blogger worrying that people may or may not like your blog, you aren’t focusing on why you are blogging in the first place. There aren’t (and shouldn’t) be “rules” to blogging.

    Sure, there are things that most people find super annoying (auto-play music anyone?) and if you don’t really care if you blogs plays music or not, by all means listen to the feedback and remove it. But when people start telling you how to write you content (for example “your tutorials are too long”) they are suddenly dictating how your blog is written, and to me, that isn’t acceptable. For example, Stacey at Not Just a Housewife just had to justify why she truncates her RSS feed (to stop scraping) and she knows it may irritate some people, but that is just how it HAS to be for HER blog.

    There are 10s of 1000s of blogs out there. And if people aren’t happy with your content, they can probably find someone else who will have a blog with content that is exactly how they like it. You don’t HAVE to change because you will never make 100% of the people happy 100% of the time. You need to be YOU first and worry about pet peeves second.

    I totally don’t want to come off as dismissing constructive criticism, that isn’t what I am trying to do. I just hope that other bloggers don’t’ start beating themselves up because they don’t have their Pinterest button in the right place, or their photography skills are as great as it could be. I know I am already pretty hard on myself and my blog without having to feel bad that people don’t like the way certain blogs look. And although I don’t do 95% of the things on that list, I will continue to make mention of my kids, and write tutorials the way *I* want to write them, because it is *my* blog. I think all of use DIY’r know that “One man’s trash is another mans treasure!” It is all about perspective!

    1. Definitely right, Kim! Our blogs are our blogs, and we need to do what’s right for our own blogs.

      I do think it’s important for us as individual bloggers to understand our own goals and what we want and expect from our own blogs as well. For example, a hobby blogger who only ever wants to be a hobby blogger to share projects and family updates with her extended family and college friends would approach her blog in a MUCH different way than someone like me who blogs as a full-time job and counts on my blogging income as a major part of our family income. There’s definitely not a “one size fits all” list of rules that can be applied to every single blog out there. Different approaches for different priorities. 🙂

  9. Wow! What a terrific compilation of bloggy info! Thanks for all your work on this Kristi.
    I will plan to take note. And I for one certainly have a lot to learn to produce a good blog.
    It seems that a number of people like to see blogs stay on “topic” so to speak. My blog is a bit broader in topic range. I suppose that will make it more difficult for people to stick with? Or, possibly they might just click off, if the topic doesn’t interest them. Lots to think about.

    1. Diane, I think you’re fine with the broader topics since your blog has been that way from the start. Your readers know that’s what your blog is, and they expect it. In other words, it’s not like you started out as a “DIY blog”, and then decided to broaden the topics once people started following. 🙂

      But certainly, if readers aren’t interested in the day’s topic, they’ll just check back tomorrow. But even for those of us who stick to a narrower topic, our readers aren’t going to like everything we post. If they don’t like today’s project and skip over it, hopefully they’ll check back tomorrow. 🙂

      1. Yep. I agree. My blog started out as a personal family/trip diary and has evolved from staying in touch with family and friends to sharing projects and the progress of my home (since that’s just what I spend all my time doing!). I wouldn’t hold it against a blogger I followed if they had personal stuff in their blogs if their blog was about that – I’d just skip them if they posted about stuff I’m not interested in. I figure people do that with my blog. I blog about whats happening around here and what I make/do, so if I post about my poodles and you’re not interested, then skip that post.

  10. I agree with all of these, especially if they are excessive. When you mentioned the religion pet peeve, you separated Christians and Mormons, which could have been because as a Christian sect there are more Mormons blogging than other Christian religions. I don’t know if that’s true or not, just a guess as to why you listed them separately. I just, however, wanted to point out that Mormons are Christians.

    1. Not to turn this into a religious debate 🙂 , but the two are not, and cannot ever be, the same religion. When you observe the differences between the Christian denominations, what you find are minor theological differences, such as “Should infants be baptized?” and “Can Christians lose their salvation?” and “Should Christians use wine or grape juice for communion?”

      However, when you observe the differences between Mormonism and Christianity, what you find are vastly different beliefs when it comes to the absolute basic and fundamental building blocks upon which the two belief systems are built, starting with the very questions of “Who is God?” and “Who is Jesus?”

      Mormons believe that God was once a mortal man — a created being — who lived such a good life that he attained Godhood and was given control over his own planet, and Mormons believe that they themselves also have the ability to attain Godhood. Christians believe there is only, and has only ever been, one God (i.e., the trinity – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – three expressions of the same God), who is not a created being, but rather, who always has been, and always will be, and is the one and only true God. Christians believe that we cannot ever attain Godhood because, again, there is only one God with whom we have gained eternal fellowship through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Mormons also believe that Jesus and Lucifer were brothers, a belief that is an absolute abomination — a heresy — in Christianity.

      I could go on, but the bottom line is that while some of the minor theological beliefs may appear on the surface to be the same between the two, the absolute, most basic, fundamental building blocks upon which the two are built are vastly different and make the two completely and totally irreconcilable as being the same religion.

