868 people don’t like my​ post

That’s the number I came up with, when I deducted the average number of likes, from the number of followers on my little blog.

913       Followers

– 45     The average number of likes on a decent post

= 868  That means 868 followers must dislike everything I write. Bummer!

That’s a depressing number, isn’t it?

Wait, it gets better…

I have between 200-400 daily views on my blog; which means, more than 50% of my followers don’t even bother to look at my posts when they appear in their reader. What mathematical blogging hell is that?

Wait, it gets better…

The 45 likes represent only 4.92% of my followers, does that mean 95% dislike everything I write? Discouraging! How can that be, what am I doing wrong?

I can’t get new followers and readers as quickly as I seem to lose them. Maybe I should rethink everything about my blog, and I should start to write different STUFF, or maybe write in a different style or perhaps be nicer and more welcoming to new readers? (I am such a terrible host.)

I know, now I know what it is. Karma is biting me in the buttock. I politely asked three followers to unfollow me during the last 12 months. I didn’t mean to be rude when I suggested the UNFOLLOW; it was more an act of self-defense because their comments either bored me senseless or drove me crazy.  Once again did I rebel against the blogging etiquette. Maybe that’s why I am getting punished now. When will I learn?

I need to be nicer. No more sarcasm, no more bitching. Oh dear, that indeed sounds like blogging hell.

But wait, maybe it’s much simpler…

Just the other day, a new blogger thought about giving up because she felt she didn’t reach enough people. It made me sad. Exactly how many people are enough? Is there a magical number that we should reach in a certain amount of time? I don’t think so!

I remember my early blogging days when I got the first LIKES and how proud I felt when I realized, I had managed to interest ten people in my -then- daily quit smoking rants and vents.

Ten people I had never met, were interested in my blogging future and they wanted to read more. It was a very thrilling feeling.

I still feel that way. I love the interaction with other bloggers so much. I care more about the comments than I do about the numbers of readers, followers, or statistics. There is a group of 20 people that I would call friends now, a special group of bloggers that I would love to meet in person.

Blogging is not confusing, not if you ignore what you need to ignore. Ignore the numbers; they will just drive you crazy and in the end, they won’t mean a thing, as you can see in my above example.

Bloggers appear and disappear on a daily base. Some hit FOLLOW because they like your blog, others just for “political” reasons, mainly because they expect an instant follow from you on their blog, and then they will forget about you.

Don’t fall into the number trap!

There is no rule on how many words a post should have. One day, after I had just published a rather lengthy post, an older lady told me that my posts would be too long. It irritated me. Did she think all my readers and followers have the attention span of a fly? The same day someone praised me for my long and thorough post. Talk about the total confusion on my end.

So what should we do, believe all the blogging myths and get lost in translations, or rather enjoy what we are doing without thinking about the number-consequences?

It’s not about quality, it’s about quantity. There is no rule that you have to post every day, or a few times a day. That’s another myth in the number game. If you feel like it then do it, if you don’t, then write when you feel like it.

Blogging should be fun, don’t let it become a task, don’t let it become a routine. People can read between the lines and what we feel shows. A blog is our voice, some of us will be heard by millions, others just by a handful of people. In the end, it doesn’t matter how many you reach, but how many you have inspired.

So, to the young blogger, who thinks about quitting. Write, write your posts the way you want to. Write from the heart, write with laughter and write with tears. Don’t follow any rules than your own. It’s your blog, vice or virtue…your call!

Update 2022: If you think it can’t get worse, guess what? I wrote the above blog post six years ago. Now my numbers have gone up and down. An average of 3,830 followers are gone. They left and didn’t even say goodbye.

Bumped up today for a fairy new blogger named Robin. Stop worrying! Have fun!

Vice