How Do You Connect with the Blogging Community?

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

With almost four years of blogging under my belt now, I can safely say that connecting with readers from all around the world is one of the best perks about being a blogger. Being able to meet readers who have a passion for reading, even if it’s not for the same genres, has been an eye-opening and thrilling adventure that never stopped to amaze me.

To this day, it remains one of the most exciting thing about reviewing books: to speak with curious minds who want to know more about what you’ve got to say and vice-versa.

However, the art of connecting with bloggers is a complicated one that has brought countless people to adopt various strategies to stay up to date with everyone while exchanging with them on their own posts.

And that includes myself.

So, what strategies have I attempted in the past to stay connected with bloggers?

WordPress Reader

One of the easiest ways to hop from one blog to another and connect with everyone is to use the integrated WordPress Reader function for those who have a WordPress blog. By following people that have caught your attention or who share similar tastes and even personalities, this function allows you to check out the latest content from everyone and scroll through everything until you’re up to date.

While this worked wonders back in the day, it slowly became chaotic when I got around to following a lot of people. Nowadays, I only check it when I have a lot of time in my hands—which is pretty rare—to see what’s up with bloggers I don’t hear a lot from.

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Browser Bookmarking

Over time I had started to bond with many bloggers. I learned a lot about everyone and started to feel like they were all good friends of mine that genuinely had an interest in what I had to say, whether my content was their cup of tea or not.

I also started to have a little too many of them and I needed a faster way to check out what they were publishing as well. That’s when I started during the Internet browser’s bookmarking feature (or favourite’ing). This is where I’d have a folder with bloggers that I’d regularly visit and check out all the posts they have published since my last visit. While time-consuming, I stuck with it for a while and found it efficient to some extent, until I started to struggle in time-management with this strategy.

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Email

A bit later, WordPress made an impressive update to their website and made the notification system much easier to use and that’s when I decided to test the whole email notifications option. With this strategy, I was able to receive emails whenever specific bloggers for which I turned on the option published a post and I created a rule in my email to redirect them in a folder. I found this strategy pretty good at that time since I was sure to check my emails often and would always be up to date with everyone. But if you decide to go on a hiatus, you might easily be overwhelmed by the insane number of posts that you might have missed out on. That’s when I realized this wouldn’t work too well for me. I needed to adopt a different strategy.

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Current methodology

With time being so precious nowadays… Actually, it always has… I’ve decided that the best way for me to be efficient, that is, to read, to review and to interact with everyone, is to adopt new rules to prioritize before expanding my reach. And what do I mean?

After the insane number of interactions I’ve been able to have with bloggers over the past years, with some disappearing and others appearing out the blue, I’ve decided that my priority system would be comment-based. Every person that leaves something on any post of mine would be queued on a list and when time allows me to do so, I’d go through that list and update myself on their latest posts. To make the list, I use a Google Chrome extension called One Tab that allows me to save a bunch of tabs for later without having them all open at all times. Once I finish going through that list, I take them off it and wait till my next posts to create my list of bloggers-to-visit.

Within this system, I also hold a special V.I.P. spot for a couple of bloggers. With these bloggers, I simply never miss any of their posts, even if it means binging through 30 posts because I couldn’t find any free time to blog hop in the past days. I tend to keep this list up to date and add/remove over time depending on the amount of reciprocated interaction.

With this method, I find that I get to not only visit the bloggers I have come to know over the years, but to also discover new bloggers who take the time to check out my content and to drop a comment on it.

I also tell myself that if I find time, I’ll also hunt for new bloggers if I’m done blog hopping those who are prioritized.

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I’ve heard people use other strategies to hop around from one blog to another, but I never really looked into it. Some use particular websites to follow people from different blogs and use that instead of the WordPress Reader, for example. I also feel like some people don’t particularly like the whole blog hopping game and use other platforms to interact with bloggers (like Twitter or Instagram).

