Following blogs

In currently following 336 sites! I sure that number will increase. I just can’t help myself, there are so many interesting people out there. I am interested to know how many blogs my followers follow and what they think is a healthy number before it all gets too much. By too much I think I mean when you feel overwhelmed. I guess that is individual preference. Forgive me, this is more a stream of consciousness than a well thought out post. Actually, that seems to be how I write most posts.

Susie’s blog party is a great idea. It’s been done before but it’s the first time I’ve heard of or experienced one. I do regular searches through WordPress reader but the party feels quite different as it feels like socialising without the all the usual sensory upheaval. It’s certainly keeping me entertained  😃

Returning to the following of blogs… There have been a few that I’ve unfollowed for one reason or another. As an autistic person I find some blogs very uncomfortable to look at, and some that that lower my mood too far. I have to protect myself. Yesterday I read a wonderful post and wanted to share with you. I hesitated over it but unsure why. When I revisited I realised there were flickering images. The first time I was too involved in the content to worry about it but once I noticed I realised I didn’t want to inflict that on to my followers or myself.

Thank you and welcome to my eight new followers that have popped over from the party. I hope you enjoy your visits here 🙂

I’d like to thank all my followers for the sense of community I feel. Good bless you all xx

 

 

 

Author: yarnandpencil

I'm a Christian on the autistic spectrum blogging about life and my art/craft practice.

33 thoughts on “Following blogs”

  1. As a newcomer, I only follow 99 other blogs so far but, within those, I have blogs that I return to more frequently as I seem to connect with what those bloggers write about. I’m so glad that I started blogging, though sometimes it is difficult to find the time or correct mind space to write. It has certainly opened up a whole new world full of fascinating people.

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    1. I think 99 is quite a lot. I was really surprised to find the number I am following. I hadn’t taken any notice until I realised I wasn’t able to keep up so easily. There are some posts that we are quite excited by when we see that they are by certain bloggers 🙂 Thanks for commenting 🙂

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  4. That’s good that you know what bothers you and take care to follow guidelines that are healthy for you:) I’m new to blogging so I think I follow about 50 so far. I too prefer blogs that are positive.

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  5. Ahhhh yes, the number of followers. Back in my first blog the number crept right up and it was full on trying to keep up with them all. I felt too bad to cull or unfollow people too. I think now if my reader gets heavy though that’s what I’ll have to do – just unfollow the ones I don’t take the time to read. So far so good for me at the mo though although I’m not sure of my number. A lot of the blogs I follow are from a few years ago and many of them don’t post anymore so there’s that too. I don’t know what the magic number is. Good luck working it out!!

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  6. Neat post! 😁 I can identify so much with this. I honestly have no idea how many blogs I’m following (it’s got to be 400-500? I’ll check when I get to a desktop computer lol). Yeah, it can be pretty overwhelming sometimes, so I stagger my WP time a little. I hop in and out fairly quickly sometimes.

    Like you, I’ve unfollowed a few 💜 Either they were just too down *all* the time, or they were too angry/hostile or extremist. I don’t begrudge anyone their feelings, beliefs, or experiences, but I don’t want to constantly submerge myself in the murk, either. And then there are some people who post *literally* 20-30 times a day and the WP reader is dominated by that one blog, edging out all the others. Makes for hell on email, too (!). Luckily, the blogs I’ve unfollowed, and the behavior that would prompt that response from me, is few and far between.

    Yeah, following is fun! There are indeed so many lovely, caring, fascinating, and wise people out there. Now I just have to go see what all this Blog Party stuff is about, because it sounds like a blast! 😁👍🏼💗💗

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  7. It is a pleasure following you. 🙂 I hope to see more of the words flowing through your mind.( I get poetic sometimes 😛)
    I too don’t know what’s the healthy number, I just follow the ones I like and unfollow if things start getting irritating. There are no rules.( Even if there were, I certainly would have broken one or two.)

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  8. When I started my blog there was a way to set up “favorites” in my reader. I’ve had a blogger since tell me the function has been removed. But I always follow back. There’s some blogs I have a close relationship with or personally don’t want to miss. Those are under my “favorites” feed. I make sure I read those. Then when I have time I read what I can in my main reader feed.

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  10. It depends on why one blogs or reads blogs as to how many are on the follow list. I am interested in online communities and my blog list has been limited to a manageable number and there would only be a handful that I read without fail every week. I firmly believe in quality over quantity.

    I am really interested to know from you, Tracey, what specifically makes a blog uncomfortable for you to look at. Are you referring to colours, patterns, layout or content etc.? I am aware that my blog has unorthodox colours in a time where so many bloggers are choosing the flat white look.

    I find that style of lots of white space really annoys me when it is accompanied by light grey text because of the lack of contrast. I also don’t like it when the designer chooses wide leading (space between lines) for the sake of white space at the expense of the text – the typography is tiny and a strain to read. When they combine both of these techniques, forget it, I’m gone! It might ‘look’ modern to the blog owner but what’s the point, if one cannot read the content?

    I am pretty sure that there are some software solutions for accessibility when reading websites. I must do my homework and find out what they are because they are likely to bypass all the design issues and just focus on the text.

    Anyway, your new blog is easy to read with a simple layout. I’ll be back!

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    1. Thanks Jodie. I’m lying awake at nearly 4 in the morning. I was going to answer later then thought I might forget. So I’ll try and answer now 🙂 Black or multi coloured or bright backgrounds are difficult. Bright edged posts are difficult like plain bright pink. Some people include movie images (gifs perhaps) that flicker quite fast.
      I’ve just been over to your blog to remind myself of what it’s like. It certainly doesn’t cause any discomfort. I think the pattern in the background helps because it’s not a solid tone of orange. The text colour is easy on the eye too.
      I hope that answer your question, if not please don’t hesitate to come back to me on it 🙂

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