I’ve also been thinking a lot about the Twitter world, since I’ve become recently addicted. Hopelessly. I only have one IRL friend on Twitter and her and I hardly communicate at all. Somehow, I find myself feeling a part of a greater community, feeling connected and that is why I I’ve become addicted.

2. Atm, it’s fun. Hopefully it won’t become a chore down the line.

3. Yes and yes. It was a company I interned for that got me into blogging and Twitter.

4. Try not to be too personal, to keep it as “light” as possible and remain balanced. I would hate for my blog to be propaganda because IRL, I consider all sides, so should remain that way in the blog world.

5. No – two of my post popular posts only have one comment on each (according to stats). I don’t think comments are reflective of showing how many people read your posts because, more often than not, I will read a post, but don’t feel the need to comment. It’s pointless commenting for the sake of commenting if you don’t actually have anything to say.

6. I have a quick skim every morning at Analytics to see my numbers, but I don’t pay much attention to them.

7. My blog is a place for me to showcase my writing and I would love for my numbers to grow (who wouldn’t?), but I’m pretty much happy with it developing at its own pace.

8. I do! I reply back in the comments section. As a reader, I often forget to check back on blogs I’ve commented on though to see if their is a response – doh!

2. Does blogging ever feel like a chore to you or is it always fun? it’s not always fun, because sometimes i know what i want to write and just can’t find enough time to write it. at those times, my posts become very convoluted, which is frustrating because that’s not how it sounds in my head. but i don’t think it always needs to be enjoyable either. writing is always a labor of love with me.

3. Do people you know in real life blog? Do they use twitter? some. i have a law school contingent of friends who blog and read mine as well (sort of a support system for those really dark blog days), and two of my bff’s from high school have blogs as well. not many twitter though, and i can’t figure out why! i love twitter!

4. Do you have any of your own unwritten rules of blogging? no. my blog to me is a journal. i try to approach is like i’m only writing for me, which is why sometimes the posts are so personal and non-relatable. i’m not trying to keep things interesting for anyone else; i’m trying (somewhat) to keep a record of my days and thoughts for my own sake. if people find that interesting, that’s just a huge perk.

5. Do you judge posts by how many comments they receive? i try not to, again for the above reasons. but i just really enjoy hearing what people have to say, so when a post doesn’t get a response, it’s a little disappointing. then again, i don’t have many readers (probably because i don’t go out there and read enough either), so i usually only get a small group of blogging friends who respond. i always look forward to hearing from those people though, and have taken to asking questions in my blog posts nowadays.

6. How much attention do you pay to your blog statistics? we have blog statistics? where?

7. Do you have any goals in mind for your blog? i guess to expand my readership maybe? i don’t know though, because then i worry that i would become too aware of what i’m writing and how i write it, etc.

8. Do you reply to comments? If so, how? In the comments section or by email? Which do you prefer as a blog reader? i can’t figure out how to respond to comments! i’m so not computer savvy, it’s embarrassing!

1. Relatively speaking, I’m happy with my blogging. Like you, I wish I was better at commenting. I just don’t have enough time in the day to read all the blogs I want to, so I fall behind and play catchup whenever I have an off day.

2. I want it to be fun, so whenever blogging feels like a chore, I don’t do it. I don’t want to write because I feel like I have to, it needs to be something I want to do. I try to make a point to take a break if I feel too pressured to perform.

3. I have a few real life friends who read my blog, and some of them have seen mine and are now starting their own. It’s kind of fun seeing the process, and a lot more of my friends are on Twitter now than were six months ago. I have a personal Twitter account and a blog one, though, so there is no crossover or confusion.

4. I don’t like to post more than once a day, generally speaking, unless something is pressing. … That’s probably it on this one.

5. I used to, but I don’t look at the numbers anymore. It’s just nice having people comment. (I don’t look at the numbers anymore because oftentimes, I cannot keep my WP open at work, which is where I receive the comments, etc. It has worked out nicely.)

6. I pay a lot of attention to the statistics. I’m fascinated by why comes to my site and where they came from. It’s just interesting to me.

7. Not really. I just want to document what I’m up to so I can have a sort of written record of this period of my life.

8. Yes. I try to send e-mails back to my commenters in a timely fashion. Granted, I’ve fallen behind on this for the week, but I generally am on top of it. And whenever someone new comes to my blog and leaves a comment, I go back and check their site out.

That’s it!

1. I’m pretty happy with my blog at the moment, as I still only really see it as just beginning to get into it’s groove. Writer’s block is irritating though.