I think it all comes down to how much time you want and can give to blog hopping. There are some particular people that really surprise me in their ability to be everywhere in the community and that’s why I’d love to find out how you do it to stay connected with the blogging community?

What’s your preferred method to blog hop? 😁

Until next time,

lashaansignature

INSTAGRAM – FACEBOOK – GOODREADS – TWITTER

Published by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Reader. Reviewer. Researcher. Criminology Ph.D. Candidate. Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Want to know more? Connect with him!

107 thoughts on “How Do You Connect with the Blogging Community?”

  1. Awesome post, Lashaan😁 I am one of those hoppers who loves the email approach. I subscribe to a lot of blogs, but I know when they have a new post up and can check it out. Of course, this can be overwhelming at times, especially during the week while I’m at work. I simply cannot visit blogs between 8 and 5, so I have to try to catch up later. And yes, I do miss posts at times. But I can tell you for a fact, visiting and leaving comments on other blogs does wonders for my stats and followers, so you do have to blog hop if you want people to interact with you on your own blog.

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    1. Thanks, Tammy! I really did enjoy the email approach and I still let them accumulate in my folder, but there are days where I just can’t blog hop or answer comments, making near impossible to catch up too. But I totally agree! Visiting others and leaving comments is the way to go if the blogger seeks to have a bunch of interactions! It’s why I hold dear every little interaction with everyone. 😛

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  2. This was really helpful. In my case, your strategy wouldn’t really work because only one or two people comment on my posts and those are my friends and I already read their blogs. I think until I get better and more often interactions what I’ll do is the email strategy because WordPress reader can get really confusing and mostly focuses on blogs with big followings when I want to focus on supporting small blogs. In the future—hopefully—if I get more interactions I’ll probably do the same thing you do.

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    1. Ah, but if you are able to maintain a healthy blog hopping relationship with your friends, then to expand, you simply need to go out and explore blogs during your free time and leave interesting comments to bond over. It’s once you have a lot of bloggers you want to follow that you’ll have to adopt a new strategy! I’m glad this got you to think about the whole process though! Thanks for reading! 😀

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      1. I am trying to. I’m constantly looking for other smalls bloggers but I also need to work on my blogging. I keep letting my life and mental health get in the way and I want to post weekly.

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  3. At the moment, I’m using the WordPress reader, but I think I’m going to need to find a new approach because I am finding more and more blogs that aren’t on WordPress that I want to keep up with. I may begin employing a bookmarking process for some VIP bloggers and try to keep up with people’s posts more consistently. It’s a work in progress, for sure, but I’ll get there!

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    1. I discovered that there is a way to manually add non-Wordpress blogs onto your WordPress Reader through the “manage” button next to “followed sites”! But there are in fact some sweet sites that help you manage this issue even more efficiently, like Feedly. I still need to test it out to be sure of how great it is, but it might be an option worth exploring! 😮 But I do like the bookmarking process, especially if you can keep it all tidy! Hopefully, you’ll find a method that works for you. 😀 Thank you for reading!

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  4. I really like hearing about other people’s methods/ habits of blogging. I like the idea of creating tabs, especially since, like you, I follow so many.
    For me, if a post or book sparks my interest, I definitely say a couple words. Bloggers are so talented at coming up with some very interesting and inventive topics related to books, blogging, or just life in general. It’s such an enriching community.
    Great topic today!

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    1. Yep, I found myself with millions of tabs once and it got too hectic for me. Having that extension helps organize things better and to take things at my own pace too. I do like the idea of visiting followers based on what they read and reviewed, but I have too little time to give to do much of that. It’s why I had to prioritize and am currently sticking with my current strategy. I’m sure it’ll continue to evolve over time though.

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  6. First, that keyboard has the “Y” and “Z” keys switched. Any ideas why?

    This was great! I loved seeing how your methodology changed as you and your circumstances changed.

