I might be back... but is anyone else there?
It's strange but when I started blogging a little over six years ago, to have had seven comments in 24 hours would have left me elated. In fact it was something of an occasion to have had even three or four comments.... it felt like fame! But now, although I haven't reached the dizzy heights of having hundreds of comments, to have anything less than a dozen or so leaves me feeling as though there is no-one there. Ridiculous I know!
But the nature of blogging has changed over the past six years. Back then there were a lot less people doing it... Facebook and Twitter were still in their infancy and other platforms such as instagram and Pinterest were not even heard of. Blogging still felt new and fun. But now, many of the people I connected with when I first started blogging are no longer doing it. Times have changed.
But even if blogging is being abandoned in favour of more instant communication, I still like it. I don't own a smart phone or similar device so Twitter isn't really something I've got the hang of. I quite like Facebook but I think it reaches a different audience. But I like blogging best of all. I like the fact I need to think about my photographs and words. It feels more considered somehow and so I'm sticking with it for now. What about you? What do you think?
And today's photographs have nothing to do with my words because this wasn't what I set out to write! I was going to say that after the luxury of a week away and being served three meals a day, it felt equally luxurious to be back home in my own kitchen cooking yesterday. A creamy leek and goat's cheese tart with chilli coleslaw and a banana and walnut loaf... to use up the black bananas. Just in case you were interested!
Good to have you back Gina, I'm pleased Missenden went well. The quiche looks wonderful. Cooking is so relaxing, although I know some who wouldn't agree.
ReplyDeleteAnnya
I share your views on blogging Gina and have also noticed the change although I have only been a blogger for about 3 years.
ReplyDeleteYour time in the kitchen has paid dividends - it all looks delicious.
I too like blogging best. I think that there are so many blogs now that it can get overwhelming to read them all. We'd never get any work done! LOL. I try to keep up but sometimes, well..............
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, missed your blogging.
ReplyDeleteI'm here! :) and always interested in what you're cooking!
ReplyDeleteI like my blog too but I also like Facebook, you're right though, although there is a cross over it does reach a different audience.
Looking at stats I think blogging slows down in the summer months.
V xxx
I too understand about comments - having been a blogger for many years now I feel almost as if my work is no longer of any interest as the comments have dwindled down to very few these days. I will keep blogging as its my visual diary - although I keep extensive notes - too many to blog. One day something may happen!1 Oh and I love all your work, so although I don't often comment I am there with you all the time !
ReplyDeleteHi Gina,
ReplyDeleteOne day I will get to Missenden and take part in one of theri lovely courses. I shall continue to dream on.
I do agree with you and the other ladies commenting here. I have been blogging and just looked back to 2007 onwards and I used to get so many more comments than i do know and wonder if my posts are boring or not good enough. I get plenty of visitors mind you. I have also kept it simple such as not having the comment code thingy as i often can not read what I am meant to type in when this is activated on other blogs and my comment is not accepted. I must say that the day job sometimes means that I do not swtich my laptop on much during term time for fun but certainly during the holidays I try to increase my presence. I love your baking posts and was it last summer when you did the sketchbook tutorials? Problem was at the time I was on holiday with no sketching supplies! I am also a follower and visit often but I shall let you know that I am here more often. I have recently bought a notebook for my blog in the vain hope that I will plan my posting a little more. I also think that the number of swaps has dropped too over the past few years and I really miss them. I am sure many go on but I always seem to miss the sign ups and find out about them too late despite following loads of blogs. Anyway, four blissful weeks to go before term starts, with a bag of work glaring at me from the corner of the living room, so many more chances to come back.
xx
I like blogging, but probably get 2 comments a month! But I do it as a form of record keeping, as a means to make me think and analyse my processes. So its there for sharing, but not the whole reason why. I've been on Facebook now about 10 months, but I don't find it intuitive..... it has a high irritation level for me!
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean! I have only been blogging a couple of months but I love it and it is really great when I receive a comment.
ReplyDeleteyum to the coleslaw and quiche Gina. I think blogging is very workable for crafters and those of us who make things and like to share our interests with other like minded people - especially when there's no one nearby to share it with.
ReplyDeleteThe food looks delicious Gina :-)
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking exactly the same thing, I love blogging but now rarely get more than 5 or 6 comments and often less. I'm told that some of my Twitter followers do read my posts but they rarely comment.
