The rumors about google friend connect going away have me thinking about what the best way to follow blogs is. How to follow a blog is, of course, totally a personal preference but let's chat about the options.
The above graph breaks down how the followers of The Gauge Wars keep up with what battles are going on here. I can't measure those that just type in The Gauge Wars web address and check it out that way. But setting that aside, the RSS feed includes those following by email and clearly is the preferred method for this blog.
Here is my break down on each method as a follower:
- RSS feed/email -- I follow a few blogs this way. Mostly the ones that update on a daily basis, like Knitting Daily. It has lots of resources that I may want to save for later in my email folders.
- Typing in the web address -- I check in on the big blogs with easy addresses this way, like the Yarn Harlot.
- Twitter -- I am actually really liking Twitter these days. You have to limit your writing so political posts are kept to a minimum and easily skipped. I have found some new knitters on twitter by the emails Twitter sends with suggestions of people to follow similar to people you are already following. I like the 140 characters that people can create to convince me to check out their blog link.
- Facebook -- I follow a few blogs this way. I like how it breaks up my personal Facebook news feed a bit. But Facebook gets so bogged down in links and long updates that things get missed.
- Bloglovin -- I joined bloglovin a few weeks ago. At first I really liked it, all my blogs in one place and a quick way to see who has new posts. But now my news feed has sponsored posts from blogs I am not interested in following. This is a bit annoying.
- Google Friend Connect -- I occasionally looked at this. I liked it because it helped me keep track of blogs I found interesting and didn't want to forget. Bloglovin does that now. Ultimately I am most likely to look at new posts on blogs that I follow on Facebook or Twitter.
What about you? What is your preference for following blogs? Or maybe you don't follow but just come visit from link parties?
I think following blogs you like is important. It helps to build a relationship between blogger and reader. And it motivates the blogger to keep blogging. It is encouraging to write when you know people are reading.
Thank you to those who follow The Gauge Wars!
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