    For me, I have to concentrate on one platform to be social on, which is wordpress. I cross review at blogspot and librarything, but I focus on WP. I also use the WP feed, as I’ve found it can handle non-WP blogs. Heck, I even follow my cousin who is on GR. Now, since I know exactly what you mean about the wp feed getting out of control, I only follow around 50 people. My rules are that they have to post at LEAST once a month and if they don’t, must notify their followers that they’re going to be gone. If they don’t do either of those, I stop following. Just like there are always more books to read, there are always more bloggers to follow and I’m not going to chase people down.

    And that is why I’ll never become a huge blogging sensation. Plus, my wishy-washy, has no opinion on anything, be everyone’s friend approach to life really turns a lot of people off 😉 My goal with my blog is to have solid people that I follow (I don’t follow someone and expect them to follow me back) and people I can have some good back and forth with on my blog. I’ll take 20 likes, 40 views and 50 comments over 100 likes with 2 comments any day.

    I do know there is a site called Bloglovin.com that is an aggregate collector of any blog and you build your own list of blogs. I tried it but the focus was very picture/social media heavy that I immediately went back to the WP feed. Here’s what my page looks like:
    https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/bookstooges-reviews-on-road-14939757

    I don’t like that style at all, so I was never hooked.

    The other thing is knowing your limits and abilities and realizing that some other people simply can do more than you. I know she won’t mind, so I’ll mention Mogsy. I see her everywhere whenever I’m searching for new blogs to follow. I also know that I simply couldn’t do that, so I don’t try or let it weigh me down.

    To wrap this monster up, once again, great post! I hope you can keep on adapting your blogging wants with your needs and your circumstances. But please, don’t go overboard and burn out.

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    1. I believe the switched keys is because it’s a german keyboard and that’s how they usually are for them (with specific keys allowing weird characters to the right.

      I was always curious about how everyone blog hopped considering that some were able to be absolutely everywhere all the time while still publishing often and reading a lot as well! It’s definitely nice to hear everyone share their own way of doing this. Glad to share this one with everyone.

      I’ve always found your “once a month” publishing rule pretty tolerant and a nice way to move on if needed too. I personally put 95% of my attention on WordPress since it’s where I publish my thoughts. It’s also why I’ll never be able to grow on the other platforms since I’m barely as active as someone who strives on those (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.).

      I totally approve on the 100 likes and 2 comments being less appealing than “considerate and thoughtful back and forths” with few likes and views. I’ve come to embrace that even more with my increase of comic book reviews since I know that those posts in particular won’t interest most of the community, but at least those who do drop a thought on them do it out of interest/curiosity too!

      I’ve tried Bloglovin a couple of years back but it didn’t want to connect with the blog for some reason. I’m not sure if it’s worth trying out now. I do hear Feedly seems to be the best alternative as a aggregate collector though. Definitely considering exploring that.

      I like your example of Mogsy, because that’s so true. I’d also put Orangutan in there. I don’t know how she do it, but she’s a Goddess when it comes to blogging. Her posts ALWAYS gets over 100 likes, over 200 comments, probably over a gazillion views monthly and she’s EVERYWHERE (on other blogs) too! Not to mention that she reads 100x more than I do in shorter periods of time. While I’ll never be able to achieve that, I do consider that as “goalz”.

      And you’re definitely right. Got to be considerate on how much time I can/should/want to put into blog hopping as well as every other part of blogging (reading, reviewing, etc.).

      Thanks for reading and for sharing, good sir! 🙂

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      1. Thanks for the info about the typewriter. I never would have known that.

        You’re welcome. I’m always glad to open my mouth and blab away on a subject that interests me. I’ll probably go read the other comments now, as I tend to skip reading comments by others until I’ve at least posted my own.

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      2. I have no idea how or why you even spotted that subtle keyboard change too. We both learned something new thanks to that picture.

        And that’s a cool strategy. It avoids being biased by what others say, or to not say something because someone else might have said it too. 😮

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      3. I saw it because your theme makes the picture super huge at the top of the page. It was literally staring me in the face. I doubt you’d notice it if you hadn’t seen it for the first time on your own page.

