Blogging // Engagement

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Blogging // Reader Engagement

Hey gang! Coming at you today to pick your big beautiful brains about a few things. I’ve been thinking lots lately about blogging and engagement with blog readers and what that looks like. I’d love to know your thoughts on the matter, whether you’re a blog reader or a blogger yourself.

Even in the few short years that I’ve been in the blogging game, I’ve seen engagement style change over and over again. It seems to go through cycles — sometimes there’s lots of action on the blog, with great comments and people really wanting to have conversations there. Sometimes that dies out and the engagement is on social media. These days Instagram is an awesome place for engaging with readers and other bloggers. Twitter and Facebook have both always been spotty for me; it comes and goes.

So my question for you is this: how do you like to engage, whether you’re a reader or a blogger? Do you prefer to comment on blogs? Or maybe you would rather just communicate via social media. And if it is on social media, do you show your support with ‘likes’ and ‘follows,’ or do you actually like to start conversations?

And speaking of social media, what’s your fave? I know for me there are some that I love and find totally energizing and exciting, and some that I just. can’t. stand. What about you? Do you have favorites or certain platforms that just make you crazy?

There are so many questions! I’d love to know your thoughts on any or all of it, so let’s talk it out. Part of me wants to know so that I can make things better for you lovelies with regards to how we communicate, and part of me is just interested because I find this stuff fascinating. We live in the future, you guys. Leave a comment and let’s hash it out! xoxo

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25 Comments

  1. As a blog reader and blogger myself, I love to see a mix of social engagement and comments on posts. My favorite way to communicate with and engage the blogs I love is through comments and on Twitter, just because I feel they’re more personal and an easy way to reach out.

    I look for the same on my own blog –a healthy mix of comments and social engagement. It kind of worries me when my stats are booming, but engagement is obviously down. It makes it difficult to figure out a way to balance the equation of getting eyes on the content and then making those viewers engage with the content.

    This comment is way longer than expected, but I’m really glad you brought this up!

    1. Thanks so much for your input, Amber! And I totally agree about big stats and low engagement — it always makes me try to up my game and figure out what people want to talk about + how. So interesting!

  2. I personally prefer blog comments over social media because sometime social media can just get exhausting and draining. Though I do really like Instagram because it’s visual and not extremely time consuming.

  3. I’m a blog commenter; I follow along on bloglovin’ and if something sparks my interest or I just plain out love, I feel inclined to tell someone. They (you) worked hard to present something stimulating/fun/pretty and should know someone out there digs it.

    Instagram is great, but more just for likes, I rarely leave comments. And I like twitter to find out more about the person behind the blog; if it just becomes a site where the blogger posts a link to their blog, I unfollow.

    1. So interesting, Allison! Thanks for your perspective. You inspired me to look closer at how I’m using Twitter, too! 😉

  4. I like conversations on blog comments yet steer away from them on social media. I’m the one on Instagram that shows support with likes and the odd comment. Frick, I love Instagram. And Facebook makes me want to blow my brains out.

  5. i absolutely believe in reader engagement in all media worlds, but i do understand why so many people prefer social media, you can tag eachother and even the blogger you love so much in a specific post, image or even coment! that makes things so much easier!… i find that leaving a comment on a blog, though lots of bloggers respond, as do i, i have click on “let me know when they do” and that somehow feels “old ” as if now we are somehow so much faster than getting an email to confirm something and then receive notifications through email… not sure i’m explaining myself well enough, but hopefully yes lol

  6. I prefer commenting on Instagram. Main reason, it tells you if you are getting a reply. I don’t usually go back to a blog once I’ve read it and commented to see if I got a reply. Instagram is just easier and more accessible throughout the day. I do have to say though, I can see how social media can get overwhelming. Mostly because there are suddenly too many options. Snap Chat is never going to happen for me, it’s not intuitive to use. Now there’s Periscope too. It’s too much. Twitter and Instagram are enough for me.

  7. I love commenting on other peoples blogs and having conversations there. But I find its usually only other bloggers commenting on blogs. So I find it a nice way t o engage with fellow bloggers but I find that people who aren’t bloggers like to engage via social media, mostly instagram. Which I love and is fine, and I think it makes it super easy to communicate back and forth on Instagram so that’s fine. I know everyone is going toward snapchat right now, but I just really don’t want to go to Snapchat. I really don’t even know what it is but I just don’t think I like it haha.

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.com

  8. I prefer to engage through direct comments via the blogs that I visit. I feel that blogs are more personal and there is a greater sense of connection. Besides I’m not going to read through hundreds of social media comments, but I will take the time to read through 20 comments from a blog that I adore. I only do Instagram and can’t stand Twitter or (ugh!) Facebook. I love foodgramming and the fact that with Instagram people usually have something meaningful & substantial to share. I don’t have time to dissect mystery posts about someone’s feelings or care about the minute by minute sportscast of their entire life!

  9. I love instagram! I do leave comments on blog posts, but don’t usually go back to see if there is a response, so I don’t think it’s the best for conversation.

  10. As a blog reader and recently a blogger, I really love using all kinda of social media and posting on blogposts too. I find that everyone has different preferences and some places I find it is easier to interact with people. For example Twitter is very easy as many people have this as an application on their phone. However, it is also lovely to get feedback on your blogpost too. I think it varies and it is always good to have a healthy mixture.

    On a side note I have nominated you for the liebster award- if you’re not interested that is fine but I just love how bright and colourful your blog is, it is just so inviting! 🙂

    xxx

  11. I love reading your blog, but don’t aways leave a comment. Can you blog and Instagram the same things? (I’m not that savvy about Instagram yet.) Or post a blog on Facebook once or twice a month as well as here?

  12. So I’m obviously a blogger but thinking from the reader perspective – I’m only going to comment if it’s something that really touches me or is out of the ordinary. For me, pinning is an easier and my preferred way to generally “thank” the blogger for an awesome project . . . but comments are like saying “I love you” to me (I reserve for special occasions).

    As a blogger, I don’t mind if people comment or not. If they have something to say that is kind or constructive, I’m happy to let them get it off of their chest. If I get no comments on a post, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. My blog has gone through comment cycles like you are describing.

    Right now my best engagement is in a Mod Podge Facebook group (not my page) that has about 8,000 members. People are posting their Mod Podge projects regularly and there are hundreds of comments per hour. It’s crazy and I love it! It’s a great place to go if I want to jump in the conversation.

    Instagram I don’t really use for my blog but instead it’s more personal – I get comments there but I’m not really trying to make it look stylish and I rarely post crafty stuff honestly. But I do like engaging there on a more personal level!

    1. So fascinating, Amy! I always love to know where engagement is for different bloggers. And I LOVE that the Mod Podge FB group is so active. I feel like that’s such a gratifying part of being a blogger — encouraging people to create and then getting to see and interact with the results. So cool. Thanks for the insight. xo