When I set off blogging nineteen years ago, I had no idea if anyone would even find "Yorkshire Pudding" in the blogging galaxy we occupy. But gradually it started to happen. Visitors came as I visited other blogs and before you knew it my blogposts were not lonesome sailing boats upon a deep, dark ocean but part of a flotilla that seemed to grow. I was not alone.
Back in 2005, I had no notion of what my visitors might be like. Would there be a typical profile?
Nineteen years later, it seems to me that this blog has attracted generally mature, literate people. Most visitors are over fifty years old and most are white. The majority own their own homes and most live in western countries - The United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, The British Isles etc..
This was never planned but it is what happened. I think of the saying, "Birds of a feather flock together" and I wonder - was there anything I might have done to appeal to younger people or to bloggers from non-western nations? How could I have made the profile of my visitors more diverse?
Perhaps younger people do not blog and if so, why is that? Perhaps their urge to reach out and connect with others is satisfied through other channels like "X", Facebook and Instagram. Perhaps their lives are too full-on to find time for blogging or visiting other people's blogs.
Just occasionally, I stumble across interesting blogs I have never been to before and scanning down the commenters, I might find no names that I recognise. It is as if I have stepped into a parallel universe and I guess that there may be hundreds of such hidden places in the blogosphere. After all, it is estimated that there are 600 million blogs in the world - not all of them facilitated by Blogger I hasten to add.
Standing back from the fray, I wonder if you have any reflections of your own about blogging?
Like you, i just tried it to see what it might be like, and slowly more people came by, and I visited their blogs, and more came by, and I visited their blogs, and it becomes this network of people sharing stories and opinions and laughs together.
ReplyDeleteI like that idea.
It has been a great ride but I suspect that I have devoted far too much time to blogging - all energy I could have used in different ways.
DeleteI think older people blog because we still have a love of words and language. Younger people need to get their point across as quickly as possible. A generation with a very short attention span.
ReplyDeleteI noticed a lot of people abandoned their blogs when facebook took off and some of them were a sad loss to the blogging community.
Love of words and language... I agree that is true for many - myself included.
DeleteYou've said it all. When I look around I find the same things. Two things I would add. Many good blogs disappear without notice. Where are Asian , African or Indian bloggers? People of other cultures? It will be interesting to see what other people say.
ReplyDeleteI get almost no visitors from Africa at the moment.
DeleteI don't know if I have reflections as I don't often think "back" , I do know that I stick with reading blogs that spark my interest and make me laugh day after day. Or at least smile. I also know that some days, now, it's become a bit of a chore rather than the fun it used to be. Part of that might be because I read more slowly than I used to so it takes the better part of my days to get through each one and leave comments. I'd like to cut a few from my list, but which ones? How do I decide?
ReplyDeleteI think the younger generation is all about facebook, twitter and other types of social media.
I agree that it can sometimes feel like a chore.
DeleteYour photos always make me smile.
ReplyDeleteThanks River.
DeleteI suppose I come under the "Casual supporter" banner as I read most days but don't often comment. That's just lazy of me, I know.
ReplyDeleteI admire your blogging skills. It can't be easy to think of something to write about on a daily basis.
I would never blog. There's too many nasty individuals out there!
I prefer to be in the garden or if the weather is against me I enjoy knitting, crochet and baking.
We are all creative in our own way, aren't we.
Long may you continue!
Kind regards from your lazy, Lancastrian neighbour.
Thank you Christina. I hope all is well with you. If you see A.J.Odudu please tell her that I like her.
DeleteMy connection with younger people show they want short burst of instant content, so I don't know anyone young who blogs, as always their will be some who are different. Instagram and Tiktok and others I don't know are their place to hang out. Us oldies like to write.
ReplyDeleteOldies can also be referred to as wrinklies.
DeleteThere is no doubt blogging has changed in nearly thirty years. When I began in 2004 I was much younger and there were young people who did blog and I interacted with them with them well. But then came My Space and subsequently all the other social media and one by one they stopped blogging and disappeared. I didn't find my blogging niche until I once mentioned that it was unfortunate the older people didn't seem to blog, and one older person made a couple of suggestions who were local people and I later met, more than once and you could say my blog really kicked off from there.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do have as readers is a disproportionate number of school teachers, both working and retired, although I think the number has reduced of late for various reasons.
I don't suppose life would be worse without blogging as something would replace the time spent but I would certainly miss the social interaction.
Thanks for your own reflections Andrew and I apologise that I was once a school teacher.
DeleteYou may have appealed to different circles of blogging if you had modeled sexy makeup and worn ladies' clothing.
ReplyDeleteThat might happen in West Yorkshire Tasker but down here in South Yorkshire men are manly.
DeleteI like to think that there's a little magic involved in how we all find each other.
ReplyDeleteAnd you know, there's just the simple fact that if we find a blog we like and enjoy reading, we are apt to come back. I also think that writing style has a lot to do with it. Shared values and attitudes and can be important but it's also a good thing to see things through another's eyes. We each have our own history and background which influences us tremendously. And yes- as Andrew said- the social interaction is important.
