I subscribe to 188 blogs in my Google Reader. Most are fashion and style related. Some no longer update (where did you go Just My Style?), but they stay on my reader list, if not my site’s blogroll.
Not all the blogs meet my personal preferences. Some twitter on and on about moods and food. Some consist of nothing but giant pictures that require me to scroll scroll scroll. Some require me to complete 47 steps to leave a comment or don’t allow comments at all. I tolerate this because, let’s face it, blogs are personal expressions and I am not going to dictate someone else’s style. I appreciate the differences, even if I don’t like them.
But one thing will cause me to leave a blog behind forever: truncating the feed into readers, like Google Reader. I do not want to click and open a new window to look at a blog. If a post shows up in my reader as a title and a few lines of text, requiring me to visit the site to see more, I will move on. Hell, I have 438 items in my reader right now. Why should I make the effort?
Why do people do this? I can only think they truncate the feed in order to drive traffic to their webpage. If you visit the page, you are counted for advertising dollars. Truncating the feed is an underhanded, lazy way to generate revenue.
If you really want me to leave the easy depths of Google Reader and visit your blog, draw me there with your fabulous content. Intrigue me with a link to a prior post. Engage me in a conversation. Ask me a question with a poll. Or just do something so incredible that I want to visit and tell you what I thought. Isn’t that what style blogs are all about? Inspiration and community?
36 comments:
I'm the same way with the things I read in Google! I won't add it if the full posts aren't available.
Totally agree - if the full posts aren't available, I don't subscribe.
The other reason might just be lack of technological know-how. I honestly don't know if my blog is fully available in Google Reader or not. I've never done anything to try to truncate it. I'm not particularly technologically savvy. I just enjoy writing about what I wear and why I wear it and sharing my outfits.
Huh. I go to each blog. I'm old fashioned like that. Now I wonder if mine does that (I don't adverstise, so it's not on purpose...)
*checks*
There are "scrapers" that will take your RSS feed to reproduce your entire content elsewhere. So to prevent all of your content from being displayed on someone else's spam website, you truncate the feed.
I find it annoying too when the feeds are truncated - it is a lot more hassle - for a few beloved blogs I will go to the site, but generally I just ignore the posts!
I couldn't agree more with this list of likes and dislikes about blogs. 10 huge pictures of the same exact thing drive me nuts!!
Thank you! I have been wondering that myself. I don't blog publicly so I can't answer why, but as an avid reader I can tell you I've un-followed several for that reason. One food blogger said it was a way to protect her pictures and content and I don't know enough about blogging to say if that is helpful or not?
But I am with you, so much good stuff is out there that I want to be able to get as much as I can as fast and as quickly as I can and that does not equal having to open a new window!
Well said!
By the way, I love your bold style!
Agreed, despite the "scrapers" issue. I usually never bother going to the blog to finish reading.
And I second the "10 big pictures of the same thing". "Yes, I like your outfit but I don't need to see it in 10 different subtly different ecosystems within the course of 15 minutes of your day." Thank you.
GREAT feedback, Kasmira!! I actually wasn't aware of the truncating thingy, I will have to check my settings.
I have been thinking of turning off the word verification for commenting on my blog to make it easier (Kayla of blue collar catwalk has done this and I like it).
Also, I don't use google reader (I use bloglovin), but it might be educational to just try it and see how my blog comes up.
ANyway, thanks again!! I probably need to work most on the being interesting part. LOL
I feel exactly the same way about truncated blogs. That's one of the reasons I now use feedly. For blogs that are truncated, you can click to open a preview window within feedly that is nowhere near as annoying or takes as much time as opening a new window. Feedly does other wonderful things as well. you can check it out at feedly.com.
Clara
Girl I totally agree. I HATE click throughs especially when you know it is for stats. Especially since I do most my reading on my iphone. If I have to click though I do not read your blog.
There is a certain blog whose name is ahem the same as yours who does it all for money and I DONT KNOW WHY I LOOK. I know better I know she doesn't care. I also hate the blogs with 543 identical giant photos that are the same. gah. I don't use the word hate often and I've used it like 45 times right now.
La historiadora yours is a click through. It didn't used to be though.
Huh - I wonder if mine does that? I had the Reader set up by my web designer, so I have no clue (I'm a Ludite, I know :)).
I read blogs the old-fashion way, by going to the blog - cuz I kick it old school, yo. This is one of my daily stops!
Erin, The Cheap Chick
It is funny that you mention Just my Style - I have been wondering the same thing!!
