A Thing or Two About WordPress

Posted byJanice ReidPosted inBlogsTags:, , ,

This post will be my two hundredth blog. Two hundred blogs later and one year and one quarter on this platform I think I’ve learned a thing or two about this WordPress community that I feel compelled to share. Remember, these are my experiences so please feel free to check me if these are not your own.

Welcome to WordPress, the platform where many writers write but very few read. Most who read rarely make their presence known with a like or comment but then there are those who like without even reading.

The longer the blogs, the fewer the views. As for the shorter blogs? Sorry, reads still not guaranteed. Moral of the story, if you have something to say, just say it, no compromising for views but no ramblings please.

Then there are the followers who rarely follow. Some follow just to have you follow and once you follow that’s the farthest the follower will follow. You follow?

But thankfully there are those who make this all worthwhile. These are the writers who share humorous, interesting, inspirational thought-provoking content, who are also readers who actually read, and followers who follow out of genuine interest and reciprocation. Say after me, RE-CIP-RO-CA-TION, I find this word could improve our experience here on WordPress. Go look it up! These, my friends, are bloggers of the favorite kind.

Still, you won’t hear me judge or complain, I promise that’s not what I’m doing here. Let’s be real, there’s a whole lot of content to read on this platform, so I’m sure we’ve all fallen into one or two or maybe all of those categories at some point or another.

That’s the beauty of WordPress, I guess? Yeah, this is the platform where some of us need a “thick skin” in order to survive. My advice to you if you don’t already have some is, stick around long enough, you’ll grow some. Hang in there, good results take time!

As for me? Two hundred posts in, still struggling, still surviving, having fun, skin thicker every day.

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42 thoughts on “A Thing or Two About WordPress”

  1. Thanks for sharing Jan! I’m not a regular blogger and haven’t been on WordPress that long. I can honestly say I started blogging to share my experiences about my relationship with the Lord. Hopefully to be a blessing to someone. I have no expectations as for as how many likes I get or followers. Some of the things you said makes me a bit sad.But it is what it is. I can genuinely say if I’m a follower of you, I like what you write. If I reply I feel comfortable enough to reply. Thank you Jan for making me feel comfortable! Be blessed! ❤️😊

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  3. You are right on many accounts. I’ve been doing this for many years, and I stay for the community of fellow writers that continue to inspire me. Same time, I will confess, I am not interested in ramblings – if there is a point to a post, I will read. If someone posts several posts a day, I tend to skip them – they are fishing for likes, not connection, in my mind. I also don’t follow back unless I feel the contributor is serious and of interest to me.

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  5. I wonder sometimes if there a glitches in the way statistics are collected in the reader verses when someone finds a post via google or other ways. I’ve seen some very weird stuff where the stat page says that there was one visitor and one view but it lists seven countries. I guess one person read it and then got on a plane and flew to 7 countries and read again. Comments are good sometimes, but some yup & nope comments are not helpful. On the other hand, I sometimes find it extremely difficult to comment especially if I disagree in some way. People can be very sensitive about criticism and I guess it’s best not to say anything except when explicit permission is given to provide an honest answer, but that’s still very tricky and requires diplomatic skills which I don’t always have. Reciprocation? Well, no, I don’t think I’ve ever had that fully: I could give a page of comments and receive back a “yes, no, thanks for your opinion, smiley face, puzzle face, you’re not understanding me — I guess you had a bad day” or something like that.

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    2. Doug if you try to understand those stats you’ll go crazy 🤣🤣. You’re right people do get sensitive sometimes, but with me you have my “explicit permission” to be brutally honest. My skin is thick enough, I can handle it 🤣.

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  6. I think you’ve pretty much nailed it Jan, it’s fine to blog as long as we don’t expect too much back. I even have friends, and family, who follow but don’t comment! But as long as still enjoy it, and still enjoy contributing to others, then it’s worth it.

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  8. Yep, I found that out over the 11 years I ‘ve been here too. Lot’s of bloggers coming and going. Some have been following since the beginning and others come here fast and then blow out quickly. It’s a crazy business. I think the things that has kept me here doing posts twice a week is the theme of my blog and the fact that it allows me to write about anything, and I’ve developed a style over the years.

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    1. I so agree, your niche or lack of it does impact the frequency and survival of your blog. Eleven years, that’s longevity right there! For me I don’t have a niche, that gives me the freedom to write about just anything. That might not be ideal, but it makes me happy.

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      1. I’m glad you found what works for you! It’s just cool that my philosophy has changed over the years, but the anchor has always been there. A lot of deep thoughts have come to me about life, while allowing me to entertain others in the process.

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      1. Haha, I go by Maggie because I’m named after my Great Grandmother Margaret and it felt like a little old lady’s name. I found out a few years ago that she actually went by Maggie too!

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  10. This bit right here:

    “That’s the beauty of WordPress, I guess? Yeah, this is the platform where some of us need a “thick skin” in order to survive. My advice to you if you don’t already have some is, stick around long enough, you’ll grow some. Hang in there, good results take time!”

    That’s it. That’s the golden ticket right there. Thank you for sharing this post!

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  11. Great post! I relate to what you’re saying and I appreciate and admire your honesty in putting your views forward. These are thoughts I’ve often had, but never dared say so! Very inspiring. 😀

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  13. Congratulations on 200 and here’s to getting to 300 soon 🎉 I very much agree with your thoughts on WordPress and yes this platform is all about reciprocation. I am very grateful for your support for my blog and I hope to continue to support yours as well 😊

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  14. Two hundred blog posts is a great accomplishment! Congrats! And I agree with you about the Word Press community. It’s both good (the fantastic people we meet, the chance to read first-hand accounts of lives in different communities all around the world, and the chance to have immediate feedback on our writing) and bad (the spammers, the people who follow or like our posts without ever reading a word, and the “happiness engineers” who keep changing things without actually asking us if we want them changed. But overall, it’s a positive experience and a community I’m happy to be a part of!

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  15. I find all social media can be regarded in the ways you have highlighted. Reciprocation takes reciprocation, so I focus on reading stories and engaging which leads me to the special few that engage back. Congratulations on two hundred post!

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  16. Janice, I really enjoyed your post on this topic. I like blogging because I like writing. I always hope someone enjoys my post. There are so many bloggers that I don’t ever expect a large audience. I follow under ten blogs because then I know I will have time to read them. And I like to comment on blogs, but since I had to change my email associated with WordPress, it has become more cumbersome for me to comment. I commented on this blog yesterday but my comment never posted, even though it seemed like it was supposed to. Sometimes, when I try to post a comment, I get a message that says: Unable to post comment. And when I try five minutes later, it works! Aah technology! Keep writing and congrats on blog 200! This is my second attempt to comment on your post.

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  17. Thanks Vickie, I really do enjoy reading your essays and stories too. Yes WordPress can be a pain, we are both in the same boat. I always pray I don’t have issues because I have no idea how to troubleshoot them. Most times I just fumble around until I stumble into the solution.

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  18. Sadly, vloggers are attracting so much more attention these days compared to bloggers. Some friends have actually encouraged us to vlog but somehow we’re just not into it. Maybe we’re too lazy to study video editing but blogging enables us to express ourselves more compared to vlogging. Thanks for being part of this online community that we can relate to.

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  20. A thing or two, indeed. Our words hit the press, but not every heart, take the time to understand, Love is better than Like. Reciprocation, makes the journey feel more Like, Love, for each other! Congratulations, keep pressing, your words are worth reading!

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