I would also like to think that there's some magic afoot.
DeleteI started, because a friend asked me to fill in for him one summer, he no longer blogs, but I have met, in many cases in person, a network of friends through blogging (I will let you know when I am back in Yorkshire.) An interesting study would be how I connected to some of the bloggers in my network, I think most often through comments, a few through content. I found your blog, through your comments on John Grays blog, I don't know how I found John but he is on my daily have to read list.
ReplyDeleteI also tend to forget how I fell in with other bloggers. Time passes.
DeleteBlogs are no different to meeting random people in the flesh. Some you will bond with; others - well, depends. What can be a charming encounter one moment turns into a damp squib the next; a damp squib may turn into a great friendship. Patience being the name of the game.
ReplyDeleteI read about a handful of blogs [yours included]. It's pure self indulgence - on my part. There are the enjoyable ones who enhance life, stimulate thought; then there are downers who find fault in everything and let no one else's view stand. The latter I only read to keep the pulse on the Zeitgeist. And then there are the plain boring. I can't tell you how I marvel at bloggers who believe their dog's every emission is of interest. It's fascinating.
Blogs are a bit like a kindergarten. A Kaleidoscope of humanity. All good.
I blogged for a while till I turned into Wile E Coyote. My parting shot? "Wile E. Coyote runs off the cliff and FAILS to fall because it doesn’t occur to him to look down." In the words of the Angel [my son]: "Blogging isn't your medium, Mama." Mainly because people don't read, being in too much haste to get their oar in. In the words of my mother when I was about ten and had just joined a big city school? I was incensed. Loosely translated: "Leave it, Ursula, they can't hold a candle to you." It sounds better in the mother lingo but you get the drift. Not that it made me big headed. In fact quite the opposite: Compassionate.
Some blogs are great; some blogs' comment boxes amounting to no more than echo chambers. I can go to the mountains for that. Better air.
U
I like reading blogs like yours and Taskers which are always entertaining and you both have a sense of humour. I have been writing blogs mainly about smallholdings, vegetables and perennial growing and bit of Prog Rock now again on here since 2010.
ReplyDelete. I rarely ever get any Irish comments even though I live in Ireland.
In many Irish homes they will be too busy rehearsing their Riverdance routines.
DeleteI didn't start reading blogs until after I retired so that might be a reason your readers are older - like you mentioned, we have more time.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if some countries (like China maybe) don't allow access to blogs so they can have more control over what their people are seeing online.
Interesting point about China. Strangely I have received plenty of "hits" from China but not one single comment.
DeleteMy first blog was called "Tired Mummy" when I was taking care of Katie at home still, so probably around the same time you started. I ended up following some interesting blogs. Many of the blog I used to follow, no longer exist. One lady in particular, who was an amazing writer and doctor, "Just Eat Your Cupcake", died a few years ago from breast cancer. I still miss her writing.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading new blogs, sometimes, but I also have limited time available, so I try not to add any new ones now. And the people that follow my blog, I think of as friends now. It's like pen pals, remember those from years ago.
Like you I have become quite careful about adding new blogs to visit as it just takes up more time.
DeleteI found Cro and John Gray early on and then the rest of my blog friends grew from reading the blogs they read (or checking out interesting comments to see if the person had a blog of their own). I wish I had more time for commenting and responding, but I do read every post of a few favorites...lime Yorkshire Pudding.
ReplyDeleteAre you calling me a limey Jennifer?
DeleteLove the photograph, it's such a tranquil scene.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought that blogging takes the place of the old-fashioned pen-pals, for me anyway. It's able to reach a much wider audience and allows much more interaction. I have never had any desire to create a blog, but do enjoy reading the half dozen or so that I follow regularly. On occasions I'll dip into others, but rarely comment.
It would be great to read a blog called "Carol's Corner" in which you write about what you got up to when you were a young lass.
DeleteI've been at it for 21 years this fall, mostly as an outlet for myself though it is nice to connect with others of similar minds who also blog. Blogging is not for everyone and I have come pretty good at predicting whose blog will be around for a decade or more and whose will soon fade away. It takes the right type of person and generally someone who is willing to write about any subject to stay the course of time. Those who are too specific in their topics or are trying to keep a blog for specific reasons (such as fame) tend to fade away into obscurity.
ReplyDeleteBlogger back in the day used to have a button up near the search bar which would take you to some random blog. I really loved cruising through blogs back then and seeing what was out there. But I haven't seen that button for years and don't know if it is just because of the templates people are using or if it was truly done away with. Now, I most find new blogs by reading the blog rolls of other blogs I read daily.
Oh yes! I remember that random button. It sometimes took me to interesting corners of the blogosphere. You never knew what you were going to find.
