Anyone else glad that it’s Monday? Only me?
Probably, but honestly I am so glad that this weekend is over. My brain can finally rest and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to sleep again 😉
Discussing: Ever since the #CTMeetUp I’ve had this whole “following” issue stuck in my head. Here’s what I am struggling with: Why would you follow someone on Instagram or Facebook but never engage with the content they put up (with either a like or a comment)? No really, I’m asking! Do you do that? Someone on Twitter said that it’s a hate follow, that they follow you just to see what you’re doing and then hate you for it. That’s weird man. Also, does that then mean more than half my Instagram followers actually hate me?! That’s kind of terrifying! I follow people and I make sure that at the very least I like their pictures that resonate with me, if I don’t ever like any of their pictures I stop following them.
Anyway, the thought process now is to then forcibly remove those followers so that you only keep an “engaged” audience. Do you care about that as a reader of this blog? Probably not, but would you be upset with me if I removed you from following me on Instagram because you’ve never, ever liked or commented?
No really, I’m really asking these questions, can you indulge me in your answers in the comments?
Excited About: I know that this is probably a really lame thing to get excited about, but you know, it is what it is. I’ve decided that it’s high time that I start a little newsletter. Now wait, before you want to put my head on a pike, let’s just chat about this quickly shall we?
I think that the most important thing to clarify here is that I WILL NOT SPAM YOU! You guys, I know what it’s like to open your inbox and see 53825 emails sitting there waiting to be read. Even worse when 2343 of them are from that one newsletter that you signed up for that one time you had to much wine on a Saturday night and now they send you a new mail every time they go to the toilet. I am not that person. I promise. If I ever become that person you have my full permission to slap me across the face.
So, now that that’s out the way, if you want to support my little blog and also want to be the first to know about new things or exclusive deals to 3 Kids, 2 Dogs and 1 Old House readers (man, I need to get a cool abbreviated term for the blog – 321? That’s just lame.), then please take 2 seconds to sign up here.
Accepting: That there is only so much that I can do at a time. I need to start saying no when I know that I don’t have the time or mental capacity for it. But why is saying no so freaking hard?!
Appreciating: Everyone that came out to the #CTMeetUp and made it so much fun! Especially Ruan and Sam for their amazing talks and for the kick in the ass to pull myself towards myself and start doing things properly. I know a lot of people had some FOMO about missing out, so if that’s you and you want to be at the next one, make sure that you have a blog and then sign up HERE for that newsletter. I’m ALL about newsletters today sorry!
Also for those that aren’t bloggers but want to get your hands on a goody bag anyway, keep your eyes on the blog and other social media channels for a couple that I’ll be giving away in the next few days.
Feeling: Exhausted. Knox is still struggling with the after effects of his RSV and so I only got to sleep at 2pm last night. Granted he only coughed like a chain smoker until around 11.30, but I just couldn’t switch my brain off. I guess trawling snapchat didn’t help either – oh well.
Reading: My first ever Agatha Christie novel. I struggled through the first couple of chapters, but I think that’s just because my brain stopped working due to over thinking everything. Someone just died and now I can’t wait to figure out who it is!
Watching: We just got Netflix! I know right?! Why the heck did we wait so long? I can’t tell you, but I am so glad that we finally did it. Daredevil S2 is amazing so far! (We only watched the first episode, but still). We found some really cool shows for the kids, so basically everyone is happy and we may never leave the house for the whole of Winter.
Re-discovering: Snapchat. I lost my love for this app a while ago because my battery and data suffered, but I’m back – battery life be damned. It really is so much fun, even if it’s just for the filters. I mean who doesn’t want to look like Russel Brand?!
Until tomorrow
xo
31 comments
Your Russel Brand pic had me in stitches! ?
I have such FOMO right now, so sad I missed the #CTmeetup. Wish I could have been there.
Hey, Cindy! Thanks again for organising what turned out to be a really fun event. I learnt lots.
