I NEVER comment on anyone's blog first anymore, because I have a lot of blogs I already read.

When I very first started I would post everyday. It got to be too much. Then I quit posting on weekends, and now I post M-W-F. It's a good rhythym for me.

And there are certain blogs I comment on every post, like yours, and others it's hit and miss, or if I have something I want to say.

I know if I didn't comment on the amount of blogs I comment on, my comments would drop, which is fine. There is a reciprocal approach to blogging.

I find that it sort of ebbs and flows for me these days. Some days I need the connection and support more than others. Some days real life takes precedence, and of course finding balance has been quite the learning curve.

I try to blog M-W-F, but I'm not strict about it. I keep the weekends for my family now. As for reading, I comment on every blog I read but if I get behind I skim through the posts I missed and comment on the most recent one. I read fewer blogs now, and it's been a good thing. It means fewer read mine, but hey, less comments to feel guilty about not replying to!

It will be a year in April for me. I have always posted Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I started blogging to keep up with my sisters and then accidentally joined MMB (I was the second to sign up right after Sue posted about it and I had no idea what it really was. . .) Then I started getting new people and it was weird because I didn't mean to become a blogger who blogs for others. I still don't I think.
If I didn't read so many blogs I'm sure I would have much fewer readers of my own. You know I am trying to cut back on blog reading and I am teaching myself to selectively read posts (I used to have to read every single word anyone ever wrote). This mostly goes for people I've started reading more recently or who I feel less connected to. I am all about no pressure in blogging, and I think that sudden feeling of pressure to read so much is what has made me less satisfied with blogging.

Also, I don't think I comment on every post on anyone's blog. Sometimes most posts, but never every post. (That last sentence reminds me a little of the Big Guy's love/hate quote from yesterday).

Oh I'm so happy I'm third.

This post hasn't even showed up on my blogroll yet.

I thought I was going to read something about a jabberwocky.

Okay, I'll be back to comment about my bloggin habits.

I’ve been blogging less than a year. Since I am a busy, busy gal, I post only on Thursdays (my assigned day with my writing group). There are 3 of us that blog on our site which keeps people interested and is less pressure for all of us if we only have to post once a week. Plus I love the option feature that lets me write on Friday and post the next Thursday (way to go Blogger!)

Depending on the day, I may read all of the blogs that I am following, but if my day is too full, I will let some slide and feel just fine with this. I can always go back and check out old posts. But I always read what the other gals have posted on my own blog the day they post.

I’m still a little obsessed with leaving comments. If someone leaves a comment on my site, I like to acknowledge them. That may change over time if I get a ton of readers, but I don’t have that right now – so I’m safe. =)

But I think the main thing about blogging, is that it gives us a way to network and meet people we would never have the opportunity to meet in the first place. It’s so awesome!

It's been a little over a year for me. Gosh, seems longer...anyway...um, I don't comment on every post. I do try to keep up with reading every post even if I don't comment (those in my reader) But if I take some time away and have a ton in my reader, I mark all as read because I get overwhelmed. Then I can start fresh and when I visit the next time I can see if there's something I missed.

I'm sure there's a direct connection in commenting in hits. I've never really quit reading and commenting to see though.

I think most of us start out trying to keep up with everybody and quickly learn it just takes too much time. So I stopped adding many blogs to my reader awhile ago. I just can't keep up. Here and there I add someone I really MUST add, but other than that, I've been trying to cut back.

Do you post every day or just when you feel like it? I had been posting every day, but just recently it became too much. I enjoy it that way, but I have to realize that blogging is quite low on my priority list.

Do you read everyone in your dashboard or on google reader whenever someone posts? No. I skip a lot. Some of them I am planning on taking out of my reader just because they really aren't what I want to read, and I don't have much of a relationship with the blogger anyway.

Or do you read just certain posts? I'll always read something that sounds interesting, and I always read whatever my real life friends write.

Or certain days? should maybe try that.

How long have you been blogging? It will be 4 years in April.

Do you find your obesession waning or increasing since you started to blog? Both, but mostly increasing.

Do you feel pressure to read the posts of others or do you feel like it's okay if you let it slide sometimes? I do feel pressure, but I'm learning to let it slide.