        Yeah, I had to adopt that strategy whenever I go to places that have more than 5 other commentors. I just bull my way in 😉

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  7. Excellent post matey! I don’t know the current number of blogs I follow but it is somewhere around 250. So I use the email approach. My blog email is usually hopping. I try to read all of the posts except for the ones where I know I don’t want to read the book because I have read a review for it on another blog. It can get crazy. I currently have a backlog of 266 posts to read because of the plethora of new years related ones. But I love best lists, goals, and such so I know I still want to read them all. I hope to get caught up by the end of this month. Arrr!
    x The Captain

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    1. Thank you, good Captain! I do remember you mentioning that a while back too. The backlog is insane and it sometimes can be quite overwhelming, which I hope is not the case for you. I feel like people should definitely consider strategies to manage their blog hopping so that it doesn’t eat up too much of their time to read or publish things on their blog as well! Thanks for passing by my island, Captain! 🙂

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  8. It was tricky for me to keep up. I rely on WordPress Reader, but I also have an Excel file where I list all the blogs whose posts I don’t want to miss. Am thinking to start using Bookmarks instead, now that you mentioned it. I think that approach might be even easier for me. Thanks man!

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    1. Ohhh I think a solid bookmarking folder organization would help you out a lot too. With various ways to do it (a simple folder for all those blogs or even different categories according to their priority). I think the WordPress Reader is really my last option and only to reach out to people I usually don’t interact much with though. But as long as everyone finds a way that works well with their schedule, life’s goooood! 😀

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      1. I like that it’s a separate app from wp so I can also follow blogspot sites. And the presentation is clean and easy on the eyes, like how my Gmail is laid out, and I like that it’s very much like Google Reader visually. I know you’ve never used it, but you can probably look up Google Reader layout and see some screenshots to see what I mean 😀

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      4. Oh darn it, I wasn’t finished my thought before my finger slipped and the app published my comment. As I was saying, I would prefer having no notifications, which is why I avoid email subscription methods. I can check my feedly page everyday by myself, thanks 🙂 I do however use WordPress app to see if I’ve gotten reply to comments, and to reply. As I am doing now 🙂

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  10. Great Post Lashaan!
    Whenever I get time I just keep scrolling my WordPress reader to read more amazing blog post by our fellow bloggers or else I’ll always check out the bloggers who have took out time to read and comment on my blog post. It worked for me a lot to meet and interact with more bloggers nowadays. After all, I believe blogging is all about supporting each other and spread happiness with words 🙂 Congratulations for completing 4 years of blogging

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    1. Thanks Ayushi! That’s definitely a good way to start off the whole blog hopping game. It’s when you take a break (voluntarily or not) that things become much more complicated I find. But interaction is definitely a key component to having a good time in the blogging world! I’m glad you’ve got to meet new people and that I got to meet you too! 😀

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  11. Interesting. I have only recently started to comment on blogs and I am still trying to figure it all out. My blog is less than a year old and not WordPress. This makes me sort of an outsider and I get hardly any comments, nor is there a “like” button! However, I am trying to reach out to other bloggers and am curious of how others are doing it. Time of course is always an issue. When I have more it, I will try to check out the One tab….see if that makes it easier.

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    1. Ahhh, I personally think it’s hardest for those that don’t have WordPress to get a lot of interaction since commenting requires more effort (like on your blog, we have to sign in using an account or put in our information and all). The best way to increase interactions is to interact however and over time you’ll grow bonds with people who would love to read what you have to say and have you drop by their own stuff as well. I like how One Tab always saves the tabs (blogs in my case) and I can check them out whenever I have time. And everytime you click on the link, it’ll take it off the One Tab page, making it even more convenient to go through that “list of blogs”! 😀 Hope you’ll get to connect with more bloggers over the next months, Scarlett! 😀