2. It never feels like a chore, because it’s just a reflection of things I’ve thought or seen… If I was pushing myself to be deep and insightful every time, I think it would be more of a task.

3. I don’t think I really know any one outside of the internet itself that blogs. I barely knew anyone on Twitter when I joined.

4. My unwritten rules are to just keep on blogging about things that I am interested in, and not to start writing things just because I think they would be popular for readers.

5. I don’t really judge blogs by the comments… They’re obviously to a good standard, but there are blogs of all different sizes that I sometimes like to read better than ones with loads of comments (yours being one of them).

6. I have to admit that I check my statistics every day, but for me it’s because it spurs me on to write more rather than to create a “I’m famous on the internet” sort of feeling. It’s interesting to see what search terms people made to get there, and also to simply see which entries attracted the most views.

7. My main goal for my blog is to reach 5000 hits by the end of the year, which means that I have to keep writing entries at the same rate that I am now. It’s a marathon, rather than a sprint!

8. I reply to comments in my comments section, simply because some people don’t attach an email… Plus I think it’s nice to see the replies that the blogger left for other people too. I’ve got into the habit of always replying now, because I think it’s important that a blog shouldn’t just be a presentation of material to read… It should be interactive!

Nice entry Ashley. :)

2. Sometimes it feels like a chore, but most of the time it’s fun.

3. I know a handful of women who keep “family blogs,” which are basically inane journals of what’s going on with their kids and stuff. Outside of that, about three people I know keep blogs of substance (per my definition of substance, I guess). They don’t use Twitter, although a couple non-blog friends do. Those non-blog Twitterers don’t know I use Twitter, though.

4. I don’t talk about sex, politics, or religion. Granted, I think I had three or four politics-related posts last fall as the election stuff was on full tilt. They were more reactive to everyone else talking about politics than me tackling issues, though. Also, I stay away from profanity. Then again, I don’t really cuss in real life, so that’s not difficult.

5. I’m all over the map w/ my posts, so I don’t expect everyone to have something to say. The only time I judge a post on its comment totals is when it receives zero comments. Then I think I must’ve put out something incredibly weird.

6. I used to pay more attention to my blog stats than I do now. I used to check my hit totals every day, but now I’ve scaled back to checking them maybe twice or three times a week. It’s nice to have views, but part of my “coming to terms with my blogging” included really only caring about writing just to write and get stuff off my chest. It’s not always that pure an intent, though. Sometimes I’d still like nothing more than for people to read it and offer feedback.

7. For my current blog, I don’t have any goals other than to just keep saying what’s on my mind at a given moment. I have thought of starting another blog aimed at getting big and popular, with certain specific mini-goals therein, but I keep putting it off.

8. Sometimes I reply to comments. Not as often as I feel I should. I tend to reply in the comments because I feel the post-post comments are almost as much a part of the post as the post itself. I’ve never replied by email, but people have replied by email to me. As a reader, it doesn’t matter to me — whatever the blogger wants. As a blogger, I sorta feel weird emailing someone and invading their space, especially if the commenter doesn’t have their email address posted publicly on their blog.

Some answers:
1) Not all the time. Sometimes I think about stopping. But for the most part I love putting something out on the internet and the cool people who respond to it — the thing is though, you have to do this regularly to keep an audience!
2) Depends on the post/my mood. When I stopped making myself post 6 days a week it was less of a homework assignment.
3) Very very few.
4) Well, aside from my categories I follow, no. Well, OK I guess one: be true to yourself; don’t think too much about what others expect.
5) Nah. I’m not a fan of the politics of commenting. Comment if the spirit moves you. And it’s totally transparent when someone comments once or twice to get you to read their blog then stops reading. Sorry, that wasn’t quite answering the question!
6) When I started, I checked them multiple times a day because it was so fascinating! I had no idea you could know so much from just an IP address. I check like once a week now, just to see who is linking to me.
7) Hmm, try to keep it going?
8) Sometimes I do via comments. I’ve noticed though that since I started using Bloglovin to read blogs, I rarely go back to a post where I commented to check if the comment got a response, so I don’t know if others do this too.

I don’t feel like blogging is a chore. Most of the time I have so many ideas that I just start writing a bunch of posts, and then decide what’s timely, and what can be posted any time. Like you, I try not to post more than once a day (2 times is my absolutely MAX) I get so annoyed when I check my reader three times a day, and someone has already posted AGAIN! Unless you have something really good to say, I keep it to once. Plus, I try to make my one post a day thoughtful and complete.