I’ve been asking the same question about following and not liking across all platforms. If someone doesn’t really want to follow me they shouldn’t. It will hurt my feelings but only for a little while. My Facebook page suffers the most, I think. Twitter and Instagram seem to be doing well…but nothing from the people I actually know. Strange.
Did I say thank you for Saturday? Thank you!!! You are aswesome 😀
It’s such a pleasure! It was amazing meeting you!
do people also follow you on Insta in hopes that you’ll follow them right back? I’ve had a few random people or bloggers follow me, like my first pic and then if i dont follow them, I never ‘hear’ from them again? Is this common? And you’re right, why follow people if you don’t want to engage or chat to something, its weird. I must admit though, I do worry that some people I follow and engage with will think I’m a stalker? Who knows!
Hope your meetup was fun!! The goodie bags that i’m seeing everywhere looked amazing!
x
I think that definitely is a thing – I’ve seen it on Twitter too. But people that do that have way too much time on their hands right? Also, I really don’t think that bloggers will think that you’re a stalker, it’s what we do, I’d even go so far as to say it’s what some bloggers live for, but it comes down to whether you feel comfortable doing it or not.
Tried to sign up but it wouldn’t “reach the page”. gremlins???
Maybe try again? It seems to have worked for everyone else
I really love your blog and how you deal with life, and especially all things crafty that you do (amazing!).
I follow you on FB and on Instagram so that I can keep up with the goings on but I kinda feel like if I liked and commented all the time having never met you that it would be a bit ‘stalkery’? There must be others that feel the same I’m sure. (Though thinking about it now I suppose following quietly in the background is definitely stalkery!..)
Personally knowing both Maz and Mandy, I even feel like liking every single thing they post makes me look a bit weird… don’t you think? Rest assured you are all awesome! Definitely not a ‘hate follow’ – I can’t believe that’s a thing!
I’ll be more active in liking now, just don’t think I’m a weirdo mmkay? 🙂
Hey Elana – When I wrote this I totally didn’t even look at it from the perspective of someone to whom blogging and all that goes with it, is completely out of their frame of thinking. You guys have reformed me and I don’t want to force you to like things that you don’t want to if it makes you feel uncomfortable. But if you did, I definitely wouldn’t think that you’re a weirdo stalker! hahaha
Haha deal! You’ve reformed me as well, I get where you are coming from as bloggers and can see how seeing the likes validate that what you are doing is something you should keep doing because it’s popular – just makes sense really. So I’ll definitely lose the fear of ‘liking’ and just go with what I do like, like feedback I suppose.
I’m just glad you know now that it’s definitely not that weird hate follow thing, or followers who follow you to get follows back (that is just weird, especially when they aren’t bloggers or community involved at all).
Thanks for the reply, have an awesome weekend 🙂
Elana, you now have to like, follow, comment and share EVERYTHING we write, share, comment on or look at immediately! 😀 If all stalkers were as awesome as you, we would actively court them!
It’s an odd way to think about it I guess. The most depressing thing for me about blogging is that the people I do know and that are my friends don’t interact with my posts or my social media. I automatically feel “nobody loves me, everybody hates me” vibe and want to clean up my personal friends list. Lucky I am super lazy and aware of the fact that I am oversensitive, so I never get to it.
CINDY!! I love that you wrote this post. You are – as always – the business. And now I need to find a way to ask my followers the same thing and see if they feel the same, or if everybody who follows me hates me 😛
Much love to you both <3
Nobody hates you my dear sweet Mandy – that’s basically impossible!
I know what you mean though – all the comments I DO get are normally from people I don’t know. I used to be mad about it, but I figure my friends see me often enough to give me their comments in real time 😉
Wha- that’s a funny one! Honestly some people only engage in some social media from time to time . It’s not you – it’s the social media (insert smiley face) For instance I hate Twitter – yes, I do. I am only on it because so many competitions have a Twitter bit. Ont he other habd I love Facebook and Instagram – and blogs most of all
Having all these chats have reformed my thinking a bit. I’m starting to be more comfortable with people lurking in the background because that’s where they feel comfortable. And that’s cool with me.
