Hi Barbara - that is a great story. And I hope it will encourge and inspire new bloggers.

As you do, I love trying to discover new blogs and give them a bit of encouragement.

Too many people gravitate to the more popular blogs and it’s a shame, because when you look at the quality of some of the posts (not mentioning any names!) it’s obvious that many visitors are just there to comment spam, as opposed to actually reading the blog.

I don’t understand it. It’s far more enjoyable to read a post by a new blogger who has something interesting to say. Take Hunter Nutall’s blog for example, his blog is fairly new, but it’s a great read (thank you for introducing it to me by the way) and I’d much rather be reading posts like his, as opposed to looking at pictures of what some blogger had for dinner that day.

Sometimes it is difficult to find these new bloggers. Often I go through the comments on some of the popular sites and if I see an interesting one, I’ll click through.

Are there any other methods we can use to find new bloggers?

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It is a great idea that you’re doing this each week Barbara.

I recall posting for a long time without commentors - aside from the spam ones and it can be really disheartening. And as you say, new bloggers often don’t like to leave a comment.

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I love commenting on new blogs. It’s nice to “get in on the ground floor” and watch them grow, and they love getting comments when they haven’t had very many. Sometimes they’re easy to find because the blogger leaves a comment saying they’re new. Other times I’ll see an interesting comment, click through, and see that the blog is new. But I’ve never thought of specifically seeking out new bloggers who don’t necessarily leave comments. This is a very worthy mission!

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Hello Catherine,

I was thinking of how I started this blog to share with other new bloggers what I was learning, so I decided to take it a step further and try and help them along the way.

I know how comments have given me motivation to “go on”, and so it’s my way of paying it forward

Hello Nicole,

It’s good to hear you are a commenter. That sure gives those new bloggers a lift.

I was “buzzing around” your blog last night, catching up on your posts and photos, via Google reader. I’ll be back later to drop you a comment now that I’m rested.

Hunter,

I have to laugh at your situation……you were a commenter on blogs before you were a blogger, so commenting comes natural to you.

When I started blogging, I had read about the importance of commenting, but I was so overwhelmed with all of the other aspects of blogging, I didn’t add commenting to the mix, until months later. I still find myself jumping between sites and not leaving a comment (due to time restraints, or being tired), but am trying to discipline myself to slow down,….a little.

However, I do find some sites that I “just don’t get”, and leave those, shaking my head.

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Lucky could be like us all. This is a way over-the-top statement, but the smaller the world becomes, and the more we jump on the treadmill of life, and isolate ourselves from the dangers, the lonelier we become.

Is it the same the world over? Is the US, the UK and other “westernised” countries breeding a feeling of loneliness?

I noticed this recently. My daughter is 6. Not much older than her, I was allowed to play out on the street. Nobody considered danger.

Now they do.

When my mother was a child, nobody considered it necessary to lock a door. It wasn’t a street of individuals. It was an open-door community.

Perhaps we are conditioned by the times we live in “not to comment”. The same disciplines we apply to our home lives of protectionism and segregation of ourselves and loved ones from perceived dangers eeks out into the cyber world of blogs.

And quite rightly too.

We are in the information age.

Whereas arguably in decades and centuries gone by, bad news travelled, but not as quickly and graphically as it does now, there was a level of protection that was born of ignorance.

But was the bad stuff and were the bad people simply not there? Or were we simply ignorant of them?

Is ignorance bliss?

We are no longer ignorant. Newsreaders give us graphic updates of atrocities in far-flung corners of the globe that turn our stomachs.

Yet our ancestors never saw this. It always happened.

Are we all a little like Lucky?

I wager that if you gave “blogging” to someone from the 1800’s, they wouldn’t hesitate to comment if you took away skill and class restrictions.

You can argue that new bloggers are a little more conditioned by society as it is today - protectionist and cautious more than unliberated by thought.

There is a barrier to hurdle to gain the confidence to speak.

Perhaps blogs and blogging has de-constructed those barriers? The medium, if you ignore some of the “security” issues has been largely overcome by the ability to remain anonymous.

If not anonymous, emboldened by the lack of immediate peer scrutiny that is naturaul in this medium - i.e. you can wear your shorts and nothing else and say what you like as nobody is looking (switch the webcam off!).

The medium has the ability to liberate us from this freedom-sapping onous of taking the worries of the world on our shoulders.

S*it happens (sorry Barb!). It always has. We just never saw it before.

But equally, the isolationism of blogging opens up more possibilities.

And we should embrace them, do as you say, and encourage others to speak out as they see fit.

Time to have a nap and ponder…

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Ian,

This reminds me of an interview I was listening to on TV last night, as I was attempting to go to sleep.

The two gentlemen (don’t ask me what show it was) were discussing how, all in all, most people in this world are decent people. However, the news media is conditioned to report, only the “bad”. By doing so, the public begins to believe “the world is bad”, when, in fact, it’s only a handful of individuals.

In blogosphere, depending on which sites one visits, your views can easily be distorted. A handful will write doom and gloom, whereas in reality, blogosphere could be considered a relatively safe place. Not only safe, but extremely informative.

I’m not saying we should not take precautions, however, the need to take a few precautions, should not paralyze us from sharing.

New bloggers, depending on where they got there information from, can develop the same attitudes.

Commenting, however, can raise other issues, such as shyness, lack of confidence, fear of being ridiculed, uncertainty of “proper English”, and so on.

We, as bloggers, who do leave/answer comments, can help to reduce this problem, by encouraging others to have their say, and to then, respect their opinion, even though it may be different than ours.

Barbara’s last blog post..New Blogger Begins To Feel Like An Abandoned Dog

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I suspect you can pick and choose who to talk to as well.

It’s a little like exiting the caves. We’re a little blinded by the light, shy and introverted.

But once someone shows us the way, we overcome this inertia adapt.

That’s what you’re doing and advocating. Which is the way to go.

Equally, we can defend ourselves who jump out of the cave with an axe they want to grind. Into our head.

Our defences are less subtle than a shield and an ability to side-step an axe-swipe.

They are firewalls. Spam filters. But more importantly common sense.

And it’s that same common sense that keeps the conversation going because we know how to side-step the neandrathals leaping from the cave.

At times (especially early morning) I appear like a cave-dweller. Grunting and gesticulating until the civilisation I adopted kicks in. Equally, near the end of the day, the cave-mentality overwhelms me (especially when tired).

The fact is though, there’s lots of people emerging from the caves right now. And they haven’t discovered the etiquette of ditching the axe in favour of a good old chat.

And we should be watching the cave entrances alot more!

Ian Denny’s last blog post..Why I Bothered To Tell This Sorry Story

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Thanks Barbara,

What a great reminder to us all that when challenged, always opt for generosity. Supporting emerging bloggers is a great thing we can all easily do.

It sounds like Lucky has brought lots of happiness into your life.

Kaye Swafford

Kaye Swafford’s last blog post..T-Shirt Therapy Does the Trick

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Barbara,

I know the feeling of the “abandoned dog,” in your post, but I am discovering that the blogging community is a wonderful family that WILL adopt those of us still learning our way.

Your post touched me a different way. My dog is also blind and has lost most of her hearing. She’s thirteen, but has this amazing ability to go with the flow. She has taught me so much about learning new ways to deal with obstacles.

Thanks for this post!!!!

Sara B. Healy´s last blog post..Are you ready to be launched?

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