I love to blog hop. Whenever I’m drawing a blank on what to write next, which happens often, I’ll read someone’s blog and then just click links to other blogs, jumping from blog to blog. By doing this I stumble upon blogs I would normally never read.
A couple of blogs I read this weekend were totally ripping on Blogger (that’s the blog host I use). I know that a lot of people don’t like Blogger for a variety of reasons, and that’s fine by me. I chose Blogger before I knew there were other choices out there.
But some of these reasons for not liking Blogger were ridiculous. For example, one guy wrote that he hated how all the Blogger templates tend to look the same and were boring. Um, hello? His blog template is white with a red header. How exciting is that? I’ll tell you. It’s not exciting. It’s boring. (If you’re reading this on Facebook, click on “view original post” below to see my template. Otherwise my blog looks just as white and boring!)
Another guy hates to leave comments on Blogger. You know why? It’s too difficult for him to leave his website url. (Most Blogger blogs don’t have my nifty comment form, where you can leave your url.) I like having people visit my blog after I comment on other blogs, and having my website right there in the comment makes this easy. But I know that the only reason this guy leaves comments is so that people will go to his blog…and maybe buy his stuff. All he wants to do is drive more traffic over to his money-making blog. Would I like to earn money by blogging? You betcha! Do I want this guy commenting on my blog? Not particularly.
I’m probably not qualified to be snarky. I’m not a professional blogger, I don’t have many readers, and I don’t have many computer skills. And that leads me to another gripe. Just because I haven’t taken computer classes, don’t know how to write much html, and totally wish I understood how to make my blog more attractive, I’m not an idiot. I just don’t have time to learn more about the technical side of having a blog. I stay at home with two small children. It’s a miracle I have time to go to the bathroom, much less write a blog post.
A lot of “professional bloggers” hate mom blogs. Yes, we write about poop and snot and kids. But guess what? Moms are our target audience. Mom blogs are less about making money and more about being a community.
Don’t let me forget to snark about those blogs that feel like they are more elite than the rest of us, however. These bloggers like to think they are better writers because they have a degree in Ancient French Literature or some such thing. They include obscure, academic references, and if we don’t understand those references, too bad! We are just not intelligent enough to read their blog or to write blogs of our own. But yet they still are “mom blogs” because they post cute kid stories and pictures on their blogs. If they want their blogs to earn money, maybe they shouldn’t dismiss other mom bloggers so easily. Don’t worry…if you are reading my lowly blog, you are not one of those elitist ones…they wouldn’t stoop to read a blog as ordinary as Lemon Drop Pie!
Some of these “elitists” also complain that many bloggers out there think that since they are successful at blogging, they think they can write a book. To me, this is encouraging. Not because I want to write a book; that’s waaaay to much work for me. It is encouraging because as much as I love reading blogs, I enjoy reading books even more. Even with the explosion of blogs, there is still room for books. And there are quite a number of bloggers out there who have published books I would love to get my hands on.
There. I’ve snarked quite enough for one evening.