Russel brand. It’s too much. I’m going to send you mine u did with my guy cousin ok? It’s funny I look like Nicolas cage. Celeb look alikes! 🙂
Hilarious! 😉
I feel you with the Instagram – it’s all about engaging and interaction x
Are you having the same problem?
On the Instagram thing, I have basically the same principle as you. Liking pics that resonate or unfollowing if their pics hurt my eyes. I would be hurt though, if you removed me from following you because I don’t like your pics. I think it’s the same with Facebook. Where people like your page but don’t interact at all. I don’t know….
Love the Russel Brand pic but I so can not get a handle on this Snapchat thing. Maybe I’m too old for it lol!
Really sad I missed the meetup but maybe I can make it next year 🙂
I also feel like forcibly removing people from following is a bit harsh, so don’t worry – I won’t do it 🙂
And I have a total love/hate thing with snapchat – it’s awesome but so often I just wonder what the point is.
Hey Cindy
I’m one of the ones guilty of following people but not engaging (if they aren’t personal friends)…. I don’t know why! I love your content and have been reading your blog for a while and recently started following you on Instagram. I guess I feel like I don’t know you, so liking and commenting on stuff I don’t really know anything about is weird, which gets me thinking why am I actually following you……am I just a creepy stalker?! I guess I just like what you’re putting out there, but in a voyeuristic sense. Anyhoo, it’s definitely not a hate follow! Hope that helps a little!
Hey Karen!! We were chatting about this on Facebook with a couple of other people and you guys have reformed my thinking. As a blogger it’s all about engagement so I make sure that I try and support in any way that I can, but it’s because I come from the perspective where it’s important. For a “regular” person who doesn’t give a toss about stats and whatever, liking someone’s post that they don’t even know is weird! And I don’t ever want to force anyone into a position that they feel weird, so I think it is what it is.
It has got me thinking too though, and I should get out of my head and like things that I like, regardless of whether I ‘know’ the person or not. I guess everyone likes getting likes, so will start spreading the love! 😉
My worst is when you write a blogpost and then you ask a question like – what would you do? or what do you think? or am I losing it, can you suggest anything? – and you get silence. Absolute silence! And I can see by the stats (I’m slightly obsessed with checking them) that people have read the post. But there’s no indication of who did and they say absolutely nothing back!!
It is so frustrating!!! I know exactly what you mean.
THAT!! That is the worst. I always feel like I’ve fallen on my face in front of the popular kids when that happens. I can SEE those people rolling their eyes. *sigh*
Maybe it is also that as writers, and as bloggers, we have a bit of the “artist” in us – loads of insecurity and a huge need for validation.
I concur the artist feeling – a blog post is a kind of art in its own way.
I also very rarely engage on social media, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy following. Of course it’s definitely voyeuristic but I love seeing different people all over the world and how they live. If I don’t know you personally though it’s unlikely that I would comment especially. Which is also strange, because it definitely feels as if I’ve formed some kind of one sided friendship / sense of kinship with my favourites.
I don’t know, it seems a bit passive aggressive to delete people because they don’t engage to your liking? Personally I doubt there are many people ‘hate’ following, I mean in the real adult world who could be bothered? There’s been a definite move away from really conversing on blogs etc – much easier to just click a ‘like’ in our ever faster consumerist society – although the readership thereof probably hasn’t changed all that much. But I can understand missing the personal element and human interaction with all the work you put in, it must be frustrating.
Hey Aneke, thanks for taking the time to comment! I agree, to delete people just seems a bit too ridiculous and conceited. I’ve decided that I am quite happy to let people follow in whichever way makes them comfortable. I definitely don’t want to force people to comment just because I need it to feel better about writing.
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