I don’t know just how many blogs I follow, or at this point, followed, but it was too many for me to keep up with on a regular basis. Between my WordPress Reader, Feedly, Bloglovin, and the Feedburner digests, my head was spinning.
With my WordPress Reader, I get to decide whether I want to receive posts instantly, daily, or once a week. The only problem is, I don’t get to choose the day of the week. I end up with 70+ blog posts in my inbox every Monday. Feedly and Bloglovin don’t have these options, but their format is a bit different. They are already digest platforms so I guess I could simply take the time to pick and choose the posts I want to read. Then there’s Feedburner. They don’t give you any options. You get an email each time there is a new post.
It’s all just too much.
So, I unfollowed A BUNCH of blogs.
FIRST, one thing you must know, I unfollowed blogs that hadn’t posted anything in the past 3-4 months. They aren’t currently an issue, since they aren’t posting, but in the spirit of keeping things nice and tidy, I figured why keep these around? Outside of those, I still had to unfollow about 50 blogs.
SECONDLY, before you think me a bad person, I have a plan to continue supporting these blogs in my own special way. I’ve been making an effort to leave a comment every time I read a blog. I’ve already made the habit of sharing posts I read on social media, always Twitter, and sometimes Google+ if I remember. Since I’m already going weeks, at times, not visiting some blogs because I’m so overwhelmed, I’ve decided to schedule my blog visits.
I’ve created a spreadsheet with most of the blogs I currently follow. I have a four-week rotation of Monday thru Saturday blog visits. Most blogs, I’ll simply visit once a month, some twice. Even though I won’t be visiting as much, when I do visit, I’ll be commenting, liking, and sharing. On this spreadsheet, I’ve even scheduled days to check my Feedly and Bloglovin feeds. I’ll only be making a point to read the most recent posts and then moving on.
LASTLY, there are some blogs that I thoroughly enjoy to the point that I will read them every day if they post daily. Those blogs will remain as they are. Plus, I’m joining a new blogging group, an opportunity I almost messed up (more on this in a bit) and I want to make sure I have adequate time to participate with it and still keep up with my new writing schedule.
Sooo, back to how I almost messed up an opportunity. There’s a blogger group I really wanted to be a part of. I was supposed to have sent them some information last week after reviewing some of their work… To be honest, I felt inadequate and intimidated after looking over their work. I know their accomplishments should have no reflection on my ability to contribute to the group, but I felt like a small fish in a big pond… In any case, I reached out to them and was honest with them about my actions, stating clearly that I had no good excuse for not sending the requested information sooner. Luckily, they still gave me a chance. 😀
I’ll be making a few changes to this blog soon in the areas of how I format my posts. My post schedule won’t be changing, but it will become more solidified. That’s all I got for today. If you’re up for it, I could really use some support for my Thunderclap.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
8 replies on “Why I unfollowed over 100 blogs?”
I use Feedly rather than getting emails and it allows me to make folders – I have one for blogger buddies and the rest are divided out.
I did unfollow a bunch last weekend, but they were blogs Feedly deemed ‘unreachable’ and hadn’t posted in years.
Glad you didn’t miss that opportunity!
Thanks, Alex. I’m glad too. I’m really happy to be joining their group.
I follow way too many for me to keep up with as well. I have resorted to liking the ones that have that option and posting when I really have something to say back, but I read through them. Sometimes I have to pick and choose which ones I catch and don’t and say some days no visiting so I can focus on trying to get my writing done.
I wish it did not become such a time consuming thing. I so admire all you guys that make so many and I know you because I see you on their blogs ahead of me and you comment. Alex is amazing in what he gets done. WOW that is impressive.
I had to quit beating myself up for not being able to keep up on a daily basis for those that post daily or several times a week. I manage to visit most of the time but don’t always take time to comment. I don’t really consider myself a blogger per say, but I do like doing some so try to be regular at least 2 to 4 times a month or more depending on schedule.
Juneta @ Writer’s Gambit
Yeah, it’s so hard for me to reconcile all this. In the summer when I’m not working, I can do so much, but I finally had to give myself a break and realize that 10 hours of my day is now spent going to to work, working, and then coming home from work. I gotta eat and sleep at some point and should really do writing as well. I did what I had to do. I decided it was more important for me to fully engage on less blogs than phone it on too many to count.
Yeah I have the same problem as well. I’m currently doing the same thing you just did, taking my time and deleting the ones who no longer hold an interest for me and bloggers I have no relationship with at all. I’m not sure though I can be as organized as you with a spreadsheet. I would probably only stick to it for a week.
The spreadsheet isn’t for eveyone, but it works for me. I’ll be putting it into full effect starting in October.
An excellent blog, @Toi Thomas. Time is out most precious resource. We have to use it wisely.
Thank you. I working to control my time better across the board.