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  12. I don’t like the email approach as I get overwhelmed. On the reader, I miss out on most bloggers.. Now wp app gives me notifications.. So I can check it out… But it is every hour, there are 50 notifications Hahaha… 😂 I blog hop frequently, I comment on posts I find interesting. Shorter the posts, better it is as I understand faster. Posts longer than the book itself would be skim read. But I keep abreast of most blogs… And I read the post pretty fast to know if it interests me

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    1. Ahhh, I totally understand. It’s why I never got satisfied with JUST the email approach or the Reader. I had to mix things up or find new strategies. Shorter posts are indeed faster to go through too! I’m glad to hear that the format of the posts and their content influences your decision to read or not read a post. Definitely interesting! 😀

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  13. Thank you for sharing that One Tab tip! Love this post by the way. It shows how much you value your interaction with your readers and fellow bloggers.
    My preferred method is pretty straightforward. Those who like and comment on mine I try to give the love back more often than not. ^^ But I also have those fave bloggers who I binge read. And then posts like these where I just have to comment and connect.
    (appearing out of the blue is me)

    Great post! 😊

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    1. I’m glad to introduce it to you then! 😀 There might be other variants of it, but One Tab is the one I ended up using hahah Ahhh you’re too kind! I do indeed value those interactions, even the more spontaneous ones like yours! 😉 They are what keeps me going in my blogging habits and whatnot! 😀 Pretty glad to hear that we have the comment-back philosophy in our strategies. I think it’s definitely the “minimum” that can be done in a world where time is so precious. Got to share some love! 😀

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  14. That’s a pretty good way of getting to know more bloggers and so far I have only been using the WordPress reader and bookstagram, there are a few blogs that I follow that are not on WordPress. Those I have saved as bookmarks. There’s always the option for the email subscription but I tend to forget to do that. 🤷

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    1. There’s actually a way in the WordPress Reader to add the non-WordPress blogs! 😮 It might be worth checking out to help you out even more, but bookmarking your favourite blogs is definitely a nice strategy to have. I only attempted the email subscription method in 2018 and enjoyed it momentarily, until things got hectic. Hopefully, if you do try it, it’ll go much better for you! 😀

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    1. Thanks Nicki! Yep, I really did have to adapt for the years so that I could visit more/everyone out there. Probably not everyone as it has become almost impossible now. Did you know there’s actually a way to add non-WP blogs onto the WP Reader? 😀 Worth checking out. 😉 I’m also on those platforms, but minimaly present compared to WordPress hahah Blog hopping, reviewing and reading alone takes already so much of my time! 😮

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  16. I’ve tried several methods to interact with my fellow bloggers as well, much like you, some worked, but as follower numbers grew it gets a bit overwhelming to keep up with everything. So I focus on about a dozen or so blogs I’ve followed and enjoyed since I started. But I still check out the wordpress reader from time to time to see if something catches my eye. I also mostly interact via commenting on other blogs and answering comments on my blog. I love a post were it gets very interactive and lots of views are expressed. Its all good fun 🙂

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    1. I totally understand. It can get quite hectic and it’s a bit saddening when we get to that point since we’d definitely love to be everywhere at the same time too. I do love posts that gets everyone to interact/react. So much to learn from everyone’s point of view of things! 😀

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  19. This is such an interesting post, Lashaan, I loved reading it! ❤ I'm using the WordPress Reader method to blog-hop, as well as the comment back philosophy and do my very best to check out the people that have taken some time to leave a comment on my blog, too. Just like you, I have in my mind a list always of bloggers I've known for a while and adore and these are the ones I'll never miss a post from, or at least will do my very best not to and to check up on them whenever I'm a little overwhelmed with the rest of it all haha 🙂
    Wonderful post! ❤ ❤

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    1. Thank you, Marie! 😀 I think having the comment-back philosophy definitely helps build new bonds as well! Considering that my content isn’t YA 99% of the time, I feel like I just have to show some love to those who take the time to read my stuff and to let me know what they thought! 😀