I would like to become a better commenter, but it’s hard. It takes a lot of time to read blogs, and then to click over and comment, but I know I love getting comments so I like to help other people to get that too.

I post my blogs usually just after midnight if possible, so that they are up for an entire day. I also like posting at midnight, because when I wake up, I usually have a few comments in my inbox, and it helps me get my day started.

I do pay attention to my statistics. I use statcounter.com and google analytics. I get really excited when my numbers go up (esp. after the 20sb nominations) but I don’t judge everything based on them. I like my CORE group of readers and commenters, and I feel like they really know me, and I really know them and that’s why blogging is important to me. It’s not really about the numbers.

I sometimes respond to comments, but on blogger it’s difficult because it doesn’t let you do the email thing that WordPress does. Often, if I have something to say, I’ll find their email on their blog, or respond in one of their posts. I never do it within my own comments. I mean, I read about 100 blogs a day, I’m not going back through their comments later, to see if they responded. That’s just silly.

I like this post and the questions you asked! I wonder these things about other bloggers often!

2. It has felt like a chore in the past. When it does, I take a break until I start missing it.

3. Only one of my “real life” friends blogs and uses twitter.

4. I don’t do memes.

5. I used to wonder why posts I worked so hard on would only get a few comments, while half-assed ones got dozens. Now I just accept it.

6. Early on I paid more attention to stats. Now I don’t care.

7. I don’t really have any blogging goals. It is just mostly about having a place to share my writing.

8. I sometimes reply to comments with a comment. I sometimes do it via e-mail. And sometimes I don’t reply at all. I guess it depends on how I feel about the comment.

2. Does blogging ever feel like a chore to you or is it always fun?
It’s never felt like a chore to me. If I feel like it’s a chore, I just find one of my drafts and post it. I won’t sit and try really hard to come up with something interesting. If I have nothing in my drafts then woops, I won’t blog that day. Once blogging is not fun for me anymore I’ll just move on.

3. Do people you know in real life blog? Do they use twitter?
I only have one offline friend who blogs on a livejournal. I don’t know anyone who twitters.

4. Do you have any of your own unwritten rules of blogging?
Yes, tons. I never talk about personal things people can’t relate to (Bobby told me that Jessica told him that Mary is a satanist!), I always use good spelling, I try to make my blogs relatively short (although sometimes it can’t be helped), and I try not to bring up religion.

5. Do you judge posts by how many comments they receive?
Not anymore. I used to when I first started out but after a while I just don’t care anymore. I’d rather have 5 thoughtful comments than 20 half-thoughtful comments. I take that mentality.

6. How much attention do you pay to your blog statistics?
Not too much, I’ll check them twice a month or so. I check my referrers a lot.

7. Do you have any goals in mind for your blog?
I want to incorporate more photos with my posts, but that won’t happen until I finally get a decent camera. I think I’ll end up having a photoblog in the future.

8. Do you reply to comments? If so, how? In the comments section or by email? Which do you prefer as a blog reader?
I don’t reply to comments a lot. I found out early that most people don’t check back so I just don’t. Sometimes, if it was a hot topic, I’ll reply to people in an actual blog.

Also, did you come up with these questions or did you find this someplace else?

I will probably continue the trend and make a post where I answer these questions on my blog so I won’t respond here. But I think along the same lines as you in certain instances, so I’m glad I’m not alone in my reasoning and thinking.

2. I think it’s fun. Probably b/c I know that no one reads it, so I don’t feel the pressure to be entertaining.

3. My bff has a blog, but doesn’t use it. A few real life people I know have a twitter that I follow.

4. I try to be entertaining and funny. And usually fail. I try not to write too much (length wise) and always fail. I try to only write once daily. This I usually am able to do although it does take some control on really slow days at work.

5. I rarely get comments. When I do, it absolutely makes me day. I don’t use it to judge my blog though. Like I said, it’s a journal for me, some days in my life are more entertaining than others.

6. I don’t have blog statistics. If I did, I would check them religiously. I’ll have to find a way to get them.

7. I’d like to get more people to read my blog. I think that’s everyone’s goal. Of course, to do that my blog needs to be more entertaining, so my life needs to be more entertaining, so I need to actually go out. Which is my new years resolution. So maybe…

8. I always reply to comments. Always in the comments section because I’m sure these people don’t want emails from me. I, on the other hand, adore emails because I’m usually sitting at my desk at work bored and lonely, so please email me. Anyone, everyone, email me.