What Are Your Biggest Blog Pet Peeves?
Hello everyone! Today I want to hear from you. I want to hear your opinion on blogging, what draws you to certain blogs, what makes you stop reading certain blogs, what your biggest blog pet peeves are, etc. And I’d love to hear from you whether you’re a blogger or not.
Let me back up. This topic has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now, ever since Amy of Blogging With Amy posted a status update on her Facebook page that simply said, “I lose interest in a blog when ________________.”
The answers were very interesting. You can read all of them here. She then wrote a follow-up post on her blog summarizing the responses. However, since her blog is about blogging, I’m wondering if most of the responses were actually from bloggers. I’m not sure if it matters, but I’d love to hear from you…both bloggers and non-bloggers.
What makes you lose interest in a blog? What are your biggest blog pet peeves? And conversely, what qualities draw you to the blogs that you read regularly?
I know that’s a lot of questions, but I’m confident that each of you will have an opinion. 😉 I look forward to reading your thoughts!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
not a blogger (yet) but I read about 35 or so blogs everyday…hate when I can’t leave a comment cause I don’t have a google account…hate ads and stuff that slows the blog down when loading and my biggest pet peeve are ads that talk to me or pop up in my field of view when reading a blog…stopped reading remodelaholic because of her talking ads…and hate feedburner because it never sends the updates to my email…so much better to follow along with facebook but not all bloggers have a facebook page…for me only wordpress works to send the updates to my email
Cheryl from Ontario
I agree about the no comments if you’re not google! I don’t have a blog but I read a ton of them and there are many I can’t comment on!
I’m a new blogger and I identify with everything you’ve written Cheryl. 😀
Totally agree with this first comment. I don’t mind ads just the annoying ones that she mentioned.
Are you a blogger now Cheryl?
I am a blogger and I follow a whole lotta blogs myself. The one thing that drives me crazy when I go on to someone’s blog is pop-up ads and any ads that talk or sing. I know it sounds silly, but I hate the extra step of having to shut things down when I only have so much time to check in on other blogs. Just my two cents.
What keeps me coming back? Honest posts with real feelings. I really like to know the person behind the blog, so personal stories go a long way with me.
Love your blog by the way. Your creativity blows me away!!
I’m quickly losing interest in all of the giveaways and link parties. I’ve also lost interest in a few blogs that supposedly are budget DIY yet seem to have endless amounts of cash and help. One even has a handyman. I’m also not interested in the ones that have Pier One or Home Depot (for example) giving them stuff & then they blog about how they used it. I don’t have the funds to go out and buy it. I think I just need more money, lol!
I agree!!! The linkys and giveaways/rafflecopter thing is getting to be a bit much on sooo many blogs. I also get annoyed when the blogger posts tons and tons of survey sites, etc. with a link for you to sign up….basically so they’ll get an incentive of some sort for having tons of people sign up using their referral link. I read blogs mainly for DIY, deal tips, and recipes. I LOVE this blog because you are brilliant Krisiti! Such fantastic ideas and you never push anybody’s products on your readers.
I agree with the blogs that are supposively DIY but end up having endless amounts of cash/sponsors. I am excited by everyday people that show me how to do affordably amazing things but it seems like more and more bloggers have the disclaimer at the bottom saying something to the affect of “products and carpentry support provided by XXX.” I have also lost interest in all the bloggers with book deals. All the sudden each of their blog posts includes sneak previews of the book, but in order to get the rest of the story…you have to buy their book. I started following the blogs because of the FREE information….whatever makes them think I want to buy a book?!?!?
I forgot to add. I get really annoyed by bloggers that start to blog about how much work and/or how inconvenient having the blog is. Like we as readers are annoying them by READING ther blog. LOL!!!
1. Too many giveaways or product plugs. I want meat. Not fluff.
2. Too varied of content – Hi Style Lush and Design Sponge!
3. Music.
4. Thanking our sponsors posts. Not enough to turn me off an entire blog, but I skip right over them.
5. When projects are broken down into extremely small parts for a blog series. Very unsatisfying! Unless I’m reading archived entries!
I don’t enjoy when bloggers complain a lot, especially about other bloggers. Sometimes things just need to be kept private. I understand they may be looking for support- but IMHO, i think its tacky and unprofessional.
I agree with all of the above comments, especially about anything that makes the page slow to load. I am turned off by excessive religion. I like some personal stuff, but if the blog has post after post of personal stuff and nothing on topic, I quit following them (I’m a single person – really not interested in hearing about spouses and children). Tired of giveaways. I follow blogs to learn and be inspired to DIY. They can have before and afters, or full-blown tutorials. I do like hearing about new products and reviews of them. I do like hearing about the problems and fails in projects. What not to do can be as important as what to do. Keep up the good work.
I hate pop-ups. Even the ones that seem popular right now that are still part of the main window, but obscure the bottom part.
I also hate it when then entire post isn’t on the main page. I don’t want to click through.
What keeps me coming back? I real “voice”–one that I can picture the blogger as my real-life friend. Not a salesperson. And an upbeat attitude–most of the time. We all have rough spots, and I don’t mind an occasional airing of an issue (it keeps it real!)–but it you are depressing most of the time, I will leave.
I totally agree with you on the “real” person thing. So many bloggers out there seem to portray the “perfect” life on their blog…and seem to have endless cashflow when they are supposed to be blogging about budget DIY. Heading to check out your blog now, hope you’ll check out mine! xoxo
Ditto on the ads that automatically start playing audio/video. By far the biggest annoyance for me as well as blogs where you start to read and a large ad scrolls right over the content and requires you to close it to continue reading. Blogs that are disorganized where you can’t find content easily or contact info. Blogs that require you to log in to leave a comment or enter a security code. Blogs that don’t credit their photos or link back to the originator – give credit where credit is due. Really bad grammar and spelling – occasional mistakes are fine, we all make them, but really bad grammar distracts me too much and I click off.
Love blogs that provide practical instruction, great content, good images, inspiration, and written in a sincere way that feels like a real person is writing it.
I’m really finding these comments helpful – although it helps me realize tons of things I’m doing wrong ;)! Interesting stuff, Kristi!
Bobi
Very interesting stuff, and super helpful. As someone who reads blogs, I really dislike the click through, I prefer to read the post right there on the home page. As a blogger, I don’t appreciate comments from someone who obviously hadn’t read the post. They just look at some of the pics and write something completely unrelated or ask a question that you’ve already explained in the post. It’s nice to get comments, but I want them to actually mean something.
Tamara, you actually just hit on my absolute biggest pet peeve as a blogger. I try my hardest to write very detailed tutorials, but inevitably I will receive comments and emails from people who want me to answer questions about the process that I’ve already written clearly into my tutorial. They’ve clearly just looked at the pictures, didn’t read any of the explanation that I wrote, and then sent me an email wanting me to explain the process. Uugghhh!! I’ve actually had to start ignoring most of those emails because I just get so bombarded with emails that I don’t have time to waste on stuff like that. However, if I realize that their question wasn’t addressed in my tutorial, I’ll happily answer it. 🙂
Yesss! Or questions that have already been asked (and answered) in the comments. That makes me a little batty too.. since I feel like I go though the trouble of writing every little detail, and to have them asked over and over again is disheartening!
Can I just give you both a Hail Mary on this one issue and pet peeve of mine too …
🙂
Linda
Hmmm….If I’m on a decorating/diy blog, that’s what I want to read about-not stuff about kids or vacations (unless the travel directly related to decorating/diy). I don’t like it when the page takes forever too load-sometimes that’s because there are too many pictures. Pictures are helpful but I don’t need to see a shelf from a dozen angles. Please no music! Also….while it’s nice to recognize other bloggers, sometimes the back and forth references between bloggers (name dropping) gets old. Thanks for the opportunity to share.