      1. I agree that this is not the place to get into a religious debate nitpicking doctrinal points. I am Mormon and believe myself to be a christian. I believe that Jesus is the son of God and that only through him can I be saved and return to live with God. That is why I define myself as a Christian.

  11. Kristi, while I do agree with almost every one of these, I really hope you don’t plan on changing a thing other than dropping the link party which you had already mentioned. I absolutely love every single thing about your blog. I’ve looked through dozens of others and lost interest on all of them but yours. You are the only one I’ve come across that I feel like is laid out perfectly. I can find everything I want to and navigate easily. As a matter of fact, you are the only blog I have bookmarked. Please keep up the great work!

  12. Thank you so much, Kristi. And also, thank you for your personal responses to the comments. Pet peeves aside, big bloggers who “recognize the little people” and give back to the community through tips, advice, and information sharing are among my top reasons why I’ll remain a loyal reader.

    {Reconsidering my center alignment and realizing I never include tutorials…oops!} 😉

    1. You’re welcome, Aimee! And I’m honored that you would consider me a “big blogger”. 🙂 I kind of think of myself as somewhere in the middle–not small and aspiring to be big.

      And I’ve just recently decided to make more of an effort at responding to comments. I figure that my blog is what it is because of my readers. Without them, my blog would be nothing! And you know what I’ve learned? I actually love the whole process of blogging even more now! There’s just something about the interaction with readers that is energizing and fun. And I’m not talking about those canned replies that require absolutely no thought that some bloggers send in response to comments (that’s actually a huge pet peeve of mine…I’d rather receive no response at all than a canned reply, like “Thanks so much! Have a great day!”), but I mean real interaction. It’s so much fun!! 🙂

    2. I also really appreciate the replies! I follow one blogger, who is most definitely not a “big blogger” and I have given up commenting on her blog because she never, ever, responds. It’s discouraging as a fan.

      I make sure to respond to every single comment that I receive. Of course that’s easy, because I average only about 6 per post, haha.

  13. I’m kind of surprised about the giveaways. As both a reader and a writer, I don’t mind giveaways, provided that marketing them hasn’t become the main content of the blog. Giveaways are nice when they’re not too frequent and when it’s a product the blogger loves and uses often him or herself. I’ve seen all too many blogs focus so much on making money that they end-up “pimping-out” their blog to the next product that wants to have paid advertising or a paid review.

    1. The giveaways kind of surprise me too, Justin. But I did get a sense that the whole thing boils down to this: Readers feel like things like giveaways, link parties, sponsored posts, roundup posts, etc., are all starting to take the place of the original quality content that originally got them interested in our blogs. I think all of these things can be done, and even accepted by our readers, if done in moderation and done in a way that doesn’t encroach on the original content.

    2. Yeah, for me it depends on the giveaway. 5 different hoops I have to jump through, “liking” sites I’ve never been to, for a measly $20 credit to a store where nothing is less than $100? THOSE ARE ANNOYING. The Pioneer Woman does giveaways she pays for herself like 3 KitchenAid mixers or something substantial, without incentive besides giving something. And all you have to do is leave a comment. I like that. It feels more genuine. Most people can’t duplicate that, especially if their blog doesn’t yet generate an income. So I understand why it isn’t usually that way.

  14. I commit some of these too! I guess I’m glad to know what people do think. 🙂 I guess I’ll just be even more super and open on my blog info blip. And some things aren’t going away, but I think I definitely need to evaluate. 🙂

    1. There’s definitely no need to overhaul your whole blog based on these responses, Jassana. 🙂 They’re just good to be mindful of. Change any of the glaring annoyances, but never be afraid to be yourself on your blog.

  15. Thanks for the question, Kristi. None of these surprised me, but I was happy to hear the one about the giveaways. I was recently contacted to do a giveaway with no compensation to me for hosting it and wondered if I “owed” it to my readers to do it. I’m happy to see that I don’t. I also feel strongly that I don’t want readers to “subscribe” purely to enter a giveaway. I want readers who WANT to read my blog…not win something!

    1. I’ve never liked giveaways, but there was definitely a time when I thought I “owed” it to my readers. I’m over it now. 🙂 I really do think that the main reason I get so turned off by the giveaways is all of the arm-twisting that goes into them. “To enter, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, follow in Google Friend Connect, sign up for my RSS feed” and on and on and on. My goodness, it’s just too much. If I want to follow someone on Facebook or elsewhere, I’ll do it. But the two or three times I was ‘forced” to do so because of a giveaway, I promptly undid whatever I was forced to do as soon as the giveaway was over.

      1. I sat last night and purged 55 blogs from my list of 265 blogs I follow in google reader. I know the larger amount of those blogs are there purely because of the “hoops” you go through to enter a giveaway. I know I will be purging many more as I continue to look at the list. This is the number one reason I refrain from making it a rule to follow my blog to enter any giveaway I may host. If they are only following you to enter, then they are not really following you, are they?