I am with Work With What You've Got - I got to the blogs to read them - didn't know there was another way!
I hate the click-through step as well, but I do it anyway. Your post has me re-thinking that however...
I know some top blogs, not necessarily in fashion, that do it for the scrapers. I can understand that, but those blogs are usually interesting enough that I don't mind clicking through and they provide enough of a teaser that I can tell at a glance whether I want to click through. But in general I don't prefer truncated feeds. Hmm, now that I think about it,I need to double check how my feed is set up. Would hate it if I was annoying readers with truncated feeds.
I couldn't agree more! You said it all very eloquently, Kasmira! :)
Totally agree, and I'll leave it at that.
And can I just say how tickled I am that the verification word for this comment is "squishi"? Cute!
TOTALLY agree....
Sing it! I have dropped all blogs that truncate in the Reader, which is a shame because there were some really good ones that I liked, like Academichic. Most people don't know it's one of the options in your feed setup so I doubt it's intentional in all cases. But I don't have time to click through; it's enough to get to leave comments as often as I wish I could.
I checked mine - phew! It's full view.
I've been thinking of taking away the word verification, since I review all comments anyway, and this has cinched it.
I do un-Follow blogs that don't update on a regular basis. There are just too many other great blogs that do!
Thanks for this post! It's really succint and you make your point very clearly.
THANK YOU!!!
I am subscribed to 61 blogs. It used to be a lot more, but I went through a major delete phase a while ago and deleted a lot of blogs that I really wasn't as interested in. ... I love fashion blogs for the pictures mainly, so I will quickly scroll through the pictures and note in my head what I like and don't like.
I have come in contact with SEVERAL blogs that I LOVE on the site ... but then I click subscribe, and they only show a portion of the article. ... I unsubscribe right away. Especially if they post every day. There are a FEW that post once every two weeks or so that I keep. But, that's only because it doesn't always take too much away from my time to go to one post every once in a while. ... But it's rare.
I also hardly ever comment on blogs, so congrats on your amazing post! THANK YOU!!! :)
ITA> I drop anyone that has a truncated message. I read all blogs through reader, and if the message is short, its not read by me! :-)
I was wondering why they truncate. It makes more sense now. I also dropped reading a few because of the same issue.
I don't want to make people take an extra step to read me. And I'm generally pretty annoyed when people do the same to me.
But then again, I'm just learning the technical side of blogging. So I apologize in advance if I goof it up. It wouldn't be the first time.
I will have to check into the reader stuff, I am not up to date on blogging technology!
I think blogs should be geared towards someones personal passion and their love for fashion (if it is a fashion blog) instead of for money.
I agree with you 100%. Well said!
I completely agree! I have so many blogs in my reader that there's no way I'm going to click to open a new tab just to read something. I think in the end, people who do this end up missing out on readers more than they gain traffic to their site.
im one of the techie-illiterate, so i have no idea which column my blog falls into. (like erin, i read blogs the old fashioned way.)
i guess i figure i dont exactly have a very high readership (or at least, not that i know of -- i dont even know how to check my own stats) so the people who do read my blog do so because theyre interested.
*shrug*
I agree, I do the same thing!
www.tamara-camera.blogspot.com
YOU GO GIRL!!!
http://www.afashionfixation.blogspot.com/
Right on! I totally agree w/ you, but I don't get the "truncating" thing. I hope my blog doesn't do that! Not good or friendly...like a blog should be.
I'm like everyone else...I want to QUICKLY read something relevant, interesting or colorful. The END.
Kasmira,
I love your honesty! YOU are the reason I started blogging (Sorry!)
I admit, I post big, as I want to show the details better, but I hate to be led around a blog. It seems really hard to please everyone, and I admire the fact that you stay true to your inner style! Also, what's up with people who leave nasty or "I know more than you" comments on blogs? Didn't they ever learn that if you have nothing good to say, zip it!? ( I just got a style slap ). I'm trying to send peace and love their way, while not trying to mentally blow them up with the power of my mind ;)
You Rock! Have a great weekend!
I hate that too! But I think some bloggers simply don't realize that their posts are truncated.
Yes! I just won't read blogs that truncate their feeds, which actually serves as a nice weeding-out tool - only so many hours & all that. It's funny someone above mentioned Academichic - it's my only exception since I just like them so much.
I am actually moving through my feeds right now to delete blogs that are not my favorites (of course this one made the cut!) so this post hit a chord with me.
Amen! I just went through and turned off some of my reader feeds for that very reason.
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