I suppose should pop over to newer blogs and connect with new bloggers. But you're right it does feel different in the blog world now. However, it's the longest I've kept a 'diary' so I'll carry on - hope you will too xx
I am still here and always interested in your words and your photographs! I have been a little lax recently though, I am just catching up with my reading list on 'Bloglovin' and it has taken almost three days to do so.
ReplyDeleteHow did Missenden go? I bet it was wonderful.
Oh yum What gorgeous food.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with you on blogging --- I like how I need to place photos with words to make sense of a thought, even if I'm not super good at it. I'm new to Facebook and not too fond of it as platform for expression. And I don't get twitter at all (no way I can keep anything to 140 characters or less! LOL)
GLad your open days went well. love your loaf bread. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteI don't get many comments either and really I just use blogger as a diary, I've never managed to keep a paper one. Facebook is a much more instant thing and I do have a twitter account but never put anything on it. I like blogger because it makes me really think about what I want to say, if I didn't use it I would never have to compose anything. As the saying goes 'if you don't use it you loose it'..... so lets keep on blogging. A couple of last thoughts , as a previous comment says it is summer so maybe holidays and the good weather's keeping people off their computers, I also think if you don't comment on blogs people don't bother to comment on yours (I'm not talking about you Gina) I don't mean that you have to comment on every post someone makes but now and again it's nice to let people know that your reading their posts. I was explaining this to someone the other day it's good manners I think and also to do a link if you mention someone in a post.
ReplyDeleteWhat Mirriam said! Lol.
ReplyDeleteI have 71 followers but only about 4 or 5 comment regularly but I'm happy when they do. I know I have about 6 real world friends that read but don't comment so that comes back a different way. Everyone is welcome though. :-).
And, as always, I just put on weight looking at you blog! Lol
I love blogging but it has changed even in the 3 years Ive been doing it. I know that more people read mine than ever comment and people do 'comment' via twitter and facebook too. Having said that I dont always comment when I read people's blogs as I don't always know what to say!
ReplyDeleteI love twitter too, not so keen on facebook, but having a smart phone really makes twitter work well as it's so easy and instant.
I'll keep doing both and hope to keep reading your blog for years and years to come :-)
Hi Gina,
ReplyDeleteI've fallen behind with blogging - not just writing but reading them too. I see how productive some people are and I wonder how they seem to have more time than me. I've come to the conclusion that they don't watch TV or spend hours on the Internet. Or practising the guitar, which reminds me ........
Hi Gina,
ReplyDeleteI've fallen behind with blogging - not just writing but reading them too. I see how productive some people are and I wonder how they seem to have more time than me. I've come to the conclusion that they don't watch TV or spend hours on the Internet. Or practising the guitar, which reminds me ........
Even in the 2 1/2 years I've been blogging things have changed hugely. Lately I'm noticing that although traffic to my blog is significantly higher and growing all the while, comment numbers are down, and that was happening before the long summer holidays. There was a time when I could expect 60 comments on every post and now I'm happy if I get 40. (Sorry, that all sounds like bragging, and it's not meant to be at all.) People haven't suddenly gained more free time in their days so I'm assuming that their solution to the demands of multiplying social media is to spread themselves thinner across all the social sites and I think commenting has suffered most.
ReplyDeleteI'm a blogger so my blog is the hub, without it all the tweeting and facebooking and such would seem senseless to me. Maybe I'm an anachronism but I still think blogging is where it's at.
Oh, and another thing I've noticed ... I clicked on a couple of the commenters links here only to land on Google+ pages with no links to their blogs. So that's another reason people aren't getting so many comments!
Mr Sock liked yesterday's post: he thinks he has spotted some new friends. He isn't very interested in banana loaf, or leek and goat's cheese tart but would like more stuffed creatures please.
ReplyDeleteHello Gina,
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!
Blogging has changed but your friends are still here! I am finding it more difficult to write/read/comment at the moment but it is just a phase because I am enjoying having MissM at home and I am making the most of it.
today instead of wondering how you find the energy to do everything, I'm wishing I was having lunch with you!
ReplyDeleteThey say, and I checked one month, that for each commenter, there are 9 silent readers. We see the 1/10 but write to the 10. Life Happens means I'm battling to catch up with the blogs I want to read.
Blog on, we are reading!!
