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As I mentioned on the 28th, the main reason I signed up for the Challenge was because I had designed a project just for X. Probably not the best reason. But as I write a post just about every day anyway (not Saturdays, but adding one more blogging day a week is not that big of a leap), it wasn't like the blogging part challenged me.
It was the visiting other blogs that was hard.
Well, not hard. Time consuming. And this April was busier for me than usual, so getting around to the blogs was the challenge.
I did it, though. I did not visit five new blogs a day. I made sure to comment on an average of five new blogs a day. Why the distinction? There were a couple days where I commented on seven or eight blogs to make up for the days when I wasn't able to make the visits.
So, on balance I succeeded.
I did fail at a couple visit backs early in the month. In my defense, I couldn't find them. The bloggers didn't leave a link in their comments, and the link in their name led back to their profile (where their blogs weren't listed or there were too many blogs listed for me to figure out which one to visit) or their Google + page (which didn't necessarily list which blog was theirs if it was open to a non follower).
I say "early in the month" as after the first few days, the only new commenters I saw were commenting back after I had visited them first. So, I guess that is my main complaint. But I might not have been getting many comments due to the content of my blog. Which is on me.
I am grateful to all the new-to-me bloggers that did visit me back and leave comments. I stumbled across some great blogs. Which is the whole point, isn't it?
How was your April?
Busy and whirlwind :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with the points you made; it was frustrating if people didn't leave a link to their blog (which I often didn't, but then it was easy to find me through my profile and I hid my other blog during the month of April so people would only see one blog of mine listed. That was another frustrating thing, clicking on someone's profile and seeing three or four blogs listed and trying to figure out which blog was part of the challenge).
I was pretty good checking out about 5 blogs a day too; what I would do was if I was on your blog leaving a comment, I saw who had also left a comment and if it was someone I wasn't familiar with, I'd go and visit their blog and leave a comment, and then check out someone who had left a comment on their's (see where I'm going) and checked out new blogs that way. I tried to check out the main list with all the blogs listed but that didn't work as well as the method I described above.
Glad we found each other through the challenge!
betty
It was almost like a game sometimes. "Find the blog." They'd comment with no link, so you'd click over to the link the system provided--Google Plus. Then the game began. There were more than a few times I never figured out where the person's blog was. I did figure out to put my own link on my comment just in case!
ReplyDeleteYep, that's exactly how it went. Which is why I started using my link all the time.
DeleteI love that X scarf. I always end up thinking that X is the hardest letter, so if I had a theme with an X topic that excited me, I'd participate for that reason alone, too.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on surviving another go-around.
Some people do make it difficult to find their blog. I think it stems from a lack of computer knowledge than anything else.
ReplyDeleteI am glad I've come to know you through this blog challenge.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't visit as many as five new blogs a day, though I tried to do my best.
Everyone did the best they could, I expect. Congrats for making it through.
DeleteYou have an interesting blog. I like that you always respond to comments. I did do a lot of visiting. I went through the sign up list. Then I found new blogs by visiting the bloggers who left a comment on my blog. I also would check out the commenters on other blogs.
ReplyDeleteHello! Getting around to so many blogs is exhausting, totally exhausting. When I was passing the computer, I would pop in for a few posts. Checking back on the comments' sites after they had written a comment on your is politeness. It is something learned over the past few years.
ReplyDeleteI'm a retired teacher and a quilter. It is always fulfilling to meet someone else from Southern CA (San Diego) and who shares many of the same interests.
Yes, it is exhausting. And it's nice to meet someone from this part of the world, too.
DeleteI love that you thought up something a year in advance and did it just for the Challenge. You are officially the queen of planning ahead.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or does Google+ seem designed to keep out non-users? I had such a hard time finding some people's blogs...
agree with you liz, and am glad to connect with you, thanks for being the first to comment always, do appreciate you !
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteI didn't participate, and I still didn't get to visit nearly as many A to Z blogs as I wanted. There are so many participants! I think it would be great if there were a way to list themes along with participating URLs. Although, that might make choosing which blogs to visit even more of a challenge.
ReplyDeleteIt is frustrating when bloggers make it so difficult to pay a return visit, especially when there are so many participants and so little time.
VR Barkowski
It was fun but there were a couple of people i could not visit due to the google page and I couldn't find them. I felt bad as I wanted to comment. I hope mine is not like that as I have a regular blog but have no idea how to add what you added. Someone tried to explain to me how to do that but did not understand at all. I think i am a visual person and someone has to show me as I do it
ReplyDeleteI still love your reason for joining - best random reason ever. :-)
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing about averaging five a day. Sometimes I'd have several days in a row I couldn't visit any, but then I'd do a marathon of visits when I could carve out the time.
Just went back to read your X - love the scarf! I fell short in my visits. Personal mom hospital stuff, but I tried. I fear I am one of the people that are hard to visit - I'm so new at this (publicly, at least) so I may have set things up all wrong. But I am so proud to have finished. My X, by the way, was Xerox Machine
ReplyDeleteWe all had a bit of a learning curve in the beginning. Your Google + About page had your blog on it, which made it easier to find you. Some bloggers didn't do even that.
DeleteYes the visiting blogs and commenting and responding to comments and following the links from a to z that often lead nowhere makes it a very exhausting month. But somehow it's all worth it.
ReplyDeleteTrue.
Deletenot everyone gets that you should visit to get visits, and it's courteous to visit back - i think you did a great job! it is definitely time-consuming. we need to go in and do our best and not expect much in return, because that's how life is. finding those gem blogs is the reason - i always find great new bloggers to connect with! way to make it thru the challenge!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think some bloggers want followers rather than blogging buddies. Ah well. From comments back we learn who we can connect with versus who we won't.
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
It was great to see your comments (still is) on the 'Wicked Writer' blog. Can I say, I love your blog subject, as having been a student in regular school and uni, I love hearing from the other end. It's an excellent blog and I do promise to get back more often. keep up the good work. - a fan!
ReplyDeleteI had trouble with a few visit-backs as well. Just had to give up, so too bad (one was even a new follower). Enjoyed your a-z a lot, Liz!
ReplyDeleteThanks.
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