"I think you read too many blogs." - Yakra
Blogs.
Blogs.
Oh my God.
Blogs.
Let's read some blogs.
Let's write some blogs.
Let's link some blogs.
Let's flame some blogs.†
Blogs.
Blogs.
Blogs.
Oh my God.
Blogs.
Let's read some blogs.
Let's write some blogs.
Let's link some blogs.
Let's flame some blogs.†
Blogs.
Blogs.
Oh, my God, blogs.
Blogs.
Blogs.
This blog rules.
This blog sucked.‡
This blog rules.
This blog sucks!
Blogs.
Blogs.
Blogs.
Oh, my God, blogs.
This blog rules.
This blog sucks.￥
This blog's new.
This blog's gone!
I think you read too many blogs.
Shut up!
I think you read too many blogs.
Shut up!
I think you read too many blogs.
Shut up!
I think you read too many blogs.
Shut up!
Stupid feed.
Stupid feed.
Let's read some blogs.
Blogs.
This blog rules.
This blog sucked.‡
This blog rules.
This blog sucks!
Blogs.
Blogs.
Blogs.
Oh, my God, blogs.
This blog rules.
This blog sucks.￥
This blog's new.
This blog's gone!
I think you read too many blogs.
Shut up!
I think you read too many blogs.
Shut up!
I think you read too many blogs.
Shut up!
I think you read too many blogs.
Shut up!
Stupid feed.
Stupid feed.
Let's read some blogs.
Let's tweet.
This blog is over three years old.
This blog has over three hundred subscribers.
This blog has over three thousand 'ucking subscribers.
Let's link 'em!
Um... this topic is kinda old. I don't think anyone's gonna read it.
I mean, no one runs Kara anymore.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click, by the way Blizz,
*UCK YOU
*UCK YOU
*UCK YOU
*UCK YOU
This blog is over three years old.
This blog has over three hundred subscribers.
This blog has over three thousand 'ucking subscribers.
Let's link 'em!
Um... this topic is kinda old. I don't think anyone's gonna read it.
I mean, no one runs Kara anymore.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click, by the way Blizz,
*UCK YOU
*UCK YOU
*UCK YOU
*UCK YOU
This blog is mine, click.
Give me that list of blogs, click.
This feed is mine, click.
Click.
† This is not an invitation to flame Keeva's blog, but rather a reference to the comments posted on that article.
‡ I had to link to Averna's juicy post about Paladin Shmaladin!
￥No, I don't really think my husband's blog sucks, but I had his permission to pretend I did.
After much deliberation over the past month or so, I have decided to seriously cut back my blog reading list. At one point I was subscribed to over 45 blogs by resto druids; that doesn't include the non-resto druids. Sometimes, I would come home from work and spend over an hour reading/skimming blog posts. It was becoming more of a job than a hobby, but I kept it up because I wanted to be supportive of new blogs. I remember how hard it was to be starting out and how much readers and commenters meant. However, despite my attempts, I don't feel I have been that successful at being supportive. Here is what sealed the deal for me though: I was skipping reading my husband's blog to read blogs I felt I SHOULD read, even if I felt they weren't relevant to me. Not only was I taking time away that could be spent with Yakra PLAYING WoW, but I wasn't even giving him the time to read what he wrote.
I have a new plan: Quality over Quantity. The less blogs I read, the more closely I read the one's I DO read, and the more comments I make on those blogs. I am also more likely to follow their links to other blogs, because I don't feel like there are blogs I should be reading back in my feedreader. I'm trying to think of this not as "not being supportive" but as "being more supportive of some" and hoping that will branch out to other blogs.
The motivation and justification was the easy part. The means I am finding a little heart breaking. Every time I log into my feed reader I try to find one blog to unsubscribe to. This was easy at first: people who haven't posted in a while, people posting about other games. Then I moved on to blogs that weren't as relevant to me: blogs that never were about WoW but I thought I might like, blogs where they used to play a druid but now are posting technical articles about another class, blogs with lots of gold making guides. Now its starting to get really hard. My goal is to keep unsubscribing until everything is "read". That, I am hoping, will put me at a healthy balance where I can really read what is posted, make comments on posts, but still have room to add new blogs that really interest me.
How many blogs do you REALLY read? How many do you PRETEND to read? Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the quality WoW blogs out there? How do you chose?
resto druid. Once upon a time she was the spirit stacking tree for the main tank ToL aura. Despite all the spirit changes it is still the stat nearest to my heart.
Paladin Schmaladin is still viewable and is being updated, but, it seems, with less goofy little off topic posts to try and push the "I'm a real girl" facade.
ReplyDelete=/
I'm still in debate on how I feel about that. Another comment for another time, neh?
BLOGS!
I've been adopting a similar approach lately - I've probably halved my wow-hours lately and feel that devoting as much time as I do to reading wow-blogs is silly, if I'm not even playing that much -so I too have been making cuts - my two much-loved alts are getting less information on their classes now, while my main class was never really a time-eater (there just aren't many rogue blogs out there...) - and I don't feel I'm _missing out_ on anything yet.
ReplyDeleteYou gotta read what you care about.
It's difficult, as you rightly observe. Short of acquiring a supercomputer in place of one's brain, however, it is impossible for a human to acquire and process every scrap of information out there, no matter how much you want to (or even derive pleasure from doing just that). Skim, absorb, process, categorize, use what you can, pass over what you can't, note what looks good for the future, and don't allow yourself to feel guilty about it.
ReplyDeleteHow many blogs do I read? Hundreds.
How many blogs do I pretend to read? Same number. You get used to skimming through and seeing if anything jumps out as immediately relevant. Interesting bits are mentally bookmarked for later.
