I truly do appreciate all of the people who stop by my blog. Some of you are regulars and some of you only light if the topic appeals to you. Many of you take the time to ‘like’ the blog; a few of you are regular or occasional commenters.
I have one follower, who is such a prolific blogger, that I have had to limit receiving his blog posts to once a day. He ‘likes’ my blog posts about once a week where he has liked several of them within 60 seconds. How many posts, even short ones can you actually read in a minute?
Yesterday I reblogged On the Lighter Side: Signs of the Times. It was truly a fun blog with lots of coronavirus memes based upon the lockdown. I saw it as recently as Friday and scheduled the reblog to appear on Sunday.
I did not know that the site had been taken down until I got a comment from Rolig.
I checked my stats about 10 am and found the following:
I had 22 views and 15 likes for a post that was not there. Do people even bother to click on links?
It’s like all those followers who never visit a blog, never mind like or comment. And something new for me: recently when I’ve visited a couple of blogs whose bloggers followed me, their sites were blocked by my malware checker with warnings about viruses or “trojan horses.” I actually removed those followers and if they appear again, I plan to block them.
You never know what motivates people.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Good public service announcement, Audrey. Never heard of that before. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, that’s a reason I always check the follower’s blogs first. Plus, I find out if they are “legitimate” bloggers or blogs to just fuel their traffic.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wise suggestion. A person who has a blog post on a similar topic and wants to share the URL to that post may add to the conversation as opposed to a person who just wants you to go to their blog.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right
LikeLiked by 1 person
Huh, I certainly remember reading the post with many pictures of signs though? Perhaps it got taken down afterwards.
Like-spamming is real though, and probably relatable to anyone who owns a blog. Oh well…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, Moya. Thanks for commenting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve long wondered about the accuracy of WordPress statistics. A couple of times when I checked my stats it’ll show only one visitor while also showing visits from multiple countries.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’ve noticed that too. Sometimes the statistics sort of reset themselves more accurately and sometimes they do not.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I want you to know that I clicked the link and found it broken.
Yeah, this is a crazy game.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not sure why they took the site down. I don’t think it was just that post .
LikeLike
Yes I have someone who likes my posts within seconds of it appearing. It’s too easy to do that on Reader.
LikeLiked by 1 person
so true, Denzil.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always read through blogs, and then decide whether I like them or not 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s the way it should be done, Bea. Some bloggers write incredibly long posts and some people post multiple times in one day. Some of them I think do it for the statistical bragging rights.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Same here!
LikeLiked by 2 people
😉😁
LikeLike
I think it’s dangerous to like a post without reading it: you never know…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Luisa, there are some blogs I do not want to have any affiliation with either as a liker or a commenter. I agree with you.
LikeLike
I find many just click on the Like button and move along. Granted, I do not always have the time to comment on every blog I follow. Some people just want you to jump back over to their site and give them a Like.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Many do. I already spend a couple of hours a day reading blogs I like. I usually like those blogs and sometimes comment. I do just “like” a few because they ‘like’ me. Others because of the content, level of writing, sheer number of words, or whatever, I feel are not worth even a perfunctory nod.
LikeLike
Agree, especially when it is way too long and they use the word “I” a lot!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen on that!
LikeLike
I sometimes have new “visitors” like about 10 posts in 15 seconds. Either they are super-human speed readers, or they are just after “likes” themselves. I find a lot of them are new bloggers trying to build an audience. I sometimes go check them out and have occasionally been pleasantly surprised.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have too. Some of them may not quite be there yet. Some of them either write in a style or topic that isn’t for me. Good comment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If someone ‘likes’ a lot of my posts in one go, I always look at the time they came in and if they’re all in the same minute, as they often are, I assume it’s someone just trying to get followers and usually ignore them. I tend not to reblog posts but I sometimes feature other bloggers, but I do find that I get fewer interactions with those posts – I think it’s probably easier to click like and not bother with the link – I often don’t read reblogs because I usually visit a blog for the person who is writing it. It’s hard to keep up with all the blogs I follow – I used to try and read every one, but now I’m less hard on myself and just keep up as best I can.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I totally agree with you, Andrea. Some I always read it or at least peruse
Others I look up the headline and others aren’t worth wasting the time.
LikeLiked by 2 people
There are a lot of lurkers out there. What is perplexing is we follow blogs we like and make comments and they never return the favor. We unsubscribe if they won’t be reciprocal.
There will be people that will like our blog and probably not even read it. Oh well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are lurkers and there are occasionals. Sometimes they read, sometimes they just like. Occasionally they comment. There are others that have sites I want no affiliation with. Most so far have been welcome or at least harmless.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I find about half my “readers” are real and the other half are just playing a social game. Even half is good, though — way better than we did pre-Net!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting observation, Ana. I’ll need to spend a bit more time analyzing my results. I have a few stalwarts that like almost anything. Thanks for commenting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey, Pat. I remember opening your post to see what was there and seeing it had been taken down. Not sure if I clicked on “like” or not, but some may have, just to show they looked to see what was up!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well Becky, as of today (14 July) it has had 30 views, 21 likes, and 5 clicks. So more people liked than even bothered to click through.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sure it happens. But I do feel like many actually read the posts. Try not to be discouraged!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hopefully its the click throughs and not at least reading what I wrote.
LikeLike
People seem to blog, and read blogs, for all kinds of reasons, and have their own philosophies about it. Some like their “likes”, some want the reader to leave comments every time, some don’t like comments from readers, some consider the likes as a sign of solidarity or community. Some daily posters won’t acknowledge comments from the previous day’s post if one get to it the next day. Not much different than life on the street. We are all different. I’ve taken to posting just 4 times a year now, that leaves people time to “get there” if they are so inclined. Some of my readers come back multiple times to read or reread different sections. I leave readers to their own devices and for the most part, I try not to judge motives. We are all different. The SPAM filter catches the worst of visitors, so I am content. I pay no attention to the statistics.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good points, Lavinia. I think that the SPAM filter is normally one of the better tools that Worldpress provides. I’ve found it wrong very few times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for commenting, Cynthia.
LikeLike