Do you feel there is a direct connection between how many blogs you comment on and the hits and comments on your own blog? Absolutely. Unfortunately. :)

I've been blogging for 6 months exactly. I used to post every day and now I just post . . . every day.

This isn't because I feel pressure to post every day. It's because I have too much inside me that wants to come tumbling out. I wish I didn't have so much inside me dying to get out. Mentally I could post 2 or 3 times a day--I have that many ideas. But physically I can't do it. It sucks too much time and energy. i wouldn't feel guilty if I didn't post. I don't feel pressure to post. If something comes to me I sit down and write it. I keep saying I'm going to cut back so my reader's don't get worn out . . . but then something comes to me.

I have had to learn to let things go. Especially reading and commenting on other blogs. I'm sure it effects my comments, but I have decided I can't worry about that.

I feel myself shifting--I'm coming out of that blog fog that honeymoon bloggers go through.

It's hard to cut back on reading and commenting because I want to be supportive of my blog friends. I love the community and connections I've made through blogging. The feedback and response and support is invaluable. it has given me the confidence to find my own VOICE! I love it.

But when it comes down to it I blog because I need to write, write, write.

No strings attached. Ultimately I want readers who want to read me. I don't want them to come by just because I come by their blog.

But I do want to show readers gratitide for their readership and reading and commenting on their thoughts is a way to say I care and thanks and you rock too.

It's tricky to prioritize and it takes a while to hit your blog stride. I love how you take Tuesday's off to write. I should do something like that so that I can work some of my creative energy towards publishing.

WOW! Was this the longest comment ever?

See how much I LY!

So many questions...how can I ever answer them all.
I don't really have a set pattern on when I blog. I try not to go too long between posts, but compared to others I have big gaps. Mostly 5-7 I guess. That's cuz I don't always have great things to say, and I don't want to feel pressure to write SOMETHING.
Also, I don't comment on EVERY post...but if I feel like I have something to say (and I usually do) I will.

My year anniversary is next month (March) and sometimes I have the desire to cut back--other times I get a lot of comments, or a post gets linked somewhere, and all the extra attention drives me on. I spend way too much time reading other blogs. And I find now that half my comments to my friends and family start out something like this, "I read on so and so's blog that..." That doesn't feel good to me.

Hi Heidi...I like this topic of yours. I want to comment on it but I'm afraid my comment will end up taking all of your comment box so I think I'll just use this as a post for today on my blog. I want to address all those questions on your post, hope you don't mind.

So have fun at the photo shoot. I would so love to be fly on that camera watching ya pose..eheheh

My blogging habits seem to change a lot. When I first started it was important to me to post and make the commenting rounds every day. Now I do sometimes, but it doesn't seem as important.

Bloggers that post multiple times a day make me a little crazy - like kids who wear multiple outfits in a day. I don't even try to keep up with either.

I blog because it's therapy for me. I blog because I love meeting new people. I blog because I love to write. I could go on and on.

As for most of the questions on this, I'm going with the ebb and flow thing. Some days it's high tide and other days it's not. On my group blog I have a set day but on my personal blog, I shake it up. I try not to go longer than 4 days apart but it all depends on life's current workload.

The greatest benefit for me is the friendships I've formed with people I wouldn't have had the chance to meet IRL. I feel like I've had the chance to meet some astounding women with the kind of deep thinking that I look for in a beloved friend. And that's a priceless asset. =]

Fun questions.

I've only been blogging since October 2008. And at first, I made our family blog so that my parents could see things that our kids did. And then when I realized you can make your blog into a book it seemed like a good idea for family history because I find that I blog about things that I don't write about in my journal and that I don't put in our annual family book. So I would blog even without comments and getting to know other bloggers.

But. I think that reading other blogs, getting to know other bloggers as they share about their lives, and of course receiving comments on my own posts is terrific fun.

I tend to be prolific. Usually. Have too much to get out of me. Blogging is a good outlet. So more often than not I have something to post every day. I really ought to channel that energy into something more creative. But I'm pretty happy with the blogging.