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  20. This is a great post Lashaan and wow you have a very organized method when it comes to blog hopping, almost makes me feel like I should be a little more organised when it comes to commenting. 🙂
    I primarily use the WordPress Reader way of blog hopping (I feel like it’s gotta be the same for most people on WordPress right?) but there are always some bloggers I will automatically check out even if I don’t see them on my Reader feed that day. When it comes to finding new blogs I tend to see who have commented on the blogs of people I follow, I can go through a blogging black hole of checking out who’s commented on blogs of people I already follow and find plenty of new amazing people to follow.
    Great post. 🙂 ❤

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    1. Thank you so much, Beth! 😀 Hahahah it’s definitely good to find a method that works for you in this regard since blog hopping is extremely time-consuming!

      And yes, the Reader is definitely the most popular one, but I’m starting to see that some people like using other websites like Bloglovin’ to satisfy their blog hopping needs. I love that you check out the comments on the blogs of those you follow. I’ve always told myself that it would be a nice way to discover new folks too, but I barely find time to do it hahah! 😀

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  21. Wow! I love this idea. Unfortunately, I’m really bad at visiting other blogs. I do use the edge browser though and I can save tabs and groups of tabs there so I think I will try to figure out something like this too. yay. Thank you for the inspiration. 🙂

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    1. Ohhhh I’m so happy to hear I could help you out in figuring out a strategy that could work well for you! It’s not easy and it’s definitely time-consuming. You actually have to spend a lot of time to discover other bloggers or just to interact. 😮 Hope your blog hopping adventures get better and better with time! 😀

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  22. That’s some organization! I’ll have to come up with something similar quite soon… For now it’s mostly WP notifications and reader, but I already see it’s not efficient enough 😉

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    1. Completely agree with you. The email notification option got out of control for me too. Actually quite happy to hear from someone who uses the Open Tab option! 😀 I too think there’s probably an even cleaner way to do it, but I’m not sure what. Some people use external websites like Bloglovin’ or Feedly to manage it all. Might have to explore the latter. 😮

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  24. WOW this is just a great enlightening and handy post! Basically I use the WP reader and if something catches my attention I comment. Add to it that I also comment back so if you have commented on my post I’ll pay you a visit (sounds ominous right?LOL) and will comment back on one or more posts! My current challenge is finding time to do it on a regular basis. I trys to comment every two to three days when I am working as I am too tired after work right now.

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    1. Thanks, Sophie! I’d love to use the Reader more often just to spot those that read similar things as I do, but I barely find the time for that. It’s why I adapted this methodology and prioritize those who I got to know over time and those who leave comments on MY posts hahah And I totally understand the struggle for time… I mean… I don’t even have kids and school/work keeps me plenty busy! 😛

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  25. I love the wp reader, but i can never keep up with it 😀 I follow too many blogs there. I wanna say close to 500…
    So i put my absolute faves in feedly where i see actually how many posts i missed, hehe 😀
    I’m not sure what to do with all the emails. Tried to unsub, but in some cases i could only do that if i unfollow the blog which i didn’t want to. Dunno, it’s something i need to investigate further, cuz it defo doesn’t help my anxiety when i look at my mailbox after i’m done at work and have about 50 unread emails 😀

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    1. Yep, and the Reader stops loading after a couple of posts/days and that was too annoying for me 😂 Sort of laughed at your Feedly issue 😂😂 I can only imagine how surprised I’d be every time I check it hhaha

      Ah snap, that’s exactly why I couldn’t continue with emails, although they still accumulate in a folder in my inbox today hahah there’s no way I could read all of them hahahh 😂

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  26. I use Feedly (and before that Google Reader). It’s nice because you’re not limited to WordPress blogs, and you can categorize each feed. So I have a main category of book blogs that I scan through, picking out what looks interesting, and I have another category of a-list book blog feeds for blogs where I want to catch every post. It’s a great way to manage a large number of feeds. I also have categories for everything else I read – news, gaming sites, work-related sites, motorcycle stuff, etc. Everything is in one spot.