Feel overwhelmed? All the time. But in some ways it's a good feeling. A loud, raucous, squabbling, talkative blogosphere is oddly comforting, and sort of a sign of health.
What bothers me more than anything else is being unable to link absolutely everything that I think looks cool, but I'm working on sneaking more of them in.
Well, that is why Buffd.net is around. So you don't have to keep a huge blog list in your rss.
ReplyDelete@Aerivore ~ I'm not sure what link to Paladin Schmaladin I was trying to follow yesterday or if I just typed it wrong. I haven't actually read it since the whole drama thing happened. I think I will keep the link to Averna though because her post really captured the part that "sucked". (The guides etc are still quality.) But yeah! Thats a conversation for after I have had two cups of coffee :P
ReplyDelete@SD ~ I hope that you are finding what I am finding as you cut back reading. You get more out of what you do read and you have more time to play WoW or do other IRL hobbies.
@Allison ~ Your supercomputer analogy is great! That is exactly how I feel, because I have always loved learning new tidbits of information and getting to know people more, so reading blogs has been highly enjoyable. You are also right that too many blogs is better than not enough. Once there aren't enough blogs about WoW... well... I won't think about that. And I'm with you again on what bothers me the most is not being able to comment or link things, in my case because I feel like I spend (spent) all my blog hours skimming. Skipping the info I can let go, skipping being supportive I have lots of trouble doing.
@ArtG ~ Buffd.net isn't one I knew about! I've looked at sites like Massive Blips and the Daily Druid, especially when there are big WoW news updates. I imagine if I had the opposite problem, wanting more blogs to read, I would use sties like those more. But for my day to day reading I like my feedreader. That way I know when someone has stopped posting. You also start to have a relationship with some bloggers and you want to know EVERYTHING the second they post it!
I read a handful of blogs, I read them through my gmail reader during slow points at work in the morning or when I'm on lunch. It can be overwhelming though, I've seen people's blog rolls that are longer than their posts. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's like my old alliance raiding guild used to say, "Druids is pack!" We enjoy reading about each other and helping each other :)
ReplyDeleteI hear ya, girl! I actually handle this by not subscribing in a feed to blogs. I just have my bloglist on my site and when I feel like reading around, I take a stroll through the blogs in my feed. I usually pick my faves first (and of course you're on that short list =)) and read around what has been updated since my last visit. If I'm still in the mood, I'll hit up some sort of old friends blogs or see what the new trees in the forest are up to. It's excessively rare, though, that I open a tab for every blog on my list and read a post on every site. I just sort of meander through them until I run out of time or interest. =) That way it's a pleasure, not a chore. /hug
ReplyDeleteYou now have another blog to read. This is your own fault, so I will brook no whining. IT WAS YOUR IDEA. You birthed the baby, now you're stuck.
ReplyDeletew00t! Thanks for the link-love. I am taking it slowly after suffering blog-burnout in the past.
ReplyDeleteOh my god so many blogs. I read like..4.
ReplyDeleteAnd I posted too fast. That video was insane. It will haunt me.
ReplyDelete@Sinny ~ It sounds like my goal is to get my reading more down to what you are doing! Something where I can read a little bit on evenings after work during the school year and play catch up on the weekends.
ReplyDelete@Kae ~ I prefer to think of "Druids is forest!" But I think its the same idea! Although being viscously attacked by a herd of trees doesn't seem as scary as a pack of lions and bears...
@Syll ~ You read just like Yakra does, and he is all "Its a hobby, don't sweat it!" There are a few things I like about my reader, and I normally go over to someone's site when they post anyway. But I can see the benefits of having a self imposed hobby to-do list...
@Kia ~ But your blog is going to be my favorite blog! I'm going to sit glued to my computer every moment hitting the refresh button!
@Petal ~ I needed to replace some of the "sucks" with something else and I thought you being new would be PERFECT for the spot! Yeah, don't burn out over a hobby off shot from a hobby...
@Inishi ~ Shoes? OMG! I don't think I could ever get down to just four blogs! But good for you to pick what you love the most and just read that regularly!
I'm a a bit like Syll, I don't subscribe, but there are a few that I follow everyday =)
ReplyDeleteI often do it during slow periods at work (for those that haven't been hit by the IT blocked ban-hammer!), or for a bit before I raid in the evenings. I will usually poke around a bit on Saturday or Sunday, but I don't commit to it, and do it as I feel up for it.
I don't know if that makes me a good blogger, or a bad blogger; but it does make me a happy blogger =)
@Beru ~ I've been thinking more and more about getting a not .blogspot domain since those can be blocked (See Twig Heals)... And I think a happy blogger has to be one of the aspects of being a good blogger (that or maybe being paid to do it), because if you aren't happy, what else is going to keep you blogging?
ReplyDeleteI am so amazingly blog-ignorant that it was only after I created my own WoW blog that I discovered subscriptions and Google Reader and all that fun. I immediately subscribed to a boatload of blogs (between 20-30...I know that's not many for some!) and am learning how to skim/read/really absorb them as desired. I try to read posts that seem really interesting to me or have valuable info/entertainment, but sometimes I just star them for later. But, like Syll and Beru, I try to remember that it's a pleasure, not a chore. (Which is why sometimes I end up posting my response 4 days later...) ;)
ReplyDelete@ Taz ~ I started reading some blogs, but not through subscriptions. Then I made my own. Then a few months in I started subscribing because there were so many. Also - I have NO PROBLEM with 4 day late comments. I totally do it myself AND I use a reader!!!
ReplyDeleteRE: Druids is Pack
ReplyDeleteGuess it helped that almost all of the druids were feral at the time... We rather enjoyed running through SSC/TK with a pack of 3-4 cats, then all turning bear simultaneously to charge after a loose add! Boo just sat back and laughed ;)