  16. Love this post! All those blogging pet peeves are mine but I never thought others felt that way. BTW I look forward to all your blog posts, great job!

  17. Wonderful, wonderful post! Thank you for sharing. Interesting and helpful info!
    –Katie
    @ Creatively Living

  18. thank you for this post! I am so sharing it on my FB! (and might even print it out and look at it as the 10 commandments!) I hope I never did any of the above, but you never know! I couldn’t say it any better. This is just so perfect! have a great week-end! xox, d.

  19. Shared the link to this post on my blog. Agree with absolutely everything – especially the auto play videos that I have to pause and that are way way too loud. I’ve posted about some of these things before in a top 10 list on my blog but took that down because this list is much more up to date and perfectly sums up what I’ve been saying and thinking. Of course I agree that people should post whatever they want to on their blogs – it’s their blog! – but then they can’t complain about low traffic or the page views dropping.

  20. I understand most of these as they pertain to DIY, etc blogs. As a giveaway blogger I have a few pet peeves about readers who have no idea. I used to be one. Now that I blog I understand why some bloggers do what they do. Read more? I used to hate that. It was annoying. However, I also hate having to scroll down and down and down to get to the next post. If there is a title and a tidbit I can decide quickly what I want to read and what I want to skip. It also helps with load time. Do they want a fast load time or to scroll forever? As far as the giveaway entries go; I had a reader complain that there were too many entry options. That just baffles me because they aren’t REQUIRED. There may be one or two that are required, but after that they are all optional. No one is making a reader do all of them. If they want a better chance to win then they can complete more entries, simple as that. Giveaways that are US only? Not the blogger’s choice. It’s completely up to the company sponsoring the giveaway to decide who the giveaway is open to. But I do agree that I don’t want to be seeing a lot of giveaways on a DIY blog. I *love* DIY blogs and I want to see tuts, not giveaways.

    Anyway, thank you for the list. It really is nice to see the opinions of readers. I think I might poll my readers in a similar fashion. Constructive criticism is always welcome. I know that I can always make improvements. I actually found this post and your blog while Googling blogger tips. I think most of the suggestions are great, but some are just silly. I don’t mind sponsor shout outs. I like learning about companies and products that I have never learned about before. Guest posts and linking parties? Just as lawyers, engineers, mechanics, and waitresses have their peer groups, bloggers have theirs. We are nothing without a supportive community. We learn and grow by networking. Again, before I started blogging I didn’t understand this. It’s kind of an ‘in’ thing, and I don’t think that bloggers should be cliquish by any means, but if we don’t help each other how will we progress? I have blogging friends who are extremely successful who still take the time to network with newbies and partner with other bloggers because they know it’s important to connect.

    I apologize for the comment bomb. I had no intention of making a lengthy reply. I just want people to see the other side. I’m glad I found your blog. I need more DIY ideas for when my house is finished in the Spring. 🙂

  21. As a new blogger just starting out- I totally needed these! I wrote down your list and stuck it to my bulletin board 🙂 Some seem like common sense, but the first one really threw me for a loop. Luckily I haven’t really gotten it narrowed down exactly what I want my blog to be all about. It’s still a potluck for now. (at least until the new year!) Thanks for sharing!
    xoxo

  22. Thanks for this list. As a blog reader I totally get it! As a blogger I hope to find that nice comfortable place in the middle. I’m bookmarking to come back to follow up as time goes on. Thanks!

  23. Kristi,

    Just discovered your blog. This was a great survey and a wonderful list. As a relatively new blogger (just hit the 2 year mark) I would fall into the category of accidental blogger (too much time between posts) I post pretty sporadically but then I my blog isn’t monetized. I also focus on too many things and don’t stay on just one topic DIY. I blog for the experience of learning new things, connecting with a few readers, honing my photography skills and the opportunity to share some of my projects and love of gardening. I’ve found that there is a real herd mentality in the blogging world (and that’s okay just human nature) People tend to gather and participate at the more popular blogs because it gives them more exposure (I suppose) and all the absolutely montrous link parties. I do like some link parties because it gives me the opportunity to discover other bloggers but sometimes it’s too massive. I’ve visited some blogs and they have a list 1/2 mile long of all the parties their post is linked to. Sometimes it seems like a numbers game to see who can get the most followers and the most comments.

    Sometimes it’s a turn-off to see the huge blogs who have stunning magazine type homes and go on and on about their other rock-star blogging buddies. They seem to all hang out and promote one another (that’s okay too I guess because it’s called networking and there is nothing wrong with that). It’s obvious by the homes they live in that they have lots of cash to constantly redo their homes. Sometimes it seems like high school with the cliques and endless parties. It’s fine and it works for these bloggers but sometimes it’s a bit of a turn-off.

    Now that I’m retired from my full-time day job, I hope to become more consistent with blogging. There is so much to learn. I really like what I see on your blog. It seems friendly, welcoming and there is a lot of good information here (something my blog lacks) I am learning very slowly.