Remember being a kid, your parents, teachers, and others were always correcting your behaviour. Take your hands out of your pockets, stand up straight, chew with your mouth closed, those were the little things that we as kids were constantly reminded not to do. Learning to share, to be nice, to say good things even if we didn’t always think them, it’s part of life.
Blogging seems to run on a few good unspoken rules, some might be occasionally pop up in tutorials, and “do this do that’s” for new bloggers, but not all of them are written. Some of them are trends that come and go, and some are hard and fast rules to live by, at least in our Naked Niche world. Here generally the bloggers are nicer, and there are few if any tiffs that show up. We might not be flashy, but we are friendly.
Be nice, be kind, share, and offer help when you can, are a standard in our little blogging world, we all seem to try to keep this space pleasant, and happy as much as possible.
I can only remember a few times that someone has left a less then desirable comment on my blog, something that hurt, and wasn’t really called for. I try to be as nice as possible to everyone, especially bloggers, I know that the experts will tell you to have a thick skin when you are blogging, but sometimes words can hurt.
Ouch, indeed.
When those hurtful comments came up I choose to ignore them, not respond, and let it be, rather than say anything and cause further turmoil. But I have to say I was happy when a few of my villagers stepped right in there, and in no uncertain terms set the errant commenter straight. It’s nice to know that we have each other’s back.
If you can’t say something nice, then say nothing. I guess that’s one of the rules that come to my mind.
It’s interesting to see how we have developed rules about commenting, sharing, and how we treat each other, but it’s not as if there is a book that new bloggers must read before being allowed to start a blog. Are these rules that we all seem to follow based on common courtesy, and caring, or have they evolved through a series of trail and error situations?
How does a new blogger find out that it’s considered polite to return the visit, and leave a comment on the blogger’s blog, rather then just reply on their own post, which is much easier, but not nearly as community spirited. Do they learn it when their comments fade away to almost nothing because they don’t interact in a true and honest way? Or do they pick it up through a few subtle hints dropped by other bloggers?
I’ve paraphrased some of the comments left on my recent post, you can visit the page to see the full comment here. While the original post was about blogging in a Naked Niche, a interesting thread started to develop discussing commenting etiquette.
Judy from Cranberry Morning, had this to say about blogging:
“I think that obtaining an audience comes with hard work — the hard work of visiting other blogs and leaving meaningful comments, then writing posts that are true to your own personality, your own interests, and then answering your 'commenters' in a timely fashion.”
I agree with her, there’s no easy answer to obtaining that audience.
Lorrie from Fabric, Paper, Thread, said:
“I agree with Cranberry Morning about visiting blogs, leaving comments, not because you want/need more followers, but because you think that the writer has something to say that you like/find interesting and would welcome a conversation.”
Pamela from Playing with my Camera brought up a valuable point:
“Lorrie brought up a point about visitors that hits a nerve with me too — those that follow me and I follow them but rarely hear from them. Sometimes they visit a lot at first and, because I like their blog I follow them, then they disappear. Never a peep from them. I also prefer to receive comments and responses via email rather than on a post that I don't go back to read. Who does that? (goes back to read) There are a LOT of bloggers out there and we can't follow every one of them or even a small portion. Do you feel obligated to follow someone who follows you even if you don't have a common interest? I used to but not now. I think there has to be an equal interest don't you?
Lorrie brings up a good point about interacting with bloggers because you find them interesting, and that you like what they have to say.
I wonder how many of the flashy blogger’s readers follow them because of that reason? Do some follow just for the cachet of having their comments seen on a popular blog.
Pamela asked about those who follow you, and then disappear from your comments after you have signed up to follow them back? Do you follow all of those who follow you, or are you more selective, picking and choosing only those who interest you?
Do you feel guilty about not following everyone, should you feel bad, or not?
If you were to think of a few rules of blogging what would your most important ones be?
Would it concern commenting, or being nice, mentioning other bloggers, following all of those who follow you? Would it be to post regularly, and with great content?
My top rule of blogging is _______, and I feel it’s important because___________.
Fill in the blanks,and let us know what you would consider to be some of the most important aspects of blogging, spoken or unspoken.
...... Monday Matchups:
Last week I wrote about how we might introduce bloggers from our villages to others with the same interests. Help widen their circles by mentioning them to a few of our readers who might be blogging about similar things.
Thammie from Thammie the doll maker, I would like to introduce you to Diane from Lavender Dreams, Deb from Paxton Valley Folk Art, and Judy from 20 North Ora.
Diane is one of the nicest, friendliest people in blog land, she lives by the ocean and is very enthusiastic about her dolls. Deb is the Prims Queen extraordinaire who has a Etsy shop where she sells her prims. Judy makes amazing items that she sells out of her flea market finds, along with wonderful hand crafted creations that she sells in her Etsy store.
Everyone this is Thammie, she is a doll maker, who blogs in two languages, and she makes the cutest dolls.