I do feel compelled to check what other bloggers are saying, especially people who follow my blog. I enjoy checking their blogs too. I try to keep up. I just check my blogroll whenever I feel like it.

If something is going on or I'm preoccupied I don't feel bad about not posting or getting behind in the commenting. But I'm more likely to make sure that I check other peoples' blogs than that I post. Or whatever. It just depends on my mood.

I will admit, if someone who normally blogs regularly stops blogging for a few days I start to worry about them. :)

It's just so much fun and also healthy to become a little bit more aware of other lives besides my own!

I do my musical blog on Mondays and then put something up twice more during the week.

I started on Blogger last Winter, but I was on a different set up for a year or so before that (yahoo).

I read every blog in my blog list (which is posted on my blog), and then I have about 10 others that I have bookmarked, DAILY. I am a bit ritualistic about it. I get out the laptop and read through them all each night before bed and each morning before I get the kids up for school.

I comment every single time there is a new post on any blog I read. Unless somehow someone posts twice in a day and I miss one. But yes, I comment on every post from the ones I read. I enjoy the obligation of it, and I don't say that in an eye rolling way. I like that it feels like an assignment. That's how I get things done, even things I enjoy.

I started blogging about 5 1/2 years ago! i started on this site called Xanga.. back then I could only post pictures and journal entries and we did it all by using HTML code... and it is so amazing to think about how far the bloggin world has come!

For the first couple years I blogged at least once a week... then when I got back into school it came to a screeching Stop! One of my Education classes forced me to get a blogspot and the class almost turned me off to blogging... because we were forced to post entries about subjects i hated writing about!

but then I thought.. OMGosh what if i started my own page a blogged about things I like ... what a concept right? LOL! and then I found a whole new blogging community that I love! and now i blog when im sad... too happy and just need to let it all out! oh and and when there's time! So now I have couple blogs one to keep the grandma's updated with what the grandbabies are doing and then the other one to track my mood swings!

I try to comment on every entry i read but time doesnt always permit it!

I love the book idea to keep track of stories for family history!

I find I don't look at my dashboard blogs very often, which sucked kinda because I forgot about some blogs that I enjoyed for awhile...
I used to not post very often - then I did post quite often- now I find that I'm lacking in what to say, because I don't want to have people read about how horrible or stressful of a time I'm having because it's draining and I don't know about you but I like to read funny stuff - it's way more relaxing and entertaining.
I find that I read the blogs of people who comment on mine, and my family, there's times, I click over to someones blog and then decide I don't have the energy to read it. Then I feel guilty kinda so I go back and make sure I comment (PS that would not be you) just sayin'.
I found when I blogged more often, I got more comments. I like the comments, I like to hear what people have to say, and it's always a good ego booster when people respond to what you've been saying - you know you've been heard!
So I just pretty much wrote my own little blog here...
So I'll stop and try to think of something more clever to write on my own blog :)
Cheers!
xo

PS. I don't feel quite so bad because Crash and Heatherlyn wrote a novel...

lesse, I started my blog before it got popular for extended family to keep up with us, maybe posted once a month, then a few months ago got caught up in the blogomania and that lasted for about 3 weeks and now I am back to blogging for family or to vent or share or whatever and if I have time, I try really hard to read my RSS feed but if not, I have no guilt about it, i have real life stuff and I do the best I can, but when I start having anxiety over trying to catch up on everyone else's blogs, then it's not relaxing anymroe for me, so what is the point YK?

i am busy.. have to go to my granddaughters 5th birthday party.
i will comment later..cause there is STUFF i want to say. LOL!

You guys are great-keep it coming! Take as much space as you need, it is limitless!

I've been blogging for about a year and a half. My reader has about 100 blogs in it, but I only open it on weekends. During the week, I mostly only read blogs of close friends and those who comment on my blog. I almost never read blog posts out of obligation, and I do not follow a blog just to be nice if it doesn't seem like something I'm interested in. I do enjoy religiously reading the blogs of those who are starting out and appreciate being noticed. Great questions!

Sometimes, I have people listed ON my blog sidebar that I don't read.... that's because I don't want to read them but want them to think I do! haha
And I blog whenever I feel like it. Well, I do stop myself sometimes when I REEEALLLLLY want to but I've already posted that day.

