Of Long Forgotten Blogrolls & Kind Delurkers

/ Ally Bean

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[Received this snazzy award on Monday.]

ONE FACT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT BLOGGING in my 12 years bouncing around the blogosphere is that things change.

To wit, I always liked having a blogroll, but a few years ago I realized that keeping an up-to-date blogroll had turned into a monthly chore.  Bloggers were coming and going from my blog, and the blogosphere, like it was a revolving door.

So instead of putting up with the aggravation and extra work required to keep my blogroll current, I decided to not have one anymore.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE POINT of this particular blog post.

Two weeks ago I asked my blog readers to delurk because that was the week to do it, and I’m pleased to say that your response overwhelmed me.

Who knew so many wonderful people were following The Spectacled Bean?  Not me, that’s for sure.

So as a way of expressing my appreciation for the gift of your attention, I give you, my gentle readers and kind delurkers, the following list which is as close to a blogroll as I can muster.

Many thanks to everyone.  You’re the best.

~ ~ • ~ ~
My List Of Blogs Written By People Who Know How To Delurk When Asked To Do So

Solvieg Werner  “~ eclectic, multilingual …”

Allie Potts Writes  “How to appreciate the everyday”

Naples Girl Blog by Cheri

Views and Mews by Coffee Kat  “Kate’s views on life edited by four opinionated cats”

Susie Lindau’s Wild Ride  “A life filled with adventure is always a Wild Ride.”

The Write Transition by Carrie

The Green Study by Michelle

It’s All a Matter of Perspective  “99.3% truth, .7% blatant lies. in between lies my perspective on life.”

Dept. of Nance  “Uncorked and aging nicely”

Mary J. Melange  “A hodgepodge of thoughts, ideas and the reality of life.” 

One Grain Amongst the Storm  “A Mélange of memoirs, fiction, short stories, verses, book reviews and uncorked angst.”

Stargazer  “A view inside my universe”

Evil Squirrel’s Nest  “Where all the COOL SQUIRRELS hang out!”

Marian Allen, Author Lady  “Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes”

Practically Wise  “Musings & Meditations From An Aspiring Matriarch”

reading interrupted.  “because reading also involves the way your head rests on your hand as you lean over a book, the damp mark you leave on a page when reading in the tub, or being interrupted by a”

Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge  “Simple observations, analysis, and common sense comments”

Around ZuZu’s Barn  “Conversations With Kindred Spirits”

~ ~ • ~ ~

33 thoughts on “Of Long Forgotten Blogrolls & Kind Delurkers”

    • Zazzy, you don’t lurk. You comment when the topic appeals to you. That makes sense to me. This invitation to delurk was directed to those readers who are generally too shy to leave a comment. It was fun.

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  3. Testing. Testing.

    Should there be a real commenting emergency on this blog, this test comment will not appear.

    [What I’ll do then is beyond me.]

    ALL I KNOW IS SOMETHING IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY HERE IN MY COMMENT SECTION & I’m not pleased.

    *fingers crossed*

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    • Interesting.

      I posted the above comment and suddenly other comments, that I knew where here already but wouldn’t show on the blog, appeared here.

      SOMETHING GOOFY IS GOING ON WITH WORDPRESS.

      *fingers tap, tap, tap on desk*

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  4. WP comments have been wonky this week. Some of my Pulitzer prize winning comments have gone into cyberspace, lost forever. Sometimes I can’t even type in the comment block. Those little urchins are up to something. As for bloggers, they do come and go. I seriously thought about undoing my blogroll last year and did an informal survey on blogs I follow. There were only 2 or 3 that had them. I’m slow to update but I’ve kept it so far. Thanks for including me in your listing!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Kate, thanks for letting me know that it’s not just me encountering WP weirdness. I hate it when Pulitzer Prize winning comments are lost. I feel your pain.

      I loved having a blogroll, but I couldn’t keep it current, which drove me bonkers. Maybe I’ll do a small one again with bloggers who’ve been around for a few years, comment here on a regular basis & show no sign of bugging out. Maybe.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Ally Bean, I am a lurker. That must be frustrating because you don’t get feedback from those of us who are too shy/insecure/busy (choose your excuse) to make comments or become an active audience. Please know that your words have inspired me, made me laugh, and helped me see the special in the mundane.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hey there Joan! You nailed the problem. Blogging has its challenges: without some kind of feedback via comments or likes I have no idea if what I’m writing is well received and/or if I have any loyal followers. That being said, thank you for your kind thoughts which encourage me to keep blogging and talking about the mundane. 🙂

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  7. Here we go AGAIN! I just added you to my sidebar over at the Dept.! Woman, we are in each other’s brains lately.

    Hey, while you’re in there, can you tidy things up a bit? 😉 Hee hee.

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  8. It’s always a thrill to see my name in lights…. or at least bold and underline.

    I keep my blogroll on a separate page (Which nobody looks at, of course, since nobody bothers to check out the links under one’s header), and just continue to add those who interact with me as they come. What frustrates me are when people frequently change the name, or even link of their blog, so that my blogroll no longer works correctly in finding them… that’s where I have to do too much work maintaining it…

    Liked by 1 person

    • evil, I think you’re onto something with why people don’t keep blogrolls anymore. In the end I had mine on a separate page and it turned into a shelter for crickets. No one went there.

      I know what you mean about people just up and changing their blogs, with no explanation or advance warning to those of us who try to be friendly. That tedious behavior contributed to me deleting my blog roll.

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  10. Congrats to the “De-lurkers” for coming forth, and congrats to our Beloved Bean for celebrating them, as well as for the snazzy WordPress recognition. And for overcoming WordPress’ everyday hassles.

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  13. And oh, forgot to mention. There are some themes that support an automagically-generated blogroll. You know, now that I think about some more, it’s probably on the wordpress.com side of the aisle, so if you’re self-hosted on the wordpress.ORG side, you’d have to find a plug-in to help you do that.

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  14. I am definitely no lurker here, although TO BE HONEST, I do lurk on other blogs sometimes. There are a few (what I consider) way out there blogs where I would have no clue what kind of comment to leave. 🙂

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  15. Pingback: Links of Links #FridayRecommends - MARIAN ALLEN, AUTHOR LADY

  16. Interesting.
    I started a blogroll at one point, in honor of my top blog-gity comment-ers, then I realized how much work was involved and decided to remove it.
    I rarely lurk, myself.

    Liked by 1 person

    • joey, for years I kept a blogroll, but beyond the work to keep it current– I don’t think anyone cared about who I followed! I don’t say that in a bad way, just a fact. I rarely lurk, too.

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