Following and Followers

Following..........

When I first started reading blog posts, I followed everyone!  I didn't give much thought about it.  If I had found a good post, I just followed, not checking out the blog further.  I was almost using the follow as a favorite.  I learned later, that this was not always the best thing to do. That good post you read, might be the best one on the blog, or the only post about a topic you are interested in. If you are not careful, depending on how you follow, you could end up with a mailbox full of posts that totally do not interest you, or when you check your Google Reader, again, you might find so much garbage, that you just say the heck with it!


The important thing to do when you are considering following, is to check out the whole blog.  It's OK to mark a particular post as a favorite - just use the appropriate tool to do so (I have taken to using Pinterest for more visual content).  If you find that the blog offers content you would want to read often, then by all means, follow it.


I have since gone back in and really examined who I have followed.  I even went as far as being selective about who I follow by email, who I follow on Google Reader, and who I follow through GFC, Linky, or Networked Blogs.  The priority posts, I usually have sent by email so that I don't miss anything.


Followers...............

So, do the amount of followers you have matter to you?  Do you care about how they follow?  What are your thoughts?


Personnally, I like to see my followers number go up, but I am not real pushy about having someone follow.  I know that with the GFC followers widget being pulled from non-Blogger sites, that this hurt a lot of bloggers.  Fortunatley, I am on Blogger, so I still have that tool.  In addition to GFC / Google+, I have widgets for Linky and Networked blogs.  I also have an RSS and email options.  Other options my readers have are Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook.  My followers are spread out among the many widgets.  Some choose to follow in multiple ways.  That is great!  It really doesn't matter to me how a person follows.  I think what matters to me is knowing that someone enjoys my content or gains something from my content that they choose to follow my blog.  I feel as if I am contributing something to my readers and the book blogging world!