Edwina, I fully track with you and your thoughts! That’s how I felt in my pre-blogging days … and I worry that, perhaps, I haven’t followed my very own rules and am now encroaching on your pet peeves …
So sorry. Will work on fixing that ….
Linda
I am a blogger. I agree with a lot of what has been said previously. The last blog I unsubscribed to just got ridiculous with the amount of details she was giving her readers about her friends and family members lives. For example, every time it was someone’s birthday, she celebrated them on her blog with a rundown of their life story or the history of their entire friendship with pictures from every year. Aside from being annoying, I had to wonder if all of those people really wanted that much info about them on a public blog. I don’t think she got that her readers weren’t as excited about the minutiae of her life as she was. Or maybe it was just me being grumpy? I also get annoyed when there are too many feature posts (or when they are too long). If I am reading your blog, then I want to see YOUR content. I understand that it’s important and beneficial from time to time, especially to give exposure to another deserving blog. Once in awhile = Great! 10 features every week = Annoying. I agree about the religion thing too, but only when it’s in your face constantly. Some bloggers are really good about integrating their faith into their blog in a way that doesn’t turn me off. It just depends on their method.
My number one pet peeve? Giveaways only open to US residents. I don’t unsubscribe because of it, but I click that bright red “x” with as much rage as my fingers can manage.
I also can’t stand the “yay me, I’m so talented, look how brilliant I am, can you believe how good this looks” sentiment that seems to be popping up in a few DIY decor blogs. THAT makes me unsubscribe.
This needs a like button!
I thought the same thing! LIKE!
Especially when I’m thinking “Really? That looks good?”
– Capcha or login requirements for comments.
– MUSIC! Please, for the love of everything wonderful, do NOT ever put music on your website
– talking ads. They’re distracting, like the music. Let’s focus on content over noises
– Giveaways that require me to Like Facebook pages, reTweet, or basically be your marketing tool. Or ones that allow extra entries if you RePin or follow or some other annoying thing I will immediately undo after the contest. If I do a giveaway on my blog, all I require is a comment so I have an email to let you know you won
– Contests that require you to email the blog admin if you won. WTF? I’m supposed to check in and hope I see that tiny note that I won? What happens if I miss that? Do you keep it? Give it to someone else? Please take the extra five seconds to shoot me an email that I won.
– Trash talking. You can give a review or express your feelings without tearing down someone/something else. Public vents are part of this. It doesn’t speak well for you as a person.
What annoys me:
a. When a blog takes a long time to load.
b. When it does load there is a bunch of advertisement above the blog title dropping it way down the screen.
c. Whining & complaining – only very rarely have I run into this in the DIY world I follow – but it’s annoying and does not place the blogger in a positive light. This will give me pause and I have often deleted these blogs from my list.
d. Responses from bloggers to a comment where the blogger forgets that the written word does not convey tone of voice, emotion, the nuances of conversation, etc. and automatically goes overboard defensive when the response would have better been, “Could you clarify? I may be reading or taking this wrong.” A pattern of this will cause me to stop visiting and delete from my blog list.
Though I see many do not like to click a title to get to the post, I’ve found since I started reading blogs about 3 years ago that if I haven’t been able to visit for a week, it’s helpful to have the title, thumbnail pic & first sentence or so of the 5 I missed so I can choose to visit them as interest dictates. I’ve found it very time efficient for me as a reader when my available time may be my lunch break at work or in between coats of paint on a project! If I’m ever in a place to do so, I hope to switch my blog to that format.
I enjoy your blog and appreciate your honesty about projects AND life. Also, please don’t interpret “whining & complaining” as talking about real life’s ups & downs. I mean it as the backstabbing kind of stuff towards other bloggers/people…to clarify 🙂 It was very thoughtful of you to ask our opinions…much appreciated!
Additionall, and as a couple of other commentors said, “No music, no talking!” There are some environments (i.e. workplace – hey! I’m not the only one sneaking it in!) that one just doesn’t want to announce what they’re doing, but the speakers need to be on for work stuff! Thank you for no audio!
Great post idea Kristi! Such great insight!! Yes, I hate music. I hate slow loading ads (although that happens on my site, too). Too many contributors or guest posts once the blogger gets big. Word verification. Linking up to 100 different blog parties. Sponsored posts every week. Too many giveaways. And my biggest pet peeve? “Click here to continue reading”. I get that the blogger wants more pageviews, but that is just annoying. Oh, and I love a good project gallery to find past projects. Please make sure you have one of these!
And I just have to say to some of the comments above that it’s nearly impossible to give your readers 5 days a week of original craft or DIY content so you’re gonna see some fluff in there (like family stories or roundups, sorry!).
Two words: Center Alignment. Oh my goodness this drives me up the wall. I just hate the look of it and its so difficult to read that I’ve actually unsubscribed from blogs because of it.
Centre alignment? LOL It doesn’t bug me as much as bad spelling and bad grammar. I usually left align my blog but sometimes I’ve forgotten to do it as I do it last before I publish, otherwise the photos can go haywire as I type… Wierd.
I agree with all of the above. I actually wrote a post complaining about the movie ads that start automatically when you open a page. I haven’t yet unsubscribed, but I’m tempted…
Now keeping in mind that I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to reading things online and that I already spend more time than I can spare on the computer, these are my pet peeves:
Too slow to load blogs. Posts that are about a product (which I may not even be able to get in my country). Bad spelling or grammar. DIY blogs I joined to read about projects, which have many posts about family, kids, trips. Too much cross-posting of other blogs’ content. Giveaways I can’t enter cause I’m not in the USA. Too much religion. Centre alignment? It doesn’t bug me as much as bad spelling, hard to follow layouts and lack of white space around photos. However, I do realise you have little control over that at times when blogging…
I haven’t unsubscribed to any blogs for those reason (yet). I just skip those posts.
What I do like: humour, short, interesting posts with photos and tutorials on how something was made/achieved. A sense of who the person is. Most important is reality – things are not always perfect and I want to know that the people I admire don’t live in a Vogue photospread all the time.
Thanks for posing this topic! As a new blogger, I’m learning a lot.
As far as what keeps me reading a blog: 1) houses that I actually like, which are works in progress…I’m so anxious to see what they’ll come up with next! Pure Style Home is an example. 2) bloggers with a sense of humor, especially if they’re sarcastic, such as Sherry Hart, 3) original content! Which brings me to turnoffs: 1) excessive religion, 2) “roundups” and 3) product plugs/sponsor plugs/giveaways, and overly-detailed instructions (such as the photo of the blogger’s hand holding the paintbrush. 😉
Wow! It’s very interesting to see what bugs people. I guess I’m at fault for a lot of the peeves, but then again, I don’t blog for money and use my blog as my own outlet.
However, I DO agree with the comments about giveaways and plugging sponsors, I agree that gets old. Also, blogs that post loads and loads of content they’ve pinned or snagged from other sites.
I love original content and don’t come back to the blogs that just post pretty pictures of pretty interiors they love.
I’m loving this discussion Kristi! I read Amy’s too and found it great. I agree with a lot of the previous comments. I am really turned off by pop-up ads, music and videos that play automatically. I am a blogger so I understand its a way to make money, but it makes me go nutty. Other things that are on my ‘pet peeve list’: Poor Navigation, I want to be able to easily find the home page, other projects and find social media buttons, which leads me to No Social Media Buttons, I follow a lot of blogs on Facebook and Pinterest and Google+ so if a blog doesn’t have social media profiles set up there is a good chance I won’t subscribe. And my biggest one, negative attitudes. I know we all have bad days, but if all they do on Facebook is complain I might stop following. I like to be around positive people 🙂
Over the summer, I have less posts and I thought it was because I had nothing to share, but the reality is that I am getting blog burnout.
