As we all know from my whining, jparks moved my blog over to Blogger from Wordpress recently and I was (am) not too happy about it. I've noticed a few things since the transition that have left me with some questions regarding feed readers and comments and I'm hoping you can shed some light on the situation. Let's begin! (Bonus: No technical knowledge required)
One of the things I loved about Wordpress was that people had to provide an email address when leaving a comment. This meant I could email a response directly to the person rather than leaving the answer in another comment that the person may never see. Blogger does not provide me email addresses for comments so unless I know your address already I can't reply to you. I've been hesitant to leave replies in the comments because I seriously doubt you care enough to come back to check for a response. We're all busy people, I'm just happy you even take the time to read what's here and leave a comment. (This sounds way bitchier than I mean it. I'm honestly just happy you took the time to stop by.) So what's the general opinion, are replies in the comment section good or once you leave your comment are you done checking the post?
The other thing that I've noticed (that's not directly related to Blogger) is that since moving platforms, the number of people using the feed to my site has gone from a healthy number to six. I know this is not a mass exodus of people removing the feed, it's because my url changed but still, bothersome. Since moving I've been linking (almost) every post on twitter, which is something I do not like to do. I don't consider myself a professional blogger and for some reason I see this as a professional move and an annoyance to the people that follow me. For the record, I do not find it annoying if you do it so please don't take this as as attack on anyone that puts links there. This is a long winded way of asking if things like Google Reader are dead to everyone but me. Do most people get here through my tweets with links? Do I need to continue to do that? Is Google Reader about to go the way of Wave and disappear forever because it's me and five others using it?
So friends, what's your opinion on these things of little importance to the world but of great importance to me?
I never come back to read comments after I comment. I prefer the emails, or in WP (sorry!) I know there is a plug-in for threaded comments and then I get an email when someone responds. Is there something similar like that for Blogger? Or a different comment platform? Like Disquis?
ReplyDeleteAs for the Reader, I still use it. I would think that is because of the new URL. Can you post on the old site at all? Send people this way?
I can't add a post to the old site because jparks totally killed it when he moved me. I was super mad because I asked for a warning so I could make a post directing people here but my pleas fell on deaf ears.
ReplyDeleteregan, I had to re-add you to my google reader bc the switch left with with no updating feed, not sure why, maybe the feed url is slightly different. can you alias the feed url? (ask jason)
ReplyDeleteuser twitterfeed to post your posts to twitter, then you don't have to manually do it
For what it's worth, I used to get your feed through google reader, (actually, I might be one of your six), but I rarely check it anymore b/c it's a hassle on my smartphone. I have been following your blog through your tweets, though.
ReplyDeleteJennifer (jarmstrongtp if my google e-mail doesn't pop up.)
OMG, you ask the questions I want to know the answers to. Being on blogger I HATE HATE HATE that I can't respond directly to comments and I've been too lazy to figure out what to do about it, especially since I've heard horror stories of those who have installed new comment widgets on blogger.
ReplyDeleteAlso just recently (and no domain change for me) my subscribers went down to like 4. Just out of nowhere. I'm pretty sure I didn't offend hundreds of people overnight (hopefully) so who knows what the deal is with that. Google reader isn't dead, I just know it!
Anyway, I will probably stalk your comments for answers :)
I'm still using Google Reader, but then again, it's the backbone for damn near every RSS reader for the iPhone (and for NetNewsWire on the Mac as well) so it's probably the Google product I would die most without. Although the Twitter prompts me to go hit reload on the feed reader, which is handy.
ReplyDeleteI rarely revisit posts I comment on, unless the post or the comments are inflammatory. I use Google Reader and I HATE the wave.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm totally old school but I just have you bookmarked. Mainly because if I added you to my Google Reader you would be the only one on it. But rest assured I stop by very frequently...
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am totally "that person" on Twitter, haha. I've had people say it to my face. And to them I say... unfollow me, fool! You shouldn't be hesitant to post the links on Twitter. You're a lot more dedicated to blogging than me or most other people who half-ass it, so you're "professional" enough in my book and deserve a little self-advertising. Personally, I wouldn't want to accidentally miss a post because you didn't. :P
I too have you bookmarked. I am a 'follower' but I don't really understand what that means. And I have no idea what google reader is (or twitter). As for comments, sometimes I check back and sometimes not. If I see that a previous post had a zillion comments since I read it or commented that would prompt me to see what all the fuss was about, but I don't otherwise normally look there for responses to my comments.
ReplyDeleteI had to re-add you to Google Reader. And let me tell you, I've been reading your posts except, for some reason, I failed to notice your new domain so when you would tweet your new posts or I'd see them linked on Flickr, I'd be all WTF? But I finally caught on and have re-added you.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about Blogger except that I didn't particularly enjoy it because I don't like change and WordPress is so awesome. However, I used IntenseDebate on my now-dead blog and it was pretty nifty. AND you get an email notification when someone replies to your comment. AND it posts the reply right under someone's comment so you can follow it better.
Because I'm one of those people who leaves a comment and will only sometimes remember to go back and see any replies, but only when another post is up, haha.
I don't know what I'd do without google reader (I went and added your new feed after the switch). I don't think it's dead...
ReplyDeleteIf I leave comments of blogs (and that's a pretty big IF), I only go back and check if I've asked a question or think I might have said something that warrants a response. I reply to comments on my blog (I use DISQUS which lets me reply to individual comments), but I probably should respond to comments via e-mail.
I don't use a reader. It was too pushy for me. So I follow you thru Google Buzz or twitter for notes about new posts. Otherwise, I have your new URL bookmarked.
ReplyDeleteAnd I only come back to look at comments if I asked a question or if there are suddenly 40 when there used to be only 3. Or if you're getting advice on something I also wanted to know about.
My feed had definitely died! Just found you again today.
ReplyDelete