It’s Insecure
Writers Support Group (ISWG) time!
I remember once seeing this Al De Niro movie called “Taxidermist,” and the main character
kept asking:
“Are you unfollowing to me?”
I mention this because I recently “lost” a blog follower.
And, I think it’s because
I unfollowed them… but I didn’t mean to, (yikes, not only am I insecure, I’m mean, too.)
I'll expunge myself.
I *heart* Blogger for a few reasons, but mainly because I could
(can) never figure how to follow writers on the Wordpress operating system
thingy.
Let me give you an examination: I subscribe to a post (‘cos I want to
follow the comments) and then unsubscribe a few weeks later (‘cos it’s an old
post.)
Nothing wrong with that, right? I
don’t even read any of my old posts (except one – and then it’s only once a
year.)
I’m not sure, but I believe the rat fink Wordpress squeals as
soon as I do the afore mentored unsubscribe…
…My Lost Person came from Wordpress – hence my thinking…
Thus, I wonder: Why is it important for us to have followers on every social media known to man?
(Indeed, if I could go one step further, someone should open a place, maybe a coffee shop or a bar, where… well,
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name."
Lyrics: source
(RELATED: Is the
Facebook “LIKE” taking over the world?)
Now, I must admit, with some glee that I do unfollow people on Twitter every week, via a program called Who Unfollowed Me
I enjoy unfollowing people on Twitter ‘cos I want to follow only like-minded writers, or anyone related in our little sliver of the Blogisfear.
This is so confusing – no wonder I have no Pinterest in adding to my like-minded social media worries.
To collision this article, I'm sad I lost a Bluddy (Blog Buddy), but look forward to
smite-ing more Twits who, for example, follow me as a way of promoting ACME plumbers in Dust
Bowl, Kansas.
(Shirley it’s better that we concentration on how we write and the words we chose...?)
(Shirley it’s better that we concentration on how we write and the words we chose...?)
What say you?
Any tips?
PS... IF you tried to click on the "Related News Link" above, please know you are not alone - I did, too... but it's not working.
PPS... (If you laughed at my humerus IWSG musings, please don't forget to "Like" or "Follow" me...
...With your help, I'll one day reach 842 followers :)
 |
| This Humerus (Post) Courtesy: pediatric-orthopedics.com |
43 comments:
Yes, I know exactly what you mean. There are so many of the social networking things and following and unfollowing, liking and unliking, even friending and unfriending.
I haven't even got to some of those that you've mentioned. Still, I keep writing away. It's like the time I was a supervisor, trying to get "my little duckies" to follow me to the next job site. Lo and behold, when I arrived, I was the only one.
Stop calling me Shirley!
I use Who Unfollowed Me as well. Some people follow just to gain followers and then drop them all.
Outside of that, only Blogger matters to me. And I like to see my followers so that I know who to follow back.
I hate that facebook like button - I don't get why we have to tell everyone on the planet we like something. It took me ages to figure out the wordpress blogs, I have a separate folder for them now just in case hehe :)
You are a funny man, even when you are bemoaning your losses. But never fear - they're not worth it if they don't think you are too. You will reach 842 followers one day :) Much love!
I do have to say that I have unfollowed some bloggers but only if it's been 9 months since they posted. I'm one of those peeps who purge... papers, clutter, twits, NOT food. Gross. But I would never unfollow you - you're too funny... and cool! I will never reach that many followers. Good luck in your quest!
Hey Mark! You should get a Networked Blogs Widget (it works through a Facebook account, and that is ALL I need to know about it), so that non-Blogger people can also follow.
There's a software to let me know who unfollowed me on Twitter. Sweet! I'm tired of people who follow me to get their numbers up, then unfollow me. Worse yet are the ones who follow me, unfollow me when I don't follow back, then follow me again in hopes that I'll change my mind. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. There's a reason I didn't follow you to begin with.
I hear you, Mark, about Wordpress. I have no idea how to follow when you (I) use Blogger. So I don't. And I get enough emails in my inbox as it is, so the blog has to be super special before I'll subscribe to it via email.
I had someone unfollow me yesterday via my email subscription. It doesn't bother me anymore. I'm lost on twitter though.
Well, I still follow you...Not in a stalkerly way, of course. Who can afford to be a stalker these days anyway? Airfare is just too pricey. Lol
I lose followers all the time. I used to get a complex over it, but it's not something to worry about. Your loyal peeps will stick around and comment :) not about numbers my friend.