The generous and giving spirit of diy blogging that used to exist (since I started reading them 4 years ago) has almost disappeared. Now everyone wants to run their own business, guest post, name drop, be a member of a clique and get as many people as possible to follow them, on every imaginable platform!
I would like to see less ads, less guest posts, less sponsor posts, less bragging about how frickin’ wonderful your life is (are you for real?), less religion, no word verification, more original content, less personal stuff, less posts just to fill up space.
Whew, thanks for letting me get that off my chest 🙂
Music and ads that make make noise!
YES!!! I don’t understand why they put them there. I think it’s just to annoy the hell out of people it’s just like ads on the phone while you are playing a game it just pops up right as you are about to click and then it takes you to the page even though it knows you don’t want to. You also need to pay money to get rid of ads on games that makes no sences pay one or two dollers for your enjoyment of no ads. This world is getting more and more corrupt people will do anything to get money on all games you can buy gems and that kind of thing on they say the best deal is the 100 doller one. I don’t think that is true and who would put that much money into a game like that. Also when you try to remove an ad but you need a reason for it why I don’t get that.
This is a really great discussion and I have to say I agree with almost everything. It seems like so many blogs are popping up daily and it’s hard to follow all the ones I like so I stick to a few that really mean something to me because they add a bit of personal connection for us readers. I love to feel like I know them without being bombarded with overwhelming personal stuff constant ads, sponsor post, or product reviews. It’s a fine line, one that I am still playing around with.
I’m a blogger and I know content is important to me. If I follow a DIY blog, I want just that. If you claim to be a Lifestyle blog, I want to read about that. But I also think pigeon holing yourself can be dangerous, especially if you want to share other things on your DIY blog and people come to you for ONLY DIY.
I get very annoyed and click out of blogs that take to long to load (Blogher), excessive religion talk drives me bonkers. I respect your beliefs but unless you are a Christian, etc blog, then I will click out and move on.
What I really really love are bloggers I can relate to. I love positive bloggers but let’s be honest, not everyday is perfect so it’s ok to share about of the non positive stuff too. Again, a fine line 🙂
Thanks for posting on topic. I think it’s all a work in progress for most of us.
Best,
Amanda
I am a wannabe blogger who has recently taken significant time off becuase I was pregnant & had a baby. I still keep up with reading my favorite blogs though. I’m with everyone else on the ads. They kill me. I understand you want to make money but come on! When I can’t read your blog becuase there are so many distracting ads, I give up and move on to the next blog.
I know a lot of people complained about the fluff – the family stuff or whatever – but I don’t mind it. I feel like it makes their blog more personal. It makes me want to get to know them better & continue to read.
Pet peev: I’m not crazy about montly recaps. If I like a blog, I follow it and I see all of the projects as they’re posted originally. I don’t need to see them again. I’d rather the blogger just not post for a day (or a few days). Quite honestly, though, if a blogger I follow posts something I’m not interested in, I just skip over that post. We all have our own tastes and opinions, and I don’t have to love everything out there for it to be a great blog for me!
I’m a blogger (two blogs!). I agree with the music and with advertisements that pop up when the page loads. I don’t mind adds down the side of the blog at all, and if I see something interesting I’ll click on it, but big ‘in your face’ pop up adds I close and ignore.
The link parties. There are just too many out there. I don’t need weekly link parties. Particularly since 1/2 of them seem to be duplicates. I subscribe to a lot of blogs from guest posts (I LOVE guest bloggers, so much fun!!) but since I’m already getting their blogs in my reader…the link parties are redundant.
I don’t mind a few personal posts from time to time, because it puts a human factor in blogging. I like knowing who the person is that I’m a fan of, even if I’ve never met them. But if I really want to hear non-stop about kids, I’d join a parenting blog. Just saying….
My last pet peeve? No archives!! Bloggers have such GREAT projects, but sometimes when I go to find them, there’s no archives to make my search easier. Yes I can pin, yes I have tags in my Google reader, but really, I love to look through archives to see if I missed something before I started reading your blog. If you don’t have an archive, I could me missing out on something fantastic!!! 🙂
Hey there! Wow, interesting comments. Being a blogger and reader, I will say that pop up ads that automatically play drive me insane and I will blow torch them if I ever find out they are popping up on my site automatically and playing 🙂 hehe. I HATE them.
This is a great post, as was the one by Amy. Very interesting. As a blogger the important thing to remember is that everyone has their own opinion and you can’t make everyone happy. Just be yourself, make awesome stuff and enjoy your blog. If you truly enjoy what you do it will show and people will read it. I hate pop ups and music just like everyone else, but if I’m interested in the post it won’t stop me from reading. I skip over sponsored posts and most giveaways, but I don’t fault the blogger for doing them…I do them too. The only weird personal thing I have is that I can’t stand when people overuse exclamation points. Drives me crazy.
Oh my gosh, Ashley!!! The exclamation point thing?!! I’m sooo with you on that one!!!!! ( 🙂 Yes, that was just for your benefit.) Truly, it’s something that drives me crazy not only in blog posts, but on Facebook and other social media as well. I’m frequently commenting to Matt about how the exclamation point is the most overused punctuation, and the question mark is the most misused punctuation. Both drive me a bit crazy.
Okay, that was over my exclamation point threshold…now I have to stop reading your blog! Ha! I’m glad to hear someone feels the same way…too many make people seem fake. Not all the time and if your really excited then by all means, exclamate away…but you CAN NOT be that excited about everything. I tend to go extreme the other way though…I’ll write an entire post without a single exclamation point, then go back and add a couple so that I don’t sound grumpy, lol.
I have noticed that I use many more exclamation points in my blog and on Facebook than I do in my other writing. I guess that’s because both are more conversation media, but I need to go back to those journalism and English rules and banish the exclamation point except when merited.
WOW! I am loving this topic. I thought I was the only one secretly hating or tallying up my blog pet peeves. Feels good knowing that others feel the same way. If only we could direct this list to the bloggers in question lol! Anyway, here’s my hate and love list to go along with what everyone else has said above (sorry for any repeats, sorry if I offend!)
HATE
– 1,000 pictures of the same thing at different angles, especially if the blogger has poor photography. Stop it, please!
– poor photography (i am at fault here too! but people, please, learn how to use your camera)
– “look at me look at me” posts. Please be more humble, and just share a tutorial, don’t write about something lame just to get postive reassurance. Oh, and include a tutorial. Don’t write a post like “look at what i did!” and then never show a tutorial.
– CAPCHA requirements for comments, major pet peeve
– stupid weekly blog parties (emphasis on the stupid). Make it about something in particular, like Miss Mustard Seed’s FURNITURE party, not like a free for all where you find food and hair bows and furniture and scarves all in one party
– repeate tweets (thes bug hard, don’t trick me into clicking on the same thing twice)
– self proclaimed home design professionals
– and probably my biggest pet peeve of all is complaining. I get it that people use their blog as a way to express themselves, but this isn’t free therapy people, and I dont want to know how much your kids bother you or embarass you in public when you’re trying to sell me your paper design brand.
LOVE
– I love tutorials, but mostly I love tutorials on unique projects or uncommon things to DIY.
– I love decent photography. you seriously dont have to be a pro, but if you have decent photography, chances are I will add you to my reader
– I love seeing the real you in a blogger. It’s a fine line, yes, but be yourself. Be quirky, be fun, be snarky, be you! It’s easiest to do this as a blogger if you write like you’re talking to your friends, not like you’re trying to impress your friends. Fine line.