DeleteTasker's comment made me laugh. I've been at it since 2008, not as long as you, but it grows tiring at times. Then I get some new inspiration and away I go again. I have had some young bloggers from time to time but they seem to fade away. Then there are the older ones who succumb to the ravages of time and they disappear. I am always amazed when something stirs a wider than usual interest and people come out of the woodwork to comment. And like you, I have met many interesting people by reading comments on other blogs and then following to that person's blog. It's a fascinating web we weave.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it can become tiring and indeed tiresome but I would like to think that all this effort has been worth it for there have been so many pluses.
DeleteIn my own case, back in the day when I started blogging back in 2008 I used to get something like 70 comments. Now I'm lucky if I get two or three. I think the interest in my blog was when my husband was in the throes of dying and therefore people were on the edge of their seats to see what happened next. .
ReplyDeleteI think if you wished to you could boost your visitor numbers. More regular posting might help.
DeleteI started my first blog in 2009 because an Australian penfriend started one. To be able to comment, I had to create a Blogger account of my own. Once I had done that, I thought I might as well explore a bit more and set up a blog of my own to learn how it all worked. Not long after, someone landed quite randomly on an early post and commented, which encouraged me to go on. Next I joined some linking sites for creative writing and photosharing; and from there, the networking process kept growing, much as you describe it. Some I have come to regard as close friends, with contacts extending beyond our blogs even if we never met.
ReplyDeleteAs to from which countries you get the most followers, I think that - even with English! - you really have to take *language* into account... Most of my followers are from Britain, the US and New Zealand too. Or else Germany or some other European country - but with the common factor that we have chosen to blog in English. Via photo sharing memes, I've also had visitors from more exotic countries now and then - but when checking back on their blogs, they've been in other languages. And the only (commenting) followers I've had from Sweden were one born in England but living in Sweden, and one born in Sweden but living in Ireland (both blogging in English, and we too met via linking to the same photo memes).
Some people I know have quit blogging and turned to Facebook or Instagram instead, because that's what their friends/family are using + those platforms are easier to use from the phone. (I use FB too, but only with people I already know from elsewhere - mostly Swedish friends, but also some abroad.) And as for the "youngsters", it seems that TicToc that is the "in" platform these days...
Thank you for your valid reflections.
DeleteI wonder how many of those 600 million blogs are active. My impression is that most people have turned to shorter-form social media like Instagram and Twitter. I think younger people don't blog for the same reasons they have trouble reading a book or talking on the phone (as opposed to texting) -- their attention spans are too short.
ReplyDeleteOf the 600 million I am sure that a large proportion are business-oriented.
DeleteI started blogging in 2007. I've now practically stopped. Potential posts remain still-born in a classic case of writer's block. All sorts of reasons, some particular to me and others I think more general.
ReplyDeleteBlogging was probably a bit of a craze. Participation ebbed in about 2011/2012. Perhaps the wave had crested already but this is the when smart phones proliferated and twitter made its mark.
I am sure that you still have lots of things to say - judging by your comments in this blog. It would be interesting to get some figures from Blogger about productivity and other vital statistics.
DeleteMy own blogging "career" started upon recommendation of my friend Pete, who still also blogs, and helped me through a hard time in my life. He showed me how blogging was an outlet for him, and after I'd tried it myself, I found it applied to me, too.
ReplyDeleteParallel to how my life changed (for the better), my blog also changed. It has now become mostly a boring week-by-week report of my activities, mirroring my contentedness at having fully "arrived" in my own life.
I miss several people whose blogs I really enjoyed but who have stopped blogging for some reason or other - often unknown to us.
When I check out a blog I have not been to before, for instance because someone left a comment on my blog for the first time or I have come across their interesting comment on another blog, I usually go to their very first post to see how they introduced themselves to the blogosphere.
Well I enjoyed reading everyone's contribution. I seem to have been a consistent blogger from 2008. It is my go to space, my diary and entertainment. I am not much worried if I do not get comments because it is my personal space. I think a lot of people unload on to their blogs; worries are shared, the dramatic events that happen in our lives are shared. We can talk as friends or just as passing strangers. Trolls can be dispersed with, I can count mine on the fingers of one hand - now watch my blog as they come trogging over the bridge!
ReplyDeleteI actually admire your ability to find something to talk about each day but don't let it go to your head - we are all equal in my world.
I don't remember how I stumbled onto your blog. I think it was from noticing that you commented on blogs that I followed. I am not just giving you a false compliment here, but I marvel at how well you come up with a vast array of topics. I read through all of the comments on this post and enjoyed seeing everyone's take on why they started blogging and their experiences with blogging. I started mine as more or less an online journal to write down my feelings as I was going through a really hard time in my life. Over time, my blog has morphed into something a bit different as the drama that surrounded me earlier has dissipated. Now that I have retired from teaching, I find that I have a bit more time to read blogs, but I still don't post as much as I'd like to as I just sometimes don't know what to write about! I am glad I have a blog though as sometimes I go back and reread my posts, especially when I was diagnosed with cancer because I got a lot of comfort from the supportive comments people wrote on my blog. I love how I have a network of friends all over the place!
ReplyDelete