And Mark! Use Google Reader!!! I follow all my Wordpress buds with that and I never lose them. If you want to know how to do all that fancy google reader stuff, I will give you a play by play :D
I try not to lose sleep over the unfollow thing. The writing is what matters most in the end, and it seems that part of this gig is keeping the noise from the Internet tuned out. I look at it as training for my writerly future. There will always be people who don't like what I have to say. If all they do is unfollow me, I consider that a blessing. It's better than stalking me and slashing my tires ... (and having an overactive imagination isn't always a good thing ;) )
Anyway, since I'm on Wordpress, and still overwhelmed by too much social media, I would love to follow you by email, but can't find a button for that. One follower lost, one gained. That can't be bad, can it?
Never mind! I found it. :) Now following!
Okay, Mark. I'm letting you know that I'm following you and have been following you. I use Google Reader, so I can see the blog posts without clogging up my email.
Yeah... sometimes I feel like "Was it something I said?" but then I just have to remind myself that it's the internet, and the more followers I get the more likely people are to unfollow... and it's not personal! It's incredible how this blogging world can be so much like a circle of friends... it can also feel like a club that I can't quite get into sometimes... and sometimes it can feel like there's no one out there at all. I have to remind myself that I'm posting for me... and I'm so glad that there are others who are willing to support me on my journey, for whatever length of time they choose to.
Wow, you are such a meanie. (; I had someone unfollow me once. I think it was my mom. She never made that mistake twice *insert evil laugh here* :P Just kidding!
I used to get so upset when people would unfollow or just flat out not follow back. But I'm ok with it now because I have so many other things to be insecure about. (: And thanks for the twitter Who Unfollowed Me tip, cause you know how savvy I am in the twittersphere.. .*rolling eyes*
I'm obsessive too Mark. But I'm trying to get over it. Now to go find out what google reader is...Leave it to Miss Cassie to have the answer!
And PS...THANKS so much for the stuff...you might have called it junk...but that stuff (not the book with my name on the book shelf) impressed my kids and made them think Mom just might have talent. Thanks Man, I needed that!!!
I'm with Kirsten. I try not to lose sleep over lost followers. People unfollow me on Twitter all the time. I guess I'm just not clever enough for them.
And I have unfollowed blogs, but only those that seem to have been abandoned.
I just stick to Blogger, myself. Twitter is too time-consuming. Facebook is for personal friends. That's my take, anyway!
Allison (Geek Banter)
The title of this post made me laugh. I wonder if the Shakespeare of this century would have asked, "To follow or unfollow, that is the question?"
(sorry, I know that was groanworthy bad!)
I'm on Wordpress (I like how most of the templates are so clean and don't allow for ten million things in the sidebar), and I just hit the button to follow someone's posts by e-mail. To this day, I have no idea how to read posts in a feed reader or whatever, even though I've followed a number of blogs on the various sites. I usually just remember the names or addresses, or let my browser auto-fill the url when I start typing it.
I think it's kind of weird when someone follows me, but never comments. I think that's true for most of my so-called followers.
I unfollowed someone once and got a nasty Tweet! Gee. I didn't think he'd notice, but you're right. There are narcs out there!
I feel it's our right to follow and unfollow whoever we want. People change and so do blogs. Also I follow some blogs admittedly just because they have great giveaways. *grins* But the blogs I truly love and keep up with are the ones closest to my heart.
I picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue. (Kidding - just getting into the Airplane humor with Alex.) Don't worry about one little unfollow. You're wonderful. The person who left is a dunderhead. *nods* Nuff said. ;)
Ohhhhh... if life were like Cheers... All of our problems would be solved!!!!!
I can never understand how to follow wordpress blogs either without subscribing to email and then you just get a full inbox!
For Twitter, I use ManageFlitter and unfollow all who've unfollowed me. But that's Twitter, which I hardly ever use let alone pay attention to.
Last week, I, too, lost a follower. There's really no way to find out who that was on Blogger unless you somehow manage to keep track of all your followers like Golden Eagle does. I can't. But I have a feeling the person who dumped me did so because of a comment I made on her blog when she railed at the person who expressed concern for the blogger's suicidal threats. Do I even want a follower like that? No, I don't, so I'm glad she's gone.
I will, say that I do occasionally go through my list of blogs I follow and weed out those I don't really tune into, but again, on Blogger, it's an arduous task and hardly worth the effort.
Now, if someone could only create a user interface for Blogger that could tell us who's unfollowed.
I don't pay much attention to how many followers I have. My Twitter account is unreliable. It drops people and picks them up all the time. There's no rhyme or reason to it, so I ignore it.