– I love genuine link-love, where you link back to the things you post about or share (as you should!) but also I love it when you find a new blog you like and you share it with you readers, not for money, but because you found a blog that is unique to this saturated space
– I love the “less is more” philosophy. If your blog is a visual mess, to much going on, to many colors, too many headers or side bar nonesense, I will more than likely leave and never come back. Clean it up!
Anyway, i’m sure we could go on and on about this topic! Thank you for hosting and I can’t wait to read a summary of the results (although I’ve read everyones comments already lol).
YES. i am with you on every point.
Oh, and to the grammar police – lots of typos in the above comment. Sorry ’bout that!
I am not a blogger. I subscribe to 51 blogs on my Google Reader but I don’t read them within reader itself because I like to visit the actual blogs – so I LOVE google’s “Next” bookmark!
Pet peeves:
– Like everyone else, I hate video/audio ads or music players that automatically start. I often listen to music when surfing the web and I don’t want to have to try and hunt around your page to find out how to shut off whatever is interrupting my music! This is probably my biggest pet peeve and I just unsubscribed from a blog that recently added a “DIY Video Tip of the Week.”
– Popups of any kind.
– Giveaways. And I totally roll my eyes at the kind where readers have to leave a comment, subscribe to the blog, like the Facebook page, tweet about it, share the link on their own FB page, and give away their firstborn just to enter.
– Center alignment of text. This won’t make me unsubscribe but I find left justified text so much easier to read.
– Light text on a dark background. I won’t be back.
– When multiple bloggers all get free product and blog about it at the same time. There was one about an appliance (maybe a washer?) a while back that drove me crazy. My entire reader was filled with posts about this appliance. And I have to be honest, I tend to be highly skeptical about whatever bloggers say about product they are given for free.
I don’t mind:
– Personal posts once in a while on blogs that usually focus on something else (decorating, diy, fashion)
– A few days between posts. I’d rather wait until you have something good to say than have to click past “fluff!”
What keeps me coming back:
– Interesting, fresh content with lots of photos. Photos are really what keep me interested!
I hate it when blogs do not have titles to click onto. I’m also very disappointed when their is not a home tour. Now saying these things, you won’t find a home tour on my blog either but that’s because I feel as though my house does not deserve a tour as of yet. Hopefully soon!!!
Things I hate:
1) Give-aways. I don’t even read the post to see what’s being given away and I have never entered one.
2) Excessive sponsored posts.
3) Drastic change in topic. If you start out as a DIY blog and then have a baby and post all about your baby all the time, I unsubscribe.
4) Too much time between posts. I’m pretty familar with the authors of all the blogs I read – I feel as if I “know” them. If you drop off the face of the earth for long periods of time, I won’t remember who you are/waht you’re about/etc and unsubscribe.
5) Guest posters. I subscribe to your blog because I like YOU and YOUR projects, not your friend/fellow bloggers projects. I 100% do not get the point of guest bloggers.
6) Center aligned text. Drives me nuts.
7) Bloggers who make a word or sentence bold or a random color through out their posts.
8) Excessive bad grammar/punctuation/spelling.
9) Posts about a bloggers recent purchase. I don’t care that you went to Target and bought a cute pillow.
10) Posts about an item you have recently listed or are getting ready to list for sale in your shop or booth.
11) Let’s thank our sponsors posts/I’ve added a new sponsor posts.
12) Window shopping posts. I shop at Target/Ikea/etc myself. I don’t need to see pictures of what you saw the last time you were there and your commentary on it.
13) Posts asking for donations/prayers/etc for someone in need.
14) Posts that bash trends – Keep in mind that of all your readers, someone is bound to like what you are bashing.
15) Posts that promise that the blogger will soon be back with good posts.
16) Excessive vacation posts. I don’t care where you just traveled to.
Things that keep me coming back:
1) Honesty. If you bungled a project terribly, I want to know all about it. It makes me feel better about all my projects that go wrong and makes the blogger feel like a real person.
2) Family posts. I feel like I know bloggers better when I see some of what their significant others/children/pets are like (but don’t over do it). This creates a personal connection, which makes me want to read your blog.
3) Quality content – posts that are in keeping with the subject of your blog and aren’t a regurgitation of another bloggers posts/projects.
4) Posts about things going on in your own home. I don’t really care about your friends house or a model home that you visited.
I forgot one thing that I hate. Link parties. Also, posts where the blogger gives “awards” to bloggers she likes or projects she likes. And posts that sum up good projects in the last week are bad too.
Ooh, thanks for asking this question. I really, really dislike it when niche blogs talk about really political, polarizing topics. It’s their blog and they can say whatever they want to, but it still really bothers me (especially if I don’t agree with that subject). I go to X blog for X subject, and not much else.
I am a non-blogger and I like many others hate ads, music, and agree with many other comments already made. I also hate sidebars, I like buttons or categories at the top that you can easily click and go to a specific subject (i.e. DIY Projects, Home Tour, etc.). Make it easy for me to look at your stuff on your site please.
I also hate rambling and stupid posts. Well I don’t hate rambling, because I am a rambler, and at times it is funny, but not all the time. Sometimes you can put a little rambling here and there, but not throughout the whole post, it gets annoying, especially if you are not funny. Stick to the topic.
I love tutorials and I hate when I search for a specific DIY tutorial and it shows a great picture or it says it in their title of their post of exactly what I am trying to do and then I click on their blog and nothing, but how great their project turned out, not even one mention of how they did it or they only have a brief description of how they did it, I hate that. Show me the tutorial!
Oh I also hate exclamation points, my boss does it all the time, and it is so annoying. Really you need that many because I didn’t get it with just one!!!! HA!
There are a few things that will make me lose interest – although I must admit I don’t remove blogs from my reading list in hopes that whatever made them interesting to me in the first place will somehow come back! I don’t like music on a blog – sometimes I forget to turn my speakers off (or down) when I am reading and it often startles the bejeepers out of me! I also don’t like blogs that have so many bells and whistles that it takes forever to load the page ….movin’ on! I reallly like “real” people type blogs – tell me about who you are and what you made or what you are doing – don’t flash me with too many giveaways or too much glitz. I also struggle with blogs that only show pictures of other people’s pretty things from magazines, etc.
Overall – I have to say I am a faithful reader of many blogs and sure there are posts (as I am sure many find of my blog) that don’t grab me but if the blogger seems genuine I am in for the long haul!
Peggy
p.s. I love my followers and I LOVE the comments I do get although I don’t get as many comments as I would like (maybe I am not asking enough questions….LOL)
Non-blogger here and some of my pet peeves will be repeats. Music, rambling, using the same word a million times (pic/pics) in one post, give-aways that require multiple steps to enter, “budget” bloggers that seem to have an unlimited budget or spend 100s every month on stuff ( I understand that getting a chandy for 500$ instead of 1000$ is a savings but I couldn’t spend that much), bloggers who write about how their income has changed and how poor they will be b/c they have stopped working and then show photos of them filling a van with antiques, etc. I sometimes wonder just how truthful some bloggers are.
1 link up parties and giveaways
2 sponsor shout outs
3 and honestly, if a blog is about decorating but it ends up mostly about kids then i’m gone. I’d rather see a blogger write less often and have better content, then just write and share all of their life. If that was the blogs intention, that’s fine but if the blog has a particular subject matter and most posts are not about that subject, I delete.
One thing I find to be a HUGE turn-off no matter how great someone’s blog is –>> when the blogger “gets too big for her britches” (IMO) and refers to herself as a “big blogger” and advises the rest of the DOs and DONTs of blogging. I start thinking, “Who put you in charge?” I admire accomplishments, certainly, but humility along with goes a long way with me! I have unfollowed a handful of “top” bloggers just because I found their “we make the rules around here” take on things off-putting, uninspiring, and actually the polar opposite of creative!! Blogging for me is a creative activity and I’m not looking for a few ppl to put me into a set box of how to do it!
