Blogging can take up quite a lot of one's time. There are blogposts to compose day after day and there are visits to make to favoured blogs, frequently leaving comments behind.
Though I am quite reliable with regard to visiting certain blogs, I can't help feeling guilty about my general failings as a blog visitor. For whatever reason I like to visit "Magnon's Meanderings" and "Shadows and Light" every morning and I am also pretty good at keeping up with "Nobody's Diary", "Going Gently" and "Northsider"but there are many great, well-maintained blogs that I only tend to visit intermittently.
There are some blogs that I hardly ever visit even though I know they are eminently readable and worthy of regular attention. To these bloggers I want to send a heartfelt "sorry". In my defence I can only say that I want to limit my blogging time and argue that it is possible to sign up for too many blogs.
Before you know it, the daily hours you spend on blogging could easily be doubled. You have to draw the line somewhere.
I am very grateful to the people who regularly visit "Yorkshire Pudding" even though I may not do them the honour of courtesy return visits.
Here in the blogosphere, I have encountered many wonderful people who pump out great blog content. From Mary Moon in Lloyd Florida to Andrew in Melbourne Australia and from Meike in Ludwigsburg, Germany to Bob in Camden, South Carolina. The ride so far has been marvellous but to repeat, I am sorry that I cannot spare more time to pay intimate attention to even more blogs.
There's a lot out there and sometimes it's hard to stop by each and every one ...
ReplyDeleteRationing is vital.
DeleteOh, get over it! The guilt, I mean.
ReplyDeleteWhy? It is something I have been feeling for ages and I correctly guessed that other bloggers would also be feeling it.
DeleteI'm finding the same thing. I'm working more now and just don't have the time, and I feel guilty as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard when we don't have time to demonstrate our loyalty.
DeleteI keep wishing I didn't follow so many blogs because of the time it takes, but who do I cut out? I can never decide, so I keep reading and commenting and hardly ever leaving my chair which isn't good for me, I know. It would help if I could read faster and type faster, but I'm a slow old dinosaur.
ReplyDeleteDid you appear in "The Flintstones" Elsie?
Delete:) :) No.
DeleteSome very realistic points here. You have to limit your time on blogging. Some blogs I make very few comments even though there's interesting material. Sometime a blog will have something I'm interested in so I comment. sometimes the topic is not interesting so I don't comment. I know the same thing happens on my blog.
ReplyDeleteYou are a wise and sensible guy Red.
DeleteYes, I realised this some time ago and I'm afraid I actively avoid new blogs. I feel bad at times, but blogging firstly must work for the blogger.
ReplyDeleteIt's a question of balance.
DeleteI agree that there are many interesting blogs out there and it can be quite time consuming to do them all justice. I read most of the blogs on my Reading List page but don't always have time to leave an appropriate comment.
ReplyDeleteI guess it relieves you of household duties like ironing.
DeleteThank you, M. Pud, for this. I have been known to spend my entire morning reading and commenting on blogs and then lamenting the lost day. I try to divvy my time up between the ones I bookmark and try not to add too many new ones (I, too, have my favourites) so it is so good to have my blog guilt validated.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there are help groups for guilty bloggers where we can bounce off each other? Perhaps there's a bouncy castle.
DeleteYes favourite blogs. JayCee and yours are two of my favourite blogs that I read several times a day. Probably because you both leave comments so often on my blog.
ReplyDeleteWe are both supportive of you Dave.
DeleteI feel guilty at times. In the beginning I never commented on blogs, too nervous to do so. I wonder if it is like stopping a stranger in the street and chatting about whatever comes into your head and then finding they don't agree with you.
ReplyDeleteWhen I set out on my blogging journey in 2005, I never knew that commenting on other people's blogs would be a thing for me.
DeleteWould comment but busy today.
ReplyDeleteAt the bowling club again?
DeleteI feel your pain. I follow many bloggers who are brilliant at commenting on mine. I, however, rarely get round to commenting on theirs. Not really too sure how I happened on your blog but I loved it and will be round again. Whether I comment or not is another story!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that I am not alone in having such thoughts.
DeleteYour visits and comments are always welcome. Comments keep us writing.
ReplyDeleteWell-meaning comments encourage us to carry on but I cannot say the same of nasty troll comments.
DeleteI feel this same guilt on a regular basis. I read all my favorite blogs every day but don't always have time to leave comments. I just do the best I can and hope non of my blog friends get offended or think I don't enjoy their blogs, because I do! Work and home responsibilities have to come first and sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day.
ReplyDeleteI certainly understand that about you Jennifer.
DeleteI keep my blog reading list to a manageable level I guess for it never takes me more than a half hour or so to get through all the new posts and that is my allotted time to spend. When it gets down to just a few posts a day being turned out by others, I generally go seek out new ones to start reading to get it back nearer to that half hour range. Most bloggers tend to be prolific for awhile and then fade away to nothing.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like a well-organised fellow Ed!
DeleteI appreciate all of the work you bloggers do putting together new posts. I try to comment when I can think of something to say. I'm always glad to check in with my favorite bloggers! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLet go of that guilt, Neil. Life is for living, not scrolling through endless text. We blog for our own satisfaction really, to account for our own days, and whilst encouraging comments are always lovely, I think most understand that they aren't always possible. I try to catch up with your blog once or twice a week, and less often John and Bob's, yet seldom comment, but that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate your posts and beautiful pictures. I do, and it's a privilege to 'eavesdrop' on gorgeous Phoebe's adventures or your wonderful walks and trips.
ReplyDeleteI've had to cut back too. And the guilt is definitely a result for me too.
ReplyDeleteFor blogs that I only read or comment on occasionally (like yours!), I never think twice if they don't return the favor. Those are blogs I usually access through someone else's blog (like Ed). But if I'm reading and commenting regularly on a blog, yet they never visit back... I have to assume there's some reason they don't want to interact with me. I'm trying to learn to just weed those out. That said, I don't expect comments on each of my posts from my regulars. Comments shouldn't be obligatory.
ReplyDeleteOne does what one can.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I get it! I feel the same way -- and I have a full-time job added to the mix. (Granted, one that sometimes allows me to read blogs at my desk, as I'm doing now!)
ReplyDeleteI think we all realize that everyone does the best they can and I certainly don't expect people to read every word I write.
Blogging (both reading and writing) should be fun, not a burden. When it becomes too much, one has to decide which blogs one wants to spend time on, as you do.
ReplyDelete