I figure my numbers aren't "notable" right now, so I enjoy the folks who do follow me. Since I don't have the numbers that would make me marketable, I don't spend my time on them. Instead, I build relationships where I can. I often follow via email. For example, tonight, I received an email with your post. I will unfollow people by email if I find I don't read the blog after I subscribed. I will follow them through WP or Blogger readers or do a bookmark, so I can check back at some point.
And oddly, I just noted, the email with your post includes a whole bunch of posts. I guess I thought you took the summer off. Apparently, I just wasn't getting the email when you posted.
Your posts don't always show up on my Google Reader (and I notice Stacy above mentioned the same sort of problem), so I follow, but don't always read -sorry about that.
I find I'm less stressed with numbers than I used to be - I have no idea why, though.
Unfollowing happens all the time. I try not to worry about it. But yeah, it makes you question why it happens.
If it makes you feel any better, I've been unfollowed on Twitter. Doesn't bother me because right now, I have a fairly inactive Twitter account- I use it mainly to follow industry professionals. Sometimes I'd get new follower emails in my inbox, but when I log in, I'd see I've already been unfollowed by that person. Funny thing is, some of these "followers" appear to be spammers. Imagine that, being unfollowed by a spammer!
Which reminds me...I should make more of an effort to tweet more frequently...
Hey Mark,
We all get UN-FOLLOWED every now and then. Tough it out man... lol. You don't need them anyway.
With all the choice of insecurities, an Un-follow is at the bottom of my list. LOL.
I don't pay attention to my exact number much anymore so I have no idea if I've been unfollowed. And Twitter drops followers on its own I think. It is sad that we have so many places to see our social status in numbers.
I think the whole followers/likes/and tweetpeeps is a throwback from highschool. That being said, I still get tickled pink when someone follows my blog. That reinforcement feels really good! However, sooner or later some people are bound to ditch us. I am learning how to not be wrapped up with the whole thing. You're still a great blogger! I love your posts. :)
Hi Mark .. thankfully my followers just gently go upwards - usually after Lee's A - Z .. but sometimes I'll get a few extra in -
Occasionally one slips in and then out .. c'est la vie ..
I love my comments though - at least I know there's someone there .. how's that training going .. Mr Mark the Koopman Marathon man??!!
Cheers Hilary
"Like"ing all your comments from this post. I'm sticking with Blogger, too, because I like the follow option. Wordpress seems less friendly.
I remember when you were excited to get to 100 followers, now you are at 285. i think followers are like beers to your Irishmen...there just never enough. :-) Drink on, blog on.
I'm a Google Reader user. And I'm addicted. :)
When I first got organized, I'd already subscribed to a few blogs through e-mail. Then I felt horrible unsuscribing and wondered if they knew I was doing it. Because I read them, but now in Google Reader. And didn't need them in my e-mail too.
I've got one of those lousy Wordpress blogs. So I can't have GFC on my blog, but I can join other people's GFC, so I wonder if there is some other way to add Wordoress people to GFC without using the fancy linky. I really don't know.
Need a liqueur chocolat? Keep the blues away...
I hardly get followed so I don't bother...as long as I get 5-6 comments every post, my blogger days are made.
Too many, I start hyperventilating at the thought of heading to their blogs to repay the visit. A lot of people follow, then never turn up. Of my 204 followers only 60 odd has ever commented, only 25 visit at least one post a month. So they look nice, make you feel important - like a rubber stamp leader.
I've been slacking on Twitter. I have used the same program, but I haven't in awhile. I don't even know how many followers I have. LOL
I try not to worry about the follow/unfollow stats. Who knows what another person's life circumstances are at any given moment? It's fun to chat with those who are still interested. :)
Love the Cheers mention!
Great IWSG post!
I'm new to IWSG...nice to meet you! I'm looking forward to reading more!
I would never unfollow the blogs I follow. I enjoy reading them and that's what matters. I would never would want to lose followers...it's a bad idea to unfollow especially if you want to KEEP your followers.
*shake hands* :)
I just saw this post and it totally cracked me up LOL. I didn't know that Wordpress would tattle on unfollowers. Now I know why I've lost some LOL. :D
I didn't know about the program on Twitter. I'm so totally lost on all of these sites, Blogger is really the only one I can keep up with. I sometimes feel 150 years old with all of this!
Have a great weekend, Mark. :)
Post a Comment
Dude saunters up to Dude-ette: You Comment Here Often?