Has “Say It With A Camera” Lost It’s Way?


I’m not a stats guy. I don’t look at the WordPress stats every day, In fact I might not look at them for months and months. But one thing I am aware of. The number of comments on “Say It With A Camera” have dropped dramatically. So that prompted me to look at the stats…..and it’s depressing.

According to WordPress “Say It With A Camera” has 3481 followers and yet after I published my latest post for the weekly challenge only 80 people have viewed the post…..and looking back over past weeks it’s very similar.

On that basis I’m beginning to think is it worth my while continuing to blog.

Maybe it’s me, it’s possible I’m not writing anything that’s of interest. Or perhaps it’s the photographs?  I’m not looking for my ego to be stoked here. I just think something is missing and I don’t know what it is. If you do, I’d appreciate your thoughts, although going by current stats I’m unlikely to get much in the way of replies.

In the meantime I was taking a break from blogging whilst on holiday, but I think I will extend that break to give me time to contemplate the future of “Say It With A Camera”.

But I will leave you with a photograph – Mike

The Crypt

27 replies to “Has “Say It With A Camera” Lost It’s Way?”

  1. One thing I have seen is that the stats are not representative of the people who are reading. If you read directly from the email, as I normally do, it does not hit the stats at all. So that part is slightly misleading. As for comments, I confess I hardly comment, though this post did resonate. On my blog I have only about 20 followers and stats show about 3-5 visitors per post. But in reality I don’t care. I write oi to keep myself amused 🙂 I am sure I could get more followers if I put the effort in, but I am not really that bothered. Like you, my ego is ok anyway. The blog is a bit of fun that I just enjoy doing. Don’t give it up. If it makes you feel any better I have had about 5 comments in all the time I have been doing it

    Liked by 4 people

    1. From my point of view I don’t always see the writing as fun any more, ever since WordPress changed the schedule from a Friday to Wednesday for the weekly challenge. It used to be WP would publish the challenge, I’d do some research over the weekend and go out on a Wednesday with the specific challenge in mind. Write the blog on Thursday,and then be ready for the next challenge. Circumstances mean that I have Wednesday free for photography. Now with the change to the new schedule, I’m finding quite often that I’m using “back catalogue” photographs, I can go back to 2005 if required, to fulfil the WordPress challenge.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. If it is not fun then I do not see the point. Only time to do things that are not fun is if someone is paying you a lot of money to do so

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I’m with David. I was going to make a similar comment until I read David’s comment. If your purpose in blogging is numbers, then you may want to stop