Love the look of that tart. love bloging, it is my way of keeping family and friends informed I dont always comment but I do read lots of blogs.Dont stop!
ReplyDeleteGood evening Gina and welcome back.
ReplyDeleteAlso, congratulations on the response to your open studio times. I continue to be awed by your energy.
Re blogging. I very much like the blogging format. It can be very conversational, quick, illustrated fun, or can also incorporate some quite scholarly information. Some blogs do help to promote the other efforts of their authors; some serve as diaries/journals; some show what fine writers their authors are. Or fine artists or crafts folks.
I think of blogging as opening up a global community. That can be very encouraging as our world grows older and some wish not to embrace the joys available around that globe.
xo
Blogging does seem to have slowed down as it competes with all the othersocial platforms, but I'm happy to keep banging away and I appreciate the others that do too.
ReplyDeleteI'm in total agreement re the blogging Gina, I have a FB account, never used as I think it's too instant and shallow, I only have time to keep up 2 blogs, and reading reciprocal ones I like to follow.
ReplyDeleteLove the look of the home cooking, it's made me hungry and it's only 6.48 am
Oh, yum!
ReplyDeleteWell, I think you got lots of comments today!
I like to blog and to read other bloggers...I want to get to know them through their words and pictures. Other media seem not to have that depth of intimacy. (I think because I was 'out in the bush' that the blogging community I followed became my social contacts.) Blog on!
I always read your blog Gina,I don't use Facebook or twitter. When I first started blogging i used to get loads of comments but these days I often wonder if anyone is reading. However, I used to blog a lot more frequently as I was a stay at home Mum and had lots of time for craft projects.
ReplyDeleteThese days I do a lot less crafting and my blog has become more of a record of family life-not everyone's cup of tea. I enjoy it as it's a great record of Twiglet's development, I love looking back at my old posts.
Keep blogging !!
Twiggy x
I much prefer blogging to FB although I do agree that there is a different audience. I always read and enjoy your blog but have to confess that I'm not always good at commenting.
ReplyDeletemost of us read blogs in a blog reading platform where we have to make a bit more effort to post a comment. I often abandon a comment when I can't read the security letters. We have turned into watchers
ReplyDeleteOoh that food looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteI like Blogging too :)
funny you should say this Gina... I haven't looked at my blog in months. And today I'm drawn back to it. I wonder too if the old blogland pals are still around. I really quite miss the companionship and sometimes the reason to do something new was buried in those lovely responses people would give. I hope you will continue the journey :)
ReplyDeleteFollow you religiously so do want to comment to let you know. I much prefer blogging. The others feel like "throw-away" comments and for the most part, a huge waste of time.
ReplyDeleteI used to comment quite a lot on blogs I enjoyed, but then a blogger wrote a post about how her blog readers weren't real friends. I think she meant she had to not kid herself she had lots of friends because she got lots of blog comments. And though I would never fancy myself the "friend" of someone I've never met, and always try not to gush, I hesitated to post comments anywhere after that.
ReplyDeleteBut even though I rarely "speak", I am a regular reader and always enjoy seeing your work (and your virtual cooking!) - and I don't Facebook or tweet - so please don't give up your blog, Gina!
Christine
GLad you have enough energy to blog after teaching that course! I've recently (well, nearly two years ago now) completed the Diploma and so I'm well aware what a lot of effort goes into teaching it!
ReplyDeleteThat Leek and goat's cheese tart (should that be plural goats apostrophe do you think?) looks delicious. Would you put the recipe up please.
Just catching up on your blog your Missenden Abbey week sounded gret and I am so glad Open Artists went really well and the extra canvases that you made sold. The food as always looks delicious.
ReplyDeletePlease don't stop blogging - I do love reading what you are up to, even if I don't always catch up every day. I am on Facebook, but only so I can catch up with what my extended family are doing - I rarely post anything myself as I like the blogging format better. That tart looks very yummy. Commenting on some blogs these days is very hard when they have those stupid codes enabled which I mostly can't read. Cheers
ReplyDeleteHello! I'm on reading lite over the summer hols and have only just caught up with your posts. Yes, comments are in shorter supply - I have had to re-adjust the way I viewed comment numbers as a marker of quality of post, because it was making me depressed! Now I view my blog as more for me than I did before and that way lack of comments doesn't matter so much. Though of course it is still lovely to get them.
ReplyDelete