I only comment when I feel like it. Like right now, I feel like it. I read a ton of blogs, after my kids are in bed. And I have my reader divided into different sections. Sometimes I mark sections as read, sometimes I don't.

And right now my comments are closed. I'll open them again in a little while, but for the most part, meh. Besides, even when I leave my comments open, it's only for the 5 most recent posts. I'm ALL about closing comments.

As far as posting, it really really depends. I've have times when I have a lot to say, so I write a lot of drafts. Then when I don't feel like blogging, I schedule 'em out. I think I've gone 3 weeks without actually writing anything. so, yeah.

I'm kinda in a blogging zen right now. I'm happy with how often I blog (almost daily) and I'm happy with how much I comment or don't. And I haven't seen a correlation between comments and subscribers. Sad, but true.

OH, and I don't have a sidebar anymore because it was getting rather political and nasty with who was or was not included.

I try to blog at least 3 days a week. I blog about whatever topic I want to though. Sometimes I blog 6 days a week, but that is rare now. I read at least a few blogs every day.

I TRY TO comment on everybody's blog that I read (I read about 100) at least once a week (if they post). I think I usually comment much more than that though. I almost always read every post even if I don't comment.

I think that everyone understands if you need to take a bloggy break. However, I will wonder what happened to someone if I comment on their blog a few times a week and they haven't commented on mine in weeks. So I don't feel pressure.

But hey, I like reading blogs and I like commenting and I LOVE GETTING COMMENTS TOO!! :) Like every blogger, right?

Heidi, thanks for providing me with a topic for my today...bet you didn't expect you would be doing that today eh? LOL

I have been blogging for over a year but I only started my ALL ABOUT ME blog about a month ago. Which is about the same time that I discovered MMB and all the wonderful blogging women out there. So basically I am still on the blogging honeymoon.

I try and have post for everyday, or almost everyday. Some days I am feeling extra creative and expressive and I'll write 2 or 3 posts and schedule them out and then not write anything else for a few days. That seems to work for me.

And I read so many blogs. I read (know in real life first (mostly family blogs, pics and what not) and then head on to those who I just relate to. That is really why I read the blogs that I do. Whatever they write catches my attention because something similar has happened to me. And then I'm hooked. And every night at 9:00 I disapear. . . and read until I can't keep my eyes open anymore!

I feel compelled to post everyday and I wish I didn't because I don't always have something to say. I've been thinking more and more about cutting back. I also feel compelled to comment every day on people who come to my blog every day. I'm a hundred percent sure that I would lose commenters if I cut back. I'm getting better about cutting out certain blogs and I'm proud of myself for that. I think I'm mainly trying to cut back my own blogging frequency. That'll be a good victory for me. But I like blogging because it's a point of contact for me with other adults and I need that.

I'm in a haze right now because its semi-late and I've had a super long week, but I like this post so I wanted to comment real quick. I LOVE blogging, I love the connection I have with other people, I love talking about myself and having other people relate to it too. There's no rhyme or reason for me, I post when I can or whenever, but I check my blog list every day, I hate getting behind, then you have to play catch up and that takes even more time! :) Anyway, hope your picture shoot went well!

Hey Heidi --I have been bloggin since last June. My daughter in law talked me into it. I thought it would be a good way to stay in touch with my family and some of my friends who live in different states---but GUESS WHAT--they are NOT the ones who really visit my blog . They are NOT into blogging. My kids blog once a week if even that, my family in Canada don't blog as they don't have the computer access to do it---they are in the country and it is a home line and it would take an hour just to download something. So all of a sudden, I have all these new ladies in my life to talk to----and I really wish I could meet every one. It really is a strange connection in a way. I don't KNOW you --yet it is important to me that I visit your blog regularily---just like keeping in touch with a friend you never get to see. (ramble ramble ramble)
I try to blog at least 3 different posts a week-----AND I have to be careful not to get all caught up or worried about those who comment and those who don't -----I don't want it to feel like some kind of popularity contest. So I think sometimes blogging can get a little complex that way. I love comments!! I try and be sure to ALWAYS comment back to someone who leaves me a message. It is starting to consume a little bit too much of my time as I want to visit more and more and more blogs all the time.