I should have included exactly what you said, but you said it much better than I would/could have 🙂
Again…where’s the like button?
What ever happened to the good ol days of blogging just for fun and personal satisfaction?Why has this once enjoyable pastime become so legalistic? Why so many rules and regulations? I just feel like its all turned into a huge competition and money racket as well as a popularity contest. Its so very frustrating……….
Kristi — You’ve opened a can of worms. But you are teaching us to be better bloggers. (And giving us the chance to vent, even though it places each of us in the line of fire.)
Here’s my list of turn-offs:
When a blogger acts like an expert or professional when actually her tutorial is based solely on this first time she’s actually sewn a curtain, baked her cookies, spray painted a pair of shoes, or made this wreath.
When linkys, roundups, giveaways, guest posts, and pinned photos stand in for original content.
When lines are centered, or there is not enough white space, or the font is small or faint.
When the blogger posts poor photos, too dark, small, taken with a flash, or multiples of the same makeover.
When there’s too much attention given to family updates.
Excessively long posts, full of cute and repetitive words and phrases.
Here’s my list of what keeps me coming back.
Good writing that shows the blogger put some time and thought into her post. I don’t care if it is “just a blog.” It should still be grammatically correct, free from typos, and punctuated properly. For the readers’ sake.
An attitude. It could be witty, or modest, or sarcastic, but it should be original. Love her or hate her, Heather Armstrong of Dooce can be profane and bitter and self-possessed, but she’s at her core good hearted and curious and funny. I regularly read some blogs just because they are well-written, even though the subject matter is stuff I’m not knowledgeable about and don’t care about. It’s entertainment to me because of attitude. Sometimes it’s a look into someone’s life that is nothing like my own life.
Bloggers on the whole are creative and ambitious people. They have to be because even a simple blog requires work. Blogs have opened doors for me and opened my mind. They inspire and inform. Perhaps your blog can help make them more reader-friendly.
Man, I hope I didn’t misspell anything!
What a wonderful post – thanks Kristi,
I have to agree with everyone above. My biggest peeve is too many advertisements; especially when they have nothing to do with the focus of the blog. Also the posts that are so obviously paid advertisements (there was a Kleenex one going around a bit ago). I also will disconnect from blogs that dive too deep into religion (even my own particular religious persuasion). I read blogs for new ideas, tutorials, reflections that catch my attention.
I can’t tell you how often I have been scared out of my wits when music begins and then, not being able to turn it off. Giveaways when you have to check back or go here and there, posting. No thanks. Bloggers who either must drink Red Bull to get so much done or never sleep. I would like to get a breakdown of what a D.I.Y. costs, since some don’t seem so thrifty and D.I.Y. as many blogs originally began. Some people never respond to comments, others even send comments to my email address-wow, that makes me feel really special!
I adore a sense of humor, I like to hear of the failures and see the mistakes. That helps the readership realize that they can try and fail. Love enthusiasm, there are some bloggers who bring so much life into their posts. I get a lot of mailings and it helps if the title of the post for the day says what the story is about, rather than just the name of the post…sometimes, I am scrolling for something to catch my eye and some people have great hooks.
You, my dear, are so creative. I especially appreciated your post about your trials and tribulations. It is important for me to have a connection and your opening up was a great way for me to know you more and admire what you are able to accomplish.
I really dislike the giveaways. I don’t Tweet, rarely use Facebook and don’t have my own blog I can’t “help” the blogger in any way but yes, I am a loyal follower and would just LOVE to win _______!
I also know that the wonderful women (and men) who blog are really busy and get a lot of emails and comments, when I am a loyal reader and commenter, I would really love to get a reply to a comment once in awhile. This may sound very junior high but I really feel like these folks are my Internet friends and would love to know that it isn’t totally one sided. Just saying…
I have many of the same pet peeves that have already been posted. One that bothers me tremendously is the instant music or DIY Video Tip of the Week. If I want to listen to music, I will already have it playing… and if I want to see the video, I can click on it myself.
I do, however, have a huge pet peeve that I haven’t seen posted above, unless I missed it. When I read a tutorial, and need clarification regarding one of the steps, etc., I will read every comment to see if my question has been asked by another person. It frustrates me to no end to see the question (and in some cases, asked over and over again)….. and there is no answer from the author of the tutorial. I understand bloggers may sometimes send emails to the person who asked the question, but I feel the answers should be posted. Because if one person has the question, likely there are others.
I love a great sense of humor, and admire those who can be witty and entertaining. I do like the occasional glimpse into family life as long as it isn’t constant. But what really keeps me coming back to a blog is great, original content with tutorials that are very clear. I always appreciate when a picture of a product that was used is posted, because if I’m not familiar with that particular product, I then know what to look for. Oh, and like another person said, I like to see the failures, too…. because I have many of them!
Thank you for asking for this feedback. It shows me that you do really care what your readers think.
I am not a real blogger but a DIYer.
Advertisement I understand to some extent. The most annoying one pops up as soon as I start reading their blog and it is hard to hit the button to delete it. I will now delete those that have it. I hate it when a blogger I love sends me advertisement to my email address. It wastes my time. But I do like hearing about some products. The machine that cuts vinyl. New crafting tools. Paint that works well wll you understand what I mean. But I want to read about it on your blog not in my email. But I want it related to what they are doing. But not so much it becomes redundant. I do want to also hear about the blogger but not over board. I want to see pictures of them and hear funny things some personal information is very important but to much is to much. Religion the ones I subscribe to are very balanced. The ones overboard I don’t go there but honestly most balance it out with grave and dignity. And I am not religious.
Here is my biggest pet peeve and this one I have a hard time understanding. Leaving out a important step in the process of following directions. The first time it happened I redid the table three times…before I figured it out. I had to google it and find the information some place else and call the paint store to find out what I did wrong. They left the step out. My other pet peeve is showing me something beautiful but not telling me how you did it.
My favorite things! Talented, creative women! I love it. I love the fact you share your information, your creativity and talent. I love the fact that you help new bloggers get a head start by supporting them! I also love seeing you be successful. Most bloggers are wonderful talented women. They work hard and then share their talent. The advertisement I can take most of it. I like to see others reap from their talents. I feel you deserve it! And I am very much for women supporting women. And I truly want them to be successful.
Agree with all the main ones listed above, especially pop-up ads and music / talking ads.
The other thing is archives and easily finding older posts. I often like to go back to the beginning of a blog and see how it started but sometimes it’s really hard to find that first post.
I also wish more blogs had the next / previous or newer / older options to click. Sometimes I’ll be reading an older post and they reference what their next post will be about but I have to go find it if I’m interested instead of just being able to click next.
Oh, and word verification to comment, especially on Blogger, I can NEVER get those right so I end up not posting.
I am new to blogging and still trying to figure everything out, so this thread is very helpful (thanks Kristi). I like blogs that have top buttons so you can get into the content easily eg Project Gallery/Home Tour etc and I want to add these myself but don’t yet know how. I like to see and be inspired by people’s real life projects that showcase their creativity and how they use things in their home – it kick starts my own creative processes and ideas. So, I am less interested in blogs that showcase magazine pics. I haven’t had the confidence yet to post a tutorial on something I’ve done. I enjoy seeing thrift purchases, but am a little confused why some bloggers feel the need to photograph the price label to prove they got a bargaint. I believe what they say they paid for it, and I guess it ties in with the overuse of photographs when sharing something.
I completely respect blogger’s faith/religion but if I’m tuning in for home decorating I don’t really want a scripture lesson – however, it is their blog to share what they want and the reader’s choice if they want to continue to follow.
