Most blogs have a list on the right called friends. It's supposedly a list of people who follow your blog.
Every once in a while I take a look at names and photos appearing on the friends list. Very few of them appear to follow or read my blog? Many of the same faces show up on other blogs. What are they doing? Do they have some ulterior motive?
I know that some of these people could be other bloggers who follow me but have a different name that is not connected to their blog. I check on some of these and they are not bloggers. They do not leave any information on themselves.
What are these people doing? Do they not have a life and spend all day visiting blogs and following blogs without any action? Do they just want a big list?
A while ago most of the photos of followers disappeared and all that's left is a silhouette. I wonder what Mr blogger was doing?
So I am curious as to why these things show up in my follower list?
I have a list on the right but it's a list of the people who I read.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't answer your question though :)
Yes , I have that list and it's to tell people some of the blogs I read.
DeleteHi Red, been a long time. I know what you mean, and have felt the same. I think some people just follow when they read a post and then 'that's it'. Some come into blogland and get sucked in and then leave. Others, like me, are here most of the time, read all of the posts, but because of stuff going on in there lives just aren't into the posting and commenting 'place' for either a short time or a while, but find the 'group' that they are in really important and interesting.
ReplyDeleteHey, I remember you. I hope you're dong well.
DeleteAs to why they disappear, your guess is as good as mine. Mr. Blogger maybe, or the follower has shut down their account rather than abandon it maybe?
ReplyDeleteSome keep disappearing and then reappear!
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI keep a list of some favorite blogs, I may not read them all. Some maybe old blogs that are not used any more. I need to update my list. Take care, enjoy your day!
Yes, I read many blogs but don't comment on many.
DeleteI never really noticed until you said something, Red. I checked and mine are gone as well. The mysterious Mr. Blogger has been at work, no doubt, but as oblivious about things as I am, the pictures could have been missing for weeks. I notice that they still appear on other people's blogs though. Most curious. PS: I read you every day with my morning coffee.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Hiawatha House. I hadn't noticed that the photos were still on some blogs.
DeleteI don’t know. I don’t do that blog list thing as I have another method of following blogs. I do get comments from people who don’t have blogs or not ones that I can see. It does seem odd to me but to each their own.
ReplyDeleteThen there are the anonymous commenters.
DeleteIf you find out, Red, be sure to let me know. I've wondered the same thing. :-)
ReplyDeleteWell, check the comments. It appears that nobody knows. I was just curious.
DeleteI've wondered the same. Some never had a profile pic. I know some of my readers never leave a comment.
ReplyDeleteI read many blogs that I don't comment on. These blogs are interesting but don't have something that one would feel like responding to.
DeleteMore specifically you are referring to "Followers" of your blog. I don't have that widget on my template though I have looked at it in settings before. I have always assumed they were people content to read it without comment or were building up a list as you say for some other reason.
ReplyDeleteThen there are people who read you every day and are not on my follower list. They come from another blog that they read..
DeleteI wish I had answers for you. I think I must have turned off the "Friends/Followers" list on blogger, because it doesn't show up on my blog. It may be that there were friends who were bloggers who gave up their blogs and now they are just ghosts. Mmm?
ReplyDeleteThis is a widgett that you put on your sidebar.
DeleteI am a follower and a reader and sometimes a commenter but I do not have a blog of my own. I enjoy your posts, Red!
ReplyDeleteAnd I enjoy Ellen's comments. Writing a blog is a lot of work so I understand some readers are not bloggers.
DeleteI started reading other folks' blogs years before I started writing mine. I had to create a profile in order to comment, which showed that I had no blog of my own, but I had been commenting regularly on various blogs for five years and was known to those bloggers.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first discovered the world of blogs, I "followed" whatever blogs I found interesting, because "following" meant I got an email every time they posted something new and I could keep reading their writing without having to check back every day. (Some bloggers don't use the "Friends/Followers" widget; most of those have instead the option to "receive an email whenever there's a new post".
I recognize most of my followers' names, but for those I don't, I assume they are like I was before I started my blog - just readers who happened to find me and didn't want to have too much trouble re-finding my blog in future. I'm sure that some, though, are - as you said - just people who sign up to follow every blog for some unknown reason which could include developing a list to send scam comments to :)
Yes, I have a number of followers who have a profile and they make interesting comments.
DeleteI assume they're real people who read the blog but don't blog themselves and simply haven't created a full profile. But who knows? I suppose they could be bots.
ReplyDeleteI don't use the follower widget myself, though I have it posted on my blog to show my followers. I just keep track of everyone through my blog list in my sidebar.
There are just too many on the list to be reading my blog.
DeleteI don't pay an attention, it used to be the only way to get them to show up on bloggers reading list. I use The Old Reader to read blogs...so as far as I am concerned it is obsolete:)
ReplyDeleteOld reader and new reader just goes over my head!
DeletenNo answers here too. It's weird and I just forget about it.
ReplyDeleteOrdinarily I rarely look at it but the other day I got thinking and that's bad!
DeleteI don't know what that Followers/Friends list is either. I just clicked on a few and they are strangers to me. I do know that there are a number of blog "lurkers", people who read blogs but leave no footprint. For me the joy of blogging is in the making contact with others.
ReplyDeleteYes I understand that there are quite a few readers who don't leave any trail.
DeleteI will check my list again, but I think most are bloggers...maybe they do not follow me anymore, but they used to!
ReplyDeleteI have many that as far as I'm concerned they don't read or follow me.
DeleteI’ve seen those lists on other blogs but I don’t have them.
ReplyDeleteIt's sort of a curtesy to show who is reading.
DeleteI noticed on my Followers List that some of the pictures turned to silhouettes also. I think that happened the last time Blogger made some changes. I don't have many followers (probably because I haven't been posting much lately!) but I know about half of the ones listed on my page. I think many people follow blogs but don't ever comment.
ReplyDeletethere are too many on my list who are just not identifiable.
DeleteI read your blog Red because I find it interesting. I don't have a blog myself, and only occasionally comment. I am a reader, and bloggers are usually writers of their everyday lives. Thanks for writing!
ReplyDeleteSteph
Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House . I started my blog just to keep writing.
DeleteI know what you mean Red. I monitored this many years ago and found that most people who followed my blog by posting their blogger thumbnail profile fell by the wayside after reading and commenting a few times. Some people just post their thumbnail to get you over to look at their blog and if you do that they won't necessarily visit your blog again. Some people have no information at their profile because they don't blog but if they create a profile they are able to comment on a blogger blog. Make sense? I often feel like I should just delete the Follower widget because most of those people don't even read my blog and probably a good many of them don't even blog any more. I'm sure I haven't answered your questions in full but this is what I've concluded through my experiences so far.
ReplyDeleteHi Red, Interesting question and comments too. This whole business of blogging and commenting is a learning experience for me and it's still underway. :-) John
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling some people start to follow and then sort of fall off when they lose interest. I think. That's what I was assuming.
ReplyDelete