I'm coming closer to that year mark... wait? maybe I'm already there? I should check... that in itself would be an okay post!

I blog daily when I'm feeling witty - or when I have a lot of book reviews (my "other" blog) in my head that need to get posted - but I'm down to an average of 3 or 4 times a week... and that seems to be okay.

I read all but one of my "blogs I'm following" fairly religiously... of course, I can't seem to unfollow because I just... well, it's a guilt thing :) I don't always get there quickly when I'm trying to be a good mom/PTA hero/wife of the year... which is why I'm comment 32!

I came back to read what people have to say. So interesting!

I also took off my blogroll, I don't have the followers widget on my blog, and I took off all the awards.

I guess I just wanted to simplify things and not make it a competition. I know that's easy for me to say, because I do get a lot of comments, but I feel like sometimes, there is such a negative part of blogging that is like high school and a competition, and I don't want to promote that with how many followers or awards I have. That's something I've been thinking a lot about.

A bloggy friend told me that she heard about a ward where a ton of the women had blogs and Statcounters, and would see when peple read their blogs and didn't comment, and call them out on it, and it created a real nasty division among the ward.

Sometimes I feel a lot of pressure, especially when I've seen comments about how much people appreciate my comments, they liken it to Visiting teaching, or tell me they blog for me. Wow! There are times I comment out of blogligation, but I genuinely care about the women whose blogs I read!

Thanks for letting me take up half your comment box!

This is all just so fascinating and interesting! Glad I asked--keep it coming, please!

I am an emotional writer. Sometimes I have something planned ahead of time, but generally it is just whatever is going on with me at the moment. Which may or may not be the best way to do things, but I truly find it theraputic at times to be able to just write out my emotions and hit post.

As for commenting, I read a lot more blogs than I comment on. I don't read everything in my reader, it usually takes an intesting lead to get me to click over for the whole post, but there are a few that I read the entire post everyday.

I'm so new to it that I have no habits! I read way more than I write though.... !

I've been blogging for a year and a half, and I haven't slowed down yet. I write because I love writing. I post almost everyday but sometimes I'm doing other things and don't get a chance to.

I've slowed down on reading other people's blogs. I used to comment on every post I read, but now I don't. I comment when I feel like it, or when I have something to say.

Sometimes I feel obligated to read or comment and I do, but I am learning to get over this feeling of obligation.

There is for sure a connection to the number of places you leave comments and my traffic for the day. WHich, I used to track daily, and I now I just wait for the weekly email that gives me the averages.

I'm over the obsessions I used to have with the number of comments and the number of hits.

I started as a reader/lurker, never commenting, because it just felt weird...and then they might actually know I was spying on their life! I felt like I didn't have anything important to add, so I didn't. Now, I realize, it's not about having something important to add, but about a sense of community.

None of my extended family knows about my blog. I told my husband - I think he looked once, but that was it! I wanted somewhere I could write - that they wouldn't know about. Which sounds weird now that I'm writing it. I guess I needed somewhere I can just be me (whomever that is!).

I love reading peoples blogs. I approach it like I approach Readers Digest - first the jokes, then the articles that interest me, then if I'm really bored, I'll read the rest of it - even the weird articles. I read the blogs I really like first, then the ones that have a post that interests me, then if I'm really bored, I'll read the ones I've mostly given up. (But just because I comment in the middle of the night, doesn't mean yours fits in the last category!)

Fun to read all these great comments Heidi. Blogging is a tricky fun thing.

I post when I have a thought or something on my mind. I read alot of blogs too, but I comment on those I feel a connection with. Some of the blogs relationships have lower maintenance factor. We comment sometimes to each other. Which is helpful. But then there are blogs I do comment on pretty much every time.

I think the person that can figure out the perfect solution to blogging and the emotions attached, will be a wealthy person :)

And why shouldn't that wealthy person be me? No, JK, I'm asking for more personal reasons than that. Thanks everyone for your comments!