And finally, I’ve been looking at link parties to join and must confess to liking the ones that have a specific topic driving them, like Kristi’s Make it Happen Monday – encouraging people to set and finish a project goal.
ALL OF THE ABOVE! I am not a blogger but I follow a wide variety of them. Drives me crazy when I see a new one that I want to follow and have to search to find “Follow by email”.
My biggest peeves:
1. Shameless Self-Promotion {selling their art, etsy stuff, etc…especially when the art is not of talent}
2. Sponsor Posts & Promos
3. Giveaways that are exhausting to enter
4. Clique-y bloggers…the ones that you see constantly only promoting/talking about the blogs in their social blog circle and never branch out to check out your blog or leave a comment letting you know they did…even when you read and comment regularly on all of theirs. It feels like high school in the blog world. KWIM?
5. Too many ads
6. Difficult navigation and hard time finding the follow links
7. Too many personal posts…I do them once in a while and feel it’s ok because I believe it gives your readers some authenticity and insight into who the person behind the blog is and that can be good…but when your blog is more personal than on topic, I usually stop reading.
I guess that’s about it…that being said, I hope y’all might hop over and check out my blog. I will be visiting plenty of the ones that commented on this post! 🙂
I tend to veer away from blogs that have posts that are super lengthy and have no pictures. Especially when something is a tutorial – I need to see it in action. I also like a blog that is crisp and clean and doesn’t have stuff absolutely every where. Of course it has to be interesting too!
Wow, lol, great information. I’m a new blogger and am learning tons by reading these comments. What I love on blogs I follow are lots of gorgeous photos like on The Paper Mulberry and lots of useful info., tutorials, recipes etc. I don’t mind blogs that cover cooking to gardening but when they get too into personal family stuff I tend to start to skim and look for the more meaty content.
Kristi!
This is great – so many pet peeves, so little time!
I really hate when people post pics on their blogs and don’t link back to the original source – or link back to their own Pinterest boards!
Kelly
Hi Kristi,
Thanks for asking–even though I wonder if it will do any good. . .
1. Despise the profanity, acronyms for obscenity, and potty-mouths–bloggers or commenters, alike.
2. Pop-up & talking ads.
3. Music.
4. Ten million photos of the same thing at slightly different angles.
5. Endless posts about family and children when the blog purports to be about decorating.
6. Visually cluttered blogs that are difficult to navigate–I just want to read the post!
7. Blogs where you spend the first five minutes of your visit turning off all the pop-ups, etc., before you get to the post–I just give up and go to another, more friendly blog.
8. Bloggers that get you hooked and then take a three-month vacation or a year sabbatical.
9. Bloggers I have followed for years suddenly start any of the above. . .I usually don’t say anything, I just move on to other blogs/new blogs that offer what I’m looking for. After all, it is their blog and they do what they want to do. Since I doubt they will be changing anything anytime soon, nor should they, I just get on down the bloggy road.
Love
1. Good photography of projects, interiors, exteriors, before and afters, remodels, pets :)–I don’t really care if it is their own or someone else’s project, interior, etc.
2. Well written, short posts that the grammar police would approve of.
3. Humble bloggers.
4. DYI
5. Pick-my-presto.
I’m actually strangely disturbed by some of the comments posted…
I’d like to challenge each of you to email the bloggers who use (in your opinion) excessive grammar, pics, sweepstakes, advertisements, etc. with some helpful feedback before you unsubscribe.
I hope we all remember that these bloggers are good people trying to give you (the reader) everything they can… Heart, soul, and DIY
I personally feel that if someone where to land on my blog, and for whatever reason, not find what they are interested in, and click off, that’s fine.
I mean, really, who would want an email like that? In fact, such an email probably wouldn’t be helpful to me or incline me to change anything on my blog.
I do my blog for me, mostly.
The fact that anyone finds it interesting is just a plus.
I find these comments to be very informative, though. Even though they haven’t affected me to the point of making any changes.
I share a LOT of them.
I personally feel that if someone where to land on my blog, and for whatever reason, not find what they are interested in, and click off, that’s fine.
I mean, really, who would want an email like that? In fact, such an email probably wouldn’t be helpful to me or incline me to change anything on my blog.
I do my blog for me, mostly.
The fact that anyone finds it interesting is just a plus.
I find these comments to be very informative, though. Even though they haven’t affected me to the point of making any changes.
I share a LOT of them.
Donna – yodafatkitty.com
Kirsti,
Thanks for starting this. It is so valuable for so many of us. I, too am a blogger trying to find my way in this world of sharing creativity. The creativity of others is a major source of inspiration. Certainly all of the major pet peeves have been listed –
– Music
– Pop-ups
– Slow loading from ads requiring lots of band width – motion, music
– Too many pictures of exactly the same thing
– Center justified text- absolute no-no.
– Religion
Not mentioned yet:
– Fake, goofy names for family members – “Mr. ABD” in place of my husband. “The boy” in place of our son. I can understand not wanting to use their real name but choose carefully to avoid goofy. This doesn’t make me move on but I do find it awkward.
– Endless photos of people from blog conventions- yes, report back on what you learned and include several photos for interest – but the week after a convention so many blogs are filled with people pictures.
Other Notes:
– I don’t mind when an established blog does something like a link party once a week. That is a way for newbies to get exposure, see the world easily. Find new blogs. I use it when needed it, skip when I don’t.
– I like when those in the know share blog secrets and lessons. It helps many of us that are just learning, and I like when they categorized them together, easy to find. It is a giving back to the community which I appreciate.
The main reason I move on is a valid one and not a reason anyone should change their blog- It’s just not my style. I am constantly looking for blogs that are!
Now I need to go back and make sure I didn’t use too many exclamation points! 🙂
I dislike when I’m reading a blog on my phone and they have it set up where you swipe left or right to move between blog posts. I always end up accidentally switching posts when trying to scroll up and down.
I guess I really only have one complaint. I can over look most anything but as a blogger I enjoy interacting and responding to comments left by people, so I hate having a “no-reply blogger” comment. It takes extra time to either go to my original post to leave my comment instead of via email where their comment lands, or I hunt them down on their blog to find their email and respond.
~Bliss~
1 – Giveaways
2 – Link Parties
3 – Blogs that don’t load into Google Reader correctly – i.e. Reader shows you there is a new post, but only shows you the first few sentances and then you have to link over to the actual blog. I read in Google Reader for a reason and its not to link over to the blog. I do a lot of my blog reading on my phone and I’m not going to wait for the website to load.
I dislike ads at the top of a page and pop-up ads. I also leave a blog if the advertising takes up more room than the posts or if the ad is in the middle of a post. I’ve learned a lot about blogging in the past year and don’t like to see people ranting about something. I like to get a positive feel when I read a blog. I also like to see the majority of posts about something the author did or made themselves rather than the post being only about what someone else did. Of course if a blog is like Totally Tutorials or Catholic Cuisine which are set up for the purpose of sharing, that is different.
Oh, yeah, I don’t like winning blog awards. I’ve won three so far. I guess I’m strange on that point, but it seems like a lot of work when I only have 4 blogging friends and one of them give me an award that states that I have to give out this award to 5 of blogging my friends….go figure! It also makes winning an award a rather shallow accomplishment. I also don’t like to have to say 12 private things about myself just so I can post that I won a blogging award.
Hey Kristi! Thanks for opening the conversation up. My biggest pet peeve is comments that I receive asking me to join a link party. As much as I enjoy discovering new blogs I find that very bothersome. Some blogger will even go as far as emailing me each week to remind me to join their party.
Me, again! I wanted to say “Thank you, again” for this post. As a very new blogger, it is proving very helpful. One thing I wondered is how people feel about multple posts for one project. I found a project to be taking much longer than I thought so I split it up rather than write a novel. Your take? Other readers?
