Write for Yourself (I Comment Therefore I Am)

by Claudya Martinez on January 14, 2013

Unknown MamiI Comment Therefore I Am is a feature I do from time to time when I want to share either comments I’ve left on other blogs or comments that have been left on this blog. The comment I’m about to share was left by me on a post called Lucky Streak at Thrift Shop Commando. In it the author wondered if she had lost followers because she had posted something offensive. My response…

Now let me share my “followers” story with you. When I started blogging I was on Blogger and I had the GFC widget up. Every time I’d get a new follower, my heart would feel joy and every time I lost followers, I’d wonder what I had done. Sometimes people leave because they are following too many, sometimes they stop blogging and delete their accounts, sometimes Google messes up and deletes people, and sometimes people just realize that you are not their cup of tea. Anyway, I ended up switching to WordPress and I brought my GFC gadget with me. At a certain point, Google decided that they would no longer support GFC on non-Blogger blogs. My heart dropped, would I loose my tens of hundreds of followers (I had over a thousand at the time)? I fought it, and wrote to Google (no response)and the day came when the widget no longer worked on my WP blog. And you know what happened? Nothing. It actually ended up being great for me because the #’s were no longer in my face all the time. Now I have no idea how many people are “following” me on a general basis or more importantly (for my ego) how many people are leaving me. The truth is that even with GFC, you don’t know how many people are following you because some people will follow you via their readers, etc.

The point of my long-winded story is, don’t sweat it. People leave and more people will ALWAYS come. You keep writing honestly about what interests you and don’t second-guess yourself or your writing. This is your space and we just get to share it with you because you let us.

There are things you should do for yourself and writing is one of them. Sure, your writing may resonate with others, but it is more important that it resonate with you.

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Tagged as: blog followers, I Comment Therefore I Am

  • Tina G

    very good post! you are talking from my heart and to my heart :)  

  • http://llcooljoe01.blogspot.co.uk/ LL Cool Joe

    Excellent post! I think the moment you start writing your blog for your readers and not yourself, is the moment to stop blogging. 

  • http://landlock-mo.blogspot.com/ Rebecca

    So true.  The stats tell me that roughly 100 people visit my blog daily but nobody ever comes to comment.  Could it be spambots?  Oh well, at least I get up to 100 on my numbers on a daily basis.  I just wish I could get lots of comments.

    • http://www.unknownmami.com/ unknownmami

      No, it’s not all spambots. A lot of people just don’t comment. I used to be really hung up on comments too and now I’m just happy to get what I get. I’ve learned from speaking to people in my “real life” that they read regularly, but they never leave comments. That’s okay, at least they are reading.

      • http://afcsoac.blogspot.com/ lisleman

         I agree.  I don’t know the percentage but most visitors do not leave comments.  I’ve had people who know me, send an email about a post instead of leaving a comment.

  • http://twitter.com/LaliQuin AutismWonderland

    YES!!! Absolutely 1000 times yes & exactly what I need to hear right now.  

    • http://www.unknownmami.com/ unknownmami

      I’m glad it was timely. Most of the time I write what I need to write, so it is timely for me as well.

  • Catalina

    Agreed. That is so key…your writing should resonate with you. It’s easy to forget that when you’re busy trying to please others. My twitter tagline on twitter is, “Blissfully blogging about whatever I choose.” That’s what blogging is about…what the writer chooses.

    • http://www.unknownmami.com/ unknownmami

      Yup. I also think that you just won’t keep at it if you are not doing it for yourself.

  • Eva Gallant

    good point!

  • http://afcsoac.blogspot.com/ lisleman

    Very good point.  Good points can be sharp at times.  Especially at the end of a stick and near your eye.  But yes, not only do I not worry about what to write for the readers (I DO think about it but not worry), as you can see I don’t worry too much about what I write in comment sections.   Now I am trying an experiment on re-posting or recycling in blogland.
     

  • http://honduras-gumbo.com/ Laurie Matherne

    I like writing. That’s why I write. Sure, I want people to like my writing, too, but as you said, that’s not the first priority. I just write because I want to write. It’s the same with music. I played the piano and keyboard for almost all of my adult life, sometimes for audiences and sometimes for an audience of one. 

  • http://savmarshmama.blogspot.com/ savannah

    i just try not to make grammar mistakes, sugar. that is my MAJOR worry about my blog. *sigh* your comment was perfect about stats. xoxoxox (but, yeah, i still look at mine.) ;~)

  • http://pumpkindelight.blogspot.com/ Kimberly

    Very good comment, and I’m glad you shared.  I also like your comment below about comments.  I’ve never understood the follower thing, but of course, the comments I do and when a post doesn’t get many I wonder why.  Blogging is just for fun for me, so it’s silly to get wrapped up into it, but sometimes that’s hard.  Thanks for the perspective.

  • http://www.vidyasury.com/ Vidya Sury

    You are absolutely right. I’ve always held that people come over to see you and not themselves. I believe that I should write for myself, too.
    Yet… so hard not to feel a twinge of sadness at an “unsubscribe” alert. Makes me wonder…what happened? :D

    Hugs. Love you, Claudya and the way you blog!

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