I read this post and was going to think about it and get back. After reading some of these comments, I realize other people have thought about blogging way more than I ever have.

I used to post on a forum called Readerville. I loved it. Then they got to the point where they had to start charging dues to post. Although we could have afforded it, I didn't feel I could justify the expense. I really missed it, though, and after a year, I asked my DH to pay for a year's subscription as an anniversary present. Over the course of the next few years, I let my subscription lapse and then rejoined a couple of times. Eventually, the forum kind of collapsed. I think that blogging has finally filled that empty space for me. As a stay at home mom, I appreciate the opportunity to have some adult "conversation" available at my convenience. When I started my own blog, I thought it was going to be a way for my husband to keep track of what we're doing while he is in Japan for four months. Actually, since we see and speak with him on Live Messenger so frequently, there isn't so much a need for that, so it's more for my own pleasure. I don't have a particular pattern or frequency of posting. When I think of something to post, I do it. I do try to leave comments on most of the posts I read, because even if it's just a few words, I want people to know that I have read what they wrote and am interested.

I get a weird kind of pressure if I don't post often enough. Like right now I'm feeling like I should post, but there's just too much going on in my real life that I can't talk about on my blog. Not bad stuff, just stuff.

So two posts in a day, nothing for a week, daily, then every other day. Unpredictable. Super misc. Keep 'em guessing. I really ought to get on a schedule. [Typing that sentence just made me lol. A schedule? Hahahahahaha!]

My blogging habits have changed drastically over the past 2.5 years. Writing books and having babies will do that to you.

Oh how funny - I just posted about this same topic today. I pretty much follow a routine of what I'm posting, for the most part, and then throw in some random posts as I feel inspired.

I comment on everyone that comments on me, and I go through my Dashboard and read all the blogs I follow.

As far as followers go - if I comment to them and over the course of a month they don't comment on my blog then I'll likely just cut them loose. We're all busy people, yk? *shrug* no big.

Wow, people really spilled their guts on blogging :D Lots of intersting points!

I love the creativity possible with blogging that isn't possible with scrapbooking and that kind of thing. Plus comments are kind of addicting. But I really try to not let comments motivate me - I want to blog for my for family and own personal satisfaction, and when other people like it, that's a huge bonus. Sometimes I think my readers will think I'm a total weirdo for some of the things that interest me - but that's me :)

I've always wanted to write, but never have until I started blogging. I was an extremely poor student, and always had trouble getting my ideas on paper. Blogging has kind of unleashed my creativity like never before, and I really really really heart spellcheck!!!!!! I'm having so much fun with it, and for the first time ever, feel like I can actually write - a little bit anyway.

I blog when I feel like it. I don't have a schedule. But I'm very slow at getting my ideas down, and don't post nearly as many things as I plan, or think about.

Reading other's blogs has been so much fun too, but has taken a toll on my housekeeping!!! So has facebooking the last few weeks. I need to manage my time better! Reading blogs in and of itself is not a bad thing, but probably the enormous amount of time I've spent doing it is. I'm conflicted about it.

Love your blog! Blog on and write what makes you happy, and worry less about your stats. Remember - if you blog it, they will come :)

I've been blogging for less than a year. I have already cut back a ton. And I never did much in the way of posting and reading and commenting even before I cut back. :)

I LOVE blogging...it's like a lifeline for me. I love the opportunities to write, think, converse online. And I adore the friends I've made...deep thinkers, astounding women with beautiful hearts all. They've become an amazing support system for me. There are times when my life gets crazy and I have to pull WAY back...but I never stop thinking about everyone, even praying for those who need that...even when I'm not actively posting, reading, commenting.

I consider my blog friends to be some of my dearest and most valuable friends. Because we've shared on a deep level and you don't get that opportunity very often outside of the blogosphere. I HATE not having the time to read and comment on every post of every blog of every friend I've made. But it's my reality right now. And I am in utter awe of those who manage to pull it off...Heather, LisaAway, Kazzy, Kimberly, there are several. I'm so grateful for their steadiness and devotion. And I've been truly amazed that lately even though I've had no time to read and comment on even my favorite blogs my friends have been there for me.