That’s a great question! I’m personally okay with posts about project status updates. I quite enjoy them, in fact, as long as it’s not overboard. One blog that I read was recently writing about a lengthy project, and I will admit that I got a bit bored with all of the updates on that particular project. Two or three updates on a large project are great. Eight to ten, not so much. 🙂 That’s just my opinion….and not like I’ve always followed my own advice, either. 😀
Thanks, Kristi! Not something I want to do on a regular basis for sure, but sometimes the “epic fail” or having to DIY nights & partial weekends since I have a 40 hr./wk day job won’t leave much of a choice.
I think my pet Peeves have been aired! My biggest is the pop up and talking ads. I have even sent emails to blogs that have these begging them to remove them. One in particular has not. I think it is an assault to your readers and just plain greed when you add these things to your blog. Ads are one of the biggest ways we make money from our blogs, but when they start talking to you, and you don’t listen to your readers, then you have lost touch with why people are coming to you in the first place.
I don’t frequent blogs that do giveaways every single week. Once in a while is fun. Every week is not at all interesting.
I hate word verification, I think it is evil. I would love to leave a comment for posts that I like, but when I have to squint to read those letters, I am so turned off and I usually don’t come back.
I really dislike blogs where there are 500 pictures of the same project, but from every single angle. I like to see projects from different angles, but you have more than 4 or 5 of the same project, then I lose interest. I don’t return to these blogs either.
I don’t like reading blogs where everything is perfect all the time. I want to know the person behind the creations. It is so much more interesting to know what makes them tick, what they struggle with, how they deal with it. It makes the blogging community so much more personal.
And finally, and I know I will be villified for this, I don’t care for blogs where they include pictures of their children in every single post. I do like seeing and learning about other people’s families. But I really don’t want an accounting of what your family is up to every day. Just a summary once a week is great. I like that, it helps me feel connected like I am catching up with a friend. I don’t share with my friends every day what my children are doing, and I don’t send out pictures of my kids all the time to FB, etc., so I don’t understand why people feel the need to do this on their blogs, unless of course, the blog is about family or something.
Thanks for providing the forum to vent. This felt good!
I don’t blog, I’m just a faithful reader.
What makes you lose interest in a blog?
-When they change the direction of their blog, generally happens after they have a baby or get married.
What are your biggest blog pet peeves?
Many have been listed above, but in case you’re taking a vote…
-Music on the page is my #1 peeve. I wish there was a way to block a website so I don’t ever accidentally click on it again. I would block the ones that play music
-Flashing ads..they can cause me migraines…another one I would block if I could (does anyone know of a way to do that?)
-Religious propaganda on a DIY blog
-Pretending to be perfect, or pretending to be perfect and then occasionally posting about something ridiculous and insignificant and saying ‘See my life isn’t as perfect as everyone thinks. Today, I ran out of Windex’
-A list of Linky parties they participate in that’s a mile long and at the end of every single post
-Excessive product reviews. They always say ‘I was paid for this, but I’m still telling the truth about my love of this product’ and I always roll my eyes. Every once in a while is fine, but several times a week just makes you look like an unscrupulous product pimp.
-Using buzz words to try to get traffic even when they aren’t accurate. For instance, buying a bunch of new materials and then hot gluing them together is not upcycling..
Some other things I didn’t see mentioned but may have missed:
-One popular blog I read changed her font for certain words constantly in the same post. It drove me nuts.
-Someone saying how much they love the item they made..over and over. “I think I am in love, Look at the pot holder I made yesterday! Love, love, love!!! Do you love it? I love it so much!!! !!’ You like it, we get it.
-I have seen so many people post complaining about someone else copying their project and their blog is full of tutorials for knock offs. I guess copying is only bad if it happens to you. Drawing inspiration doesn’t bother me, just double standards.
And conversely, what qualities draw you to the blogs that you read regularly?
Creative, original projects or creative twists on oldies-but-goodies
I feel like they are genuine
Sense of humor and humility, especially posting about craft fails
I love reading comments on blogs and always read all of them (except for give away posts) and my favorite bloggers are the ones who I see responding in the comments.
They have to have a Facebook page and post on there when they have a new blog post. It’s the only way I keep up with blogs I like.
My favorite types of posts are Before/Afters and Room Reveals, especially craft rooms and home offices
Most of my peeves are minor and don’t cause me to unfollow (except for the music and flashing things but I never follow them to begin with). There was only one time that I remember unfollowing for other reasons and it was because I found the blogger to be obnoxious and braggy. She calls herself awesome, pretends everything she does is original (she spray painted a chandelier purple and presented it like it had never occurred to anyone else to use spray paint to paint things), constantly boasting about being on some tv show, and on and on. She did have a ton of followers so it was just a personal taste thing on my part and I am sure she could care less what I think (because she is so awesome).
I think bloggers should just do their own thing, be real and don’t worry so much about how many followers they have . Eventually, enough like minded people will find your blog and you’ll have saved yourself the exhaustion of keeping up appearances.
well, I didn’t realize that was so long until I hit submit. I guess I had a lot to get off my chest, thanks for the opportunity 🙂
I think that all of my peeves have been listed. The top peeves of all of them for me would be:
1. Moving adds that make it hard to focus on the words I am trying to read – will often close the page and not follow the blog as a result.
2. Too many give aways and USA only give aways – will skip and if too frequent will stop following
3 Click through to the blog instead of the email reader and click through to the rest f the post from the Home page – if I have to jump through too many hoops I just won’t follow.
The things that I like and will get me to follow include:
1. I like personal touches in blogs. I like niche blogs that give an insight into the life of the blogger.
2. I like humour and well written posts that tell me a story.
3. I like blogs that are easy to navigate around and find archived posts.
As I have read through the peeves of other blog readers I have made notes to try to improve my blogging efforts.
I agree with everything above but one thing I dont think anyone has mentioned is ONE BLOG POST PER PAGE!!! Are you freaking serious? Nothing annoys me more. I have to say as a atheist the very heavily religious posts really get to me. I do not deny you your faith but I dont need it forced on me either, I’m here for DIY, the only god I want to hear about it Annie Sloan! 😛
I agree with most of the above. Popups are my number one pet peeve. Jumping through hoops to leave a comment is another. I don’t mind leaving my name and email…it’s the courteous thing to do. But, the log-in requirements to a service I’m not part of will turn me off every time. And captcha…some of them are so difficult to see that I go away and don’t bother to leave a comment. Posts that have no real purpose other than for the blogger to satisfy her/himself that they posted a blog entry are worthless. I detest negative posts or those that are filled with profanity. I’m hardly the word police, but I like a blog that I can read without having to decipher what the blogger is trying to say because of misspelled words, wrong word usage or incoherent thoughts. We all make an occasional mistake, but when it makes the blog post unreadable, I’m gone. I do like a bit of a personal touch to allow me to know the blogger a little bit, but I don’t want to see it take over the blog.
With that said, I think you do an excellent job with your blog, Kristi. I really enjoy reading it. 🙂
Great post! There were a few I knew about, but Couple I didn’t! Thanks for sharing!!!
Awesome post, I read every comment and just had to see if I have to do the captcha thingy here. One site had a simple math program, much easier ~ 2 + 7 = __ .
I do have a pet peeve I didn’t see. Where is the scroll to the top button? Lol. Pinterest lover here!
No captcha thingy. Thank-you.
Pet Peeves:
Give aways that require you to like facebook pages etc.
The same picture taken from 6 inches away, 1 foot away, 2 feet away or just at different angles. I like pictures, but give me something new if you are going to make me wait for them to load.
Music.