    It’s also handy if you get too far behind, such as when you’re on holiday, as you can just mark everything as read on the main category and still look back on what was posted on the a-list category if you want.

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  27. Wow this is an amazing post!!! I’m a still a small blogger, dont get me wrong I probably follow about 200+ bloggers, so I usually pick an hour of the day, and jump on the wordpress reader and get up to date with everyone’s posts. 🙂 I also read all posts that are posted on my Twitter feed, it directs me straight to their post on wordpress and I can still like and comment 🙂

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    1. Awn, thank you so much! Small or big, I think everyone will still find themselves following a bunch of people and it’s managing all that that really becomes a challenge! I’m actually quite happy to hear that Twitter serves as a nice entry-point to discovering posts for you too! I’ve always been curious about how often people tend to click on posts on Twitter hahah

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  30. I had a spreadsheet list to check off the bloggers I want to stay connected to. But then it got so overwhelming that I moved on Feedly. And I should say ‘THANK GOODNESS’ I am finally doing the hop systematically and I guess I am not missing pretty much anything these days. You should definitely give it a try.

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  31. This post really hits home for me. I’ve always struggled to find a proper way to keep up with everything… I never really got into the Reader for some reason and have always been one to opt for ’email notifications’ albeit I had to a bit of spring cleaning a while back and only keep the ‘prioritized’ list of bloggers on the email notifications and others I now access through Reader when I get a chance to really blog hop… and as such I always end up ‘late to the party’ with about 300 notifs to trawl through… but sometimes, I actually enjoy it too… just take a full Sunday and have at it catching up with blogs and reviews 🙂

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    1. I totally relate. The hybrid method is a nice alternative I believe, but even then, suffize that you go on vacation or take a little break of a day or even an hour, voila… You got 1000 blog posts to go through. It really does just come down to prioritizing and knowing how much time you’re willing to put into blog hopping.

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  32. Pingback: Monthly Wrap-Up | January 2019 – Bookidote

  33. Definitely agree that connecting with readers from around the world is the best! 😀 And yeah I also used to use the reader more back in the day. I think a bookmarker is a good idea. Gotta say this sounds super organised (in case it isn’t obvious, I’m not that good at that 😉 I tend to just go in cycles at this point- though I’m never sure if I’m doing it the best way 😉 ) Awesome post!

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    1. I still feel like I’m unorganized to this day hahaha I’ve just come to realize that it comes down to how much I can and want to put into blog hopping. Funny thing is, I find that you are one of the top 3 bloggers out there who successfully manage to be everywhere all the time and still produce quality content hahahah You clearly got a hidden talent for this whole blogging thing. 😀

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  35. Pingback: Monthly wrap-up – January 2019

  36. Great post! 😄 I love your current methodology, though you have to be super organized to do that 😱 but we all know you are, right ? 😘 I personally use the WordPress Reader, mainly because I didn’t even think to use another tool 😂 For now my main problem is keeping up to date with everything, regardless of how I do it. As you can see from the 2 weeks separating your post to my comment, it’s still a work in progress… 😂

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    1. Thanks, toi! Nooooo, it still needs work. I’d need to add a couple more steps to it to make it flawless. Hahahah I’ve discovered that there are websites that help organize websites to keep you up to date on everything too. 😮 And yeeeees! Keeping up is really the toughest part of it all. Especially when people post 100 articles per week. I don’t know how to fit that into my schedule. 😛 And again, don’t worry about it! No one will get mad about that, especially towards you! 😉

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  37. Ah, this was so interesting! I just started blogging, and I haven’t really found a method to stick to yet. Emails are not my favourite for some reason, because my inbox just gets so easily cluttered? Currently I’m using the Reader most often right now. This is such a great post! Your commenting method is so organized ahah.

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    1. Ohhhw, you’re too kind! It took me some time to figure out the best way to do it and honestly, I think a mix of all methods, as long as you have a system for each, would be the best way to do it. For example, using the Reader to discover new blogs would be my way to do it, only if you have time to find new people. If you’re just looking to “courteously” visit bloggers who visit you or to visit bloggers you love, then a email/tab/bookmarking system would be pretty cool! 😀

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  38. Ohhh your current method is very smart! I did the email notifications for a little while as well, but it stressed me out pretty quickly haha. I was so overwhelmed with all the emails, and then when I checked my emails I didn’t have the time to read the blog posts anyway, so I’d forget about them later… 😅 I might try your current method though! I’m pretty much always behind on blog hopping, which is so frustrating because I used to be on top?? How did I do that haha

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    1. Thanks, Michelle! 😛 I swear, the email thing is really tricky. You’d have to use it minimally to really maximize its potential. I do like my current method, but the only issue is being up to date with all the “catching up”… I guess that will ALWAYS be a blogger’s toughest challenge when it comes to blog hopping hahah

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  39. Pingback: January Wrap Up 2019 | My Midnight Musing
  40. Pingback: Lately With Lila |January 2019 Wrap Up – Hardcover Haven

  41. Lashaan, your post only talks about lack of time or how occupied you’ve been in a while. That happens only, when you keep things last on your priority list. I’m new to blogging and just bumped on yo your post. Hope next time, you post something interesting rather than your story of lack of time. Have a good one!!

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    1. Hello. Thank you for your wonderful input. Clearly, you have no knowledge of what my priorities are in life or what the intention behind this article was. However, you still took the time to share your disinterest in this article. I hope you stumble a much more interesting article in the future and that you continue to strive in your abilities to set your priorities to your liking (i.e. taking the time to leave such wonderful comments). Have a great life!

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  42. Thank you for taking the time to make this post! ❤ It's a topic I'm constantly stressing about when it comes to blogging so it was really helpful reading the different methods you've used as well as just knowing I'm not alone in struggling sometimes with trying to keep up and stay connected with all the amazing bloggers I've come to enjoy. Thanks for shedding some light on (and offering helpful input) on this subject. Have a great weekend! 😀

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    1. Awwwn I’m really happy to hear this, unlike the previous comment from a total stranger, as I too thought that it would be nice to let others know that they aren’t alone in struggling to keep up with every post of all the folks they follow! I definitely think it’s probably one of the hardest part of book blogging since it’s an impossibly long activity that can easily become overwhelming! Hope you’re having an excellent week yourself! 😉

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  43. I know I’m late to the party but this is a great post! We’re still a newer blog and so we’re still finding new blogs to follow. For now me and my co-blogger use the email method, and label posts according to who is interested in reading what. And of course, there are some blogs that we both read everything they post. But since this method is already starting to get a bit difficult as we find more and more blog to follow, I’m so glad you’ve provided us with new options!

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    1. Awwwn yay! I’m glad to hear that it helped you out a little! Over time, it is indeed a daunting task to follow all the posts by all out friends/bloggers/followers. I’ve even discovered that Feedly is a nice alternative/strategy to use to manage all the websites you tend to follow. It might be something you’d like to look into! 😀

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  44. Pingback: February Wrap-Up – Read With Cassie
  46. Pingback: Must-read Monthly Monday (Apr. 2019 ed.) – The Animanga Spellbook

  47. Happy belated 4th anniversary. Mine was in April. You sound organized with your blog follow-ups. I found that when I am silent for so long and then come back, there is a certain, along with new ones that take a look at my work. It is that core that I usually will follow up on first and then thank the newcomers. Some of my core readers have gone silent, but I periodically check to see what’s up.

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    1. Thanks Karina! Happy belated anniversary to you too then! 😁 I too have a core VIP group of individuals that I actually do care about and will always be happy to hear from, which includes you. But I also know that life can keep some from having the time to blog so I let them do their thing until I really feel like it’s been too long and then make a move to check up on them!

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