Fire is raining from the sky.
Buildings are crumbling all around us.
And trees are falling off into the great divide that is swallowing our world whole.
Nope, Google Reader is just going away.
I have heard so many people say how hard they worked to get followers.
Listen to this people, how hard you worked.
I completely understand participating in giveaways to get others to see your blog – it’s a great way to gain exposure. But when I enter a giveaway I don’t always follow a blog just because it will gain me an extra entry. I see if I like the blog first and then make the decision whether or not I would like to follow it.
I feel like this is just causing people too much anxiety and last-minute pleading for current readers to follow them a different way. Again, I totally understand wanting to stay connected to your readers. And GFC was an awesome way to not only follow blogs – but it was an easy way for others to follow you. But there are other ways. Bloglovin’ is a great option – and soon I’m sure everyone will use it to follow blogs.
But, Google Reader going away – and most likely GFC, will not lessen your blog.
It won’t effect it’s content.
And won’t change who you are.
People read your blog because of you.
Because of what you have to say.
Not because of how many followers you have.
Are you freaking out?
What are YOUR thoughts?
Thanks for posting this. I was just a few minutes ago wondering what I was going to do with the demise of GFC/Reader. Not because I have this huge following – I just started blogging this year and have, um, just 8-9 followers :). For me, it’s because it’s really easy and convenient to read those blogs I follow, all in one place. However, I’ve noticed that I’ve become stressed lately because it seems so many bloggers are doing all of these link parties, giveaways, events, etc. and it seems so, … I’m sorry, but … gimmicky. I know it’s money for many and maybe that’s why there’s distress, but I follow people, like you said, because of their style, their perspective, their creativity. If I don’t find another way to follow these bloggers with the ease of Reader, well then boo. BUT, I will sign up via email, or something, I WILL continue to read them, support them, and be inspired by them. Jeez, that was a ramble. Sorry, but your post was very timely for me.
well put – and I couldn’t agree more! haha. people were seriously acting like it was the end of the world. I’m not saying my immediate reaction was calm – I began to wonder how people would follow me BUT then I remembered…oh ya, facebook, twitter, bloglovin, and there are some people who just simply type in my blog url every day….ha
Love this! So true. Thanks for posting.
To be honest I have never used google reader and I’m not 100% sure GFC will end because I’ve always used the reading list on my dashboard. So I’m guessing that Blogger users will still have that. We will see what happens in July.
well they never said gfc will go away so i dunno what to think about that. but i’m really annoyed about the google reader going away because i loved reading my blog feeds in there. i’m super particular and i don’t seem to find anything that is super simple or that worked the way that does. so i’m kinda frustrated about the whole situation. not nessicarily my followers just the functionality of the reader for myself.
I freaked out a little at first just because GFC is a pretty standard way to track a blog’s progress and a lot of brands seem to count on it. However, they should realize that more than half of those “readers” don’t read my blog daily so GFC is HIGHLY inaccurate. So in that regard, I’m glad it’s going bye-bye. It will give us all a fresh start and allow us to gain new readers that will actually engage in conversations and contribute to our pageviews by coming back day after day.
I’m also thrilled to be using Bloglovin’ again! I’ve windled down my blog reading list to about 30 and I’m going to stick to those blogs that I really love!
I agree completely with what you’re saying! I never even looked at the blogs I followed outside of Bloglovin’
Awesome post!!
xo
Ange
Love this and you’re gosh darn right!
I’m not freaking out, lol, but it is a little bit of a bummer. Even so, I’m sure it will bring hidden opportunities to many bloggers!
Maybe this can be the extra push that I have been looking for to make the switch to WordPress. ๐
And you’re right! It isn’t the end of our world, and Bloglovin is pretty awesome. I’ve used it for over a year now!
Liz
http://www.lifeasliz.com