I am not a blogger but I love to read crafty, foody or decoratey : ) blogs. I do not care for pop up ads or the fact that I have to belong to Facebook or have a Google account to comment. If you want me to comment, make it easy to do so. I also like that the blog owner will comment to a reply once in a while. Makes me feel like my opinion or comment was actually read. I lose interest in a blog when I notice that the blogger doesn’t post anything for a long time (over a week). I realize that sometimes there are family issues or vacations or when the blogger just needs a break. Be honest and just say so. I’ll keep checking to see when the blogger returns. Thanks Kristi for letting us discuss this issue and I wish more bloggers would ask.
For me, if I don’t like something about a blog, I just don’t go back. I don’t get annoyed or find it offensive if someone wants to make certain words a color or center align their text or include pictures of their family. That’s their choice. Getting annoyed over it seems like a waste of energy. For me, if a blog has personality, that’s what matters most. Those other things are trivial, right? 🙂
I’m wondering if people understand that often, sponsors ask you to write “Thank my sponsors” post as part of the agreement. It just goes with the territory. Again, I choose to simply not read those as opposed to get annoyed about it. It also makes me sad, the number of previous comments that said they didn’t like negativity but were quick to point out all of the things they “hate” about blogs. 🙁
I think the very worst thing about blogging has nothing to do with fonts and videos and ads: it’s seeing personal attacks, jealousy, and snarkiness. While I’m sure more bloggers would love to know what they could improve on, the way people might choose to tell them is what is probably a major deterrent. We all have to remember that behind every blog is a human being, and it’s sad to see judgment and criticism about a person’s choices and interests and what they find beautiful.
This was a really interesting string of comments to read, Kristi!
I’m just amazed by the level of complaining when everything we read on blogs is free. I mean, there’s such thing as overdoing it (and a lot is listed above) but how about being grateful that we get so many project ideas without having to pay for them?
I get some of these, but I will address one that people aren’t understanding. A lot of us don’t put “click here to read more” to get more page views. Sure, it’s a benefit, but we mainly do it because we want a magazine style front page where people can scroll to find what they want. I personally don’t want to scroll through 20 photos (which are legitimately part of the tutorial) to find the beginning of the next article. I’ll leave if I have to scroll too much. Show me excerpts and let me decide what I want to read. Sorry, an extra click just isn’t that difficult.
I’m a little disappointed by some of these complaints because they assume bloggers don’t have good intentions and they are just money grubbers. Um, the amount we make per hour isn’t equivalent to a McDonald’s worker. And I agree with the comment above me. How much can you complain when you aren’t paying? I am grateful for bloggers’ inspiration, whether I have to endure a few extra clicks, sponsored ads or whatever (yes, I still read blogs, daily). I could be paying for magazines with limited project ideas and TONS of ads like I did back in the day. Sad that free isn’t good enough these days and that people are willing to hand out a laundry list of gripes when bloggers work hard for so little to provide good content. The negativity is a bummer.
Amen.
Hi everyone, I just want to say thank you for the super honest comments here. I read every single comment and love that you took the time to tell us bloggers what doesn’t work, and what does. I’ll definitely be putting your advice into consideration on my blog. Kristi, thank you for putting this out there – takes alot of courage to ask your readers to be honest and tell you what we bloggers are doing right and wrong. Thank you. Ana
Hi, I am really late to this post and also really new to your blog. I do have two gripes about blogs. One is, when Ifind a blog I really like I go through the mechanics of saving it then checking it t osee updates. Come to find out the initial post that attracted me to it in the first place was there only claim to fame, or they just post so irregularly Ifind that I dont want to waste a spot on my favorites anymore. Secondly, I will find a blog I love, and it takes forward to load it becuase they are so saturated with sponsors and advertisers and promoting products that it takes forever to load. I am deployed so my internet time is very minimal. Anyhoo, that is my grip for the day. LOVING your site!
For me, you can do whatever you want in your blog space – ads, linky parties, 500 photos of your recipes or kids eating your recipes. I don’t care. If I don’t enjoy it or your writing, I won’t come back. It’s as simple as that. Just as I am sure someone else will love it and will come back. There are a million blogs out there to suit different personalities and everyone doesn’t have to love every blog out there.
But if I was to name one pet peeve I have with blogs in general and the ones I un-subscribe or un-follow are the ones that ignore their readers or don’t acknowledge their readers.
I fully understand that if a blogger is a popular blogger and gets like 500+ comments a day, they won’t be able to respond to everyone. That’s just common sense. They do have a life outside of their computer. But if they ignore everyone altogether or don’t have some sort of interaction with the people that took the time out of their day to go to their site and interact with them, then that turns me off. I may as well be trying to initiate a conversation or ask a question to a wall. As a reader it also makes me feel like I am just a view count stat to them to feed their egos.
And that’s just not cool. Because if you think about how blogs originated it was to share ideas and DIY’s and design and art with other people who enjoyed the same things. And somewhere along the way, it started to feel different. Now it feels competitive and not in a good way.
YHL is a great example of how to do that right. They’re insanely popular but they still talk to their readers. If you wonder why they are popular, it’s because they get that part. And a lot of others don’t.
This is not a complaint, but rather an inquiry from someone who has recently started blogging again and doesn’t want to tick anyone off (and make the “pet peeve” list by accident..) It’s most likely a really dumb question, but I’ll ask it anyway. My apologies if the answer is obvious and I’ve somehow missed it…
The question is…. if you leave a comment on someone’s blog (say…. mine) and the author (that would be me) wants to reply/respond, should it be done as a Reply to the actual comment on the blog post (as a “Reply”) or privately through an email?
I have always thought it was best to reply directly on the blog post, so that if other readers were scanning the comments and there was a question directed to me, anyone could read the answer. Quite frankly, I just assumed if I (as the author of the blog…. logged into Google as myself) replied to a comment, that person would be sent a copy of my response… or at least be notified that I had responded. Now I’m thinkin’ not so much…
I was also advised by someone else that the best way to respond/acknowledge a comment was to respond directly through email…. that is was much more personal and preferred.
I just find it easier to respond directly to a comment, rather than sort through my email and find/respond to comments there.
So if you’re a blogger….. what’s the answer? If you don’t blog, but read and comment… what do you prefer?
And if this is a silly question… my apologies in advance!
Hi Lora~
I don’t think that’s a silly question at all. Sadly, I’m not sure if I have the perfect answer for you.
Those of us who blog on WordPress actually don’t have to make that decision. There’s a plugin for WordPress called Comment Reply Notification (which I use) that automatically sends an email to the person if I reply to their comment on the blog. So I comment here on the blog, and you receive it in your email automatically. Makes it very easy to respond, and takes the guesswork out of whether it’s best to respond on the blog or via email. One of the one million reasons WordPress is the only thing I’d every use to blog. 🙂
Music that scares the snot outta you when you least expect it….AND….the music reloads and begins to play again every time you go to the next page. Also don’t like a ton of ads and specials listed in the daily postings all the time. Gets too commercialized for my taste and a waste of time to read through.
I really appreciate:
– Original content with good (mostly original) photographs. Blogs have gotten too cross-referenced. I want fresh material!
– A sincere, honest voice. You can be cranky one day and chipper the next, it’s okay! I don’t want to read cutesy gushing and multiple exclamation points every day.
– Good writing. You can spell and you have a good vocabulary and grammar. For example, you know the difference between “everyday” and “every day,” and “its” and “it’s.” Yes, I am more apt to believe you know what you’re talking about when your blog does not have misused words or phrases and misspellings.
– Minimal clicking and scrolling to read an entry.
Here is a post about one of my worst pet peeves…
http://stevedigioia.com/blog/pet-peeve-2-not-returning-emails/