Just recently I wondered exactly how many of my subscribers did read my posts. Whilst it seems as though I’ve been building a loyal reader base over the last few years, how true is that? Clearly I have no realistic way of finding out if my email subscribers are still opening emails and clicking through to read. Unless I sent them a rather pathetic, lonely message, asking if they still loved me.
What I could do (and did), is check if my WordPress subscribers still exist. That is, whether they still use their blogs or not. If they don’t, then they are unlikely to be checking back here to see if I’m still alive. I also left a few comments, to see if any reciprocate.
What I found is that 22% of subscriber blogs no longer exist and 46% have no posts within the last month, with many showing much longer breaks in publishing posts. I guess that this is hardly surprising, given the expected rate of attrition for new blogs. Most last less than a few months.
Of course, the cream always rises to the top. I’m pleased to note that some of my oldest subscribers have successful blogs that are still going. Step forward The Insanity Aquarium, Love Versus Goliath and Pie and Biscuits. I hope they live long and prosper.
I think that part of the reason for bloggers, and subscribers, to lose interest, is that WordPress does little to enable effective promotion of their hosted blogs. Especially since they deleted the Off Topic forum that gave bloggers a voice and linked the community. Social media is by its nature, something that needs social interaction for sustenance.
What keeps me going, albeit with less frequent posts these days, are the occasional comments that I still receive, and the fact that if I allowed the blog to die, it wouldn’t seem just, given that I’ve spent time writing hundreds of posts so far. Lack of new content will drive readers away and make it less likely that they will read older posts.
This brings me to a new platform that I recently became aware of. Glipho enables bloggers who have grown tired of the older formats to upload their blogs’ content to a more current platform; one that gives everyone a simple tool to air their views and which publishes every post to its homepage, for all the world to see, similar to the much-coveted Freshly Pressed page of WordPress. It’s a new take on blogging, provides our content with a new audience that can grow quickly, and deserves to be a massive success. So now I have two blogs, although the WordPress-hosted site will probably always be my primary concern.
So Glipho has given me a renewed boost which has encouraged me to go on writing, when I feel the inspiration. And for that I am grateful. Any regular readers out there who don’t normally leave a comment, why not leave a short one just now? Just to show you care.
This Little Thing Called Life 
Hi Stewie, I’ve had the same problem and I hate bleeding into the void with all my feelings and emotions and having nothing come back. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is an intellectual condition. Egos and intellects don’t know how to dance and sing and share feelings. Anyway I spend a lot of time on playstation 3 now and the give and take is amazing. Good luck, dude
Ah but you write so well, the Playstation’s gain is our loss. Thanks for the comment.
I’ve only recently discovered this blog, with a colleague forwarding me the link for the workplace annoyances post. I’ve read many of the posts since and had a genuine ‘LOL’ at many of them.
Glad you’ve enjoyed the posts Kev, many thanks! And I see you’ve followed me on Twitter. I am more active on that than anything else these days.
I thought you were the one who had gone away – haven’t seen you about for ages!
Just been a little busy! I see you’re still going. Good to see.
Great post. Following you on Glipho!
Thanks Ted. I’ll check out your Glipho site.
Thanks for the shoutout Stevie. I do TRY to drop by more often, but with a husband, 4 kids, a job, the blog and the book, I am struggling to find time to sleep! So I appreciate your loyalty!
It was a long weekend here this weekend and I actually managed to read two books – the first books I have read since 2010!!
Thanks, but you’ve forgotten my name?! 😉 I’m really chuffed for you on your success, it’s really inspirational and a just reward for all your hard work.
I have NO idea how I typed “Stevie” I certainly was thinking Stewie! I have not forgotten your name, damn you! LOL
I had to look at my comment to see what you were on about!
Have you read the book? The Book Depository has the paperback (with worldwide free delivery) and a million and one places have the e-book.
I haven’t read it yet. There’s a but of a sharp price difference between the e-book and paperback! £5-£18. I do intend to read it though.
Costs a lot to print in colour. Different paper etc. Sorry. 😦
And I agree about the Off Topic forum – killing that was a mistake in my view.
Eep, I was just going to come over and wave and yell I STILL LOVE YOU into your face, and then I saw you’ve included a link to my blog and now I’m rolling all over the floor with glee.
You were the first blog I subscribed to, following the generic WordPress blog. I am also very pleased you are still alive. We will eventually rule WP together, I guarantee. That, or a llama park.
Aw, thanks Anna, I know I can rely on you!
This is a super, super late, late response Stewie. Of course I love you and thank you so much for the link to my blog. That was totally unexpected. I spend way too much time on Twitter these days. That’s not the only reason I’ve found it difficult to keep my blog up to date this past year or so, but it’s a good (bad?) one.
I think we’re all doing well if we’ve gone on for longer than many who burn out after a few months. I made a promise I’ll do much better and take more care of my blog in 2014, so watch this space. I’ll have a look at Glipho as well to see if it’ll suit me. I agree with you that removing the Off Topic forum was a big mistake for WordPress. Huge.
You’re welcome and thanks for the vote of confidence!