Followers

I was so happy when I checked my blog and discovered I had my first follower--my friend and co-author of The Woven Pixel, Alice Schlein. Then this morning I noticed my list of followers had shrunk, and she was no longer there. I felt rejected! Then she sent me an email explaining that by choosing to be a follower, but not having a blogspot blog, she didn't get notification of new posts or anything. However, I put a Subscribe To option below Followers which worked for her. Apparently it sends her emails letting her know when new posts have been made to the blogs she follows. 

Since blogging is new to me, this is all very confusing and I tried to figure things out. I like the idea of getting one email telling me when new posts have been made and went to the google site called Reader, which is where you subscribe to get this list. Much to my surprise, when I went there, I found I already have a subscription. It was automatically generated when I entered the blogs I follow on my blog's "complete profile." I can go to the Dashboard of my blog and by clicking on the name of a blog I follow, see the latest entry. If I click there, it brings me to that site. I don't think I get email notification of new entries but this way works well for me.

I am not sure how I feel about having a list of followers on my blog. It kind of reminds me of junior high school and trying to be one of the popular kids. It seems very Facebook, and I have been resisting doing that for awhile. When I go to the info page about Followers on Google they encourage having it to grow your audience. Again, this doesn't convince me that it is something I want. In any case, for now, I will keep it there. But if in the future it disappears, please don't think that I don't want or appreciate readers, I do, I definitely do! It will just mean I have decided to keep the list private. 

I have appreciated the comments posted to my site so far, very encouraging. I am sure some of you will want to comment about Followers and even Facebook, which does have loyal devotees. Any advice about this feature will be welcome.