Monday, March 02, 2009

Blogging, Following and Being Followed

In the real world being followed is creepy. In the blogosphere and in twitter land, it is apparently an occurrence to be welcomed. I thought a blogroll served the purpose wonderfully - I have a list of blogs I read regularly in my sidebar. The list was by no means exhaustive, but it was where I would start out when I wanted to read blogs.

A few months away from blogging and the landscape changed on me. Now it's not enough to blogroll, you must follow.

I must admit that following is easy. You just click on the 'Follow' button and the blog automatically shows up on a list on your blog. And if the blog being followed chooses to do so, your profile pic shows up in their sidebar, making it easy for them to keep track and read their followers' blogs if they are so inclined.

For weeks I resisted following. I had my list and tweaked it every now and then, adding blogs I'd left out while I changed my template and I saw no reason to change.

Then this past weekend, I went on a bloghopping binge. I threw my sights far and wide and came upon blog after blog that I wanted to read and ... er .... follow. So I clicked away with abandon, feeling like a kid in a candy store. It was so much easier to do it right there, rather than keep track of where I'd been, come back to my blog, and then go through all the steps to add to my blogroll.

So now I have my blogroll, which I fully intend to keep (as of today, anyway) and I have a list of blogs I follow.

If you'd like to follow this blog (and I hope you do!), click away! The box is up on the side bar. Very convenient, eh?*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The weekend bloghopping journey was an eye-opener in more ways than one. A long time ago, my father shared with me a letter that his oldest brother had written to him from Egypt back in the 50s. In that letter, my uncle narrated his experiences and ended with the thought that human nature was the same everywhere, that people are essentially the same no matter where they live.

The stories I read this past weekend bore testimonial to that statement. We, who live in the far corners of the world and are separated not just by distance, but by age, race, culture, upbringing, gender and experiences, are more alike than we can fathom. Of all the posts I read about the anxieties and the joy and pain about being a mother, about aunts and uncles and family dynamics, about being a grandparent, about love and loss, about local communities and about the amazing perspectives we human beings bring to life and its hardships, the two that astounded me were the ones written by two women, one in California, the other in Mumbai. Go read for yourself and be amazed!

* Thank you to all those already in the box!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're right...plenty of attractions in bloggerville...the trick is to play the game without being addicted;) Easy to say, right?

Unknown said...

I'm already a follower, but new to this as well. How we do things, especially on the web, is changing so fast... but at least we can have fun while learning!

JOHN :0)

Choxbox said...

i not only read your blog but also happily 'use' your blogroll!

Anonymous said...

I used to quietly lurk in your blog before i decided to blog myself. You were one of my first choices when i decided to 'add gadgets' which lets you add those blogs you like to follow.
I love your blog and am glad to be a follower :)

Sujatha Bagal said...

@ N'ville Mom, yup! Let me know when you figure it out, please!

@ John, yup! Best wishes for all the changes you're going through.

@ Chox, plunder away!

@ Lak, thank you! It means a lot to me. :)

Anonymous said...

hehe I've come to visit and have added myself to your follower group :)

I prefer using google reader to keep track of blogs, it really is rather useful as it tells you as soon as someone has updated - give it a try!

Frankie Anon said...

I'm so new to blogging that I didn't know anything except following! Thanks for sharing two wonderful writer's voices....it's true, this can quickly be addictive!

Sujatha Bagal said...

@ Chapati, thank you! What a delight! Will give Google Reader a try. *Sigh* :)

@ Frankie, you're welcome! I'm glad you liked them.

Marites said...

We have the same feeling about following blogs and I delayed doing it until recently when I saw some blogs that I'd like to follow:)

Muppet Soul said...

Got to you through Authorblog!

I agree with you - people from all walks of life are connected through this invisible thread that most of us don't take the time to.. meditate? on.

That's usually my defense for being 'brassy' - I'm just like everyone else, I just say it out loud! lol

Anonymous said...

Now you have been spotted by David at authorblog,for an award of Post of the Day, you will be getting many more hits from many of his 600 odd followers. Congratulations, enjoyed your post.

Debbie said...

I came over by way of David as well.
The whole follower thing is confusing, isn't it? But, I love seeing people click that button on my site.

Sandi McBride said...

I never knew how many wonderfully talented people there were in the world. Will I follow you? Of course, I will...
Sandi
ps
congrats on the POTD mention at David's

Eddie Bluelights said...

I'd follow you to the ends of the Earth, my dear. Will read some more of your posts tonight. Come to my place as well and I'll put the kettle on. Now how could you refuse that. Congratulations on POTD from David. Best wishes Eddie

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna follow.

One reason I think travel is so important is because I think it drives home the point that, no matter how much one may want to ignore it, human beings everywhere share the same nature and want the same things.

San said...

I came over from David's. I know what you mean about this following business. I have a blogroll a mile long, then I started noticing that I had a few "followers." So I went to them, and clicked to follow them, etc. I might as well click to follow you now, since I enjoyed this post so. Please come over to my place any time you'd like.

introspection said...

I am over from David's POTD. Glad I came. Following is great, but when I first started on Blogs, I started following my own blog. I have no idea how it happened, but I figured out later how to get out of it.
Your blog is lovely. I
I have just posted 'Festival of coulours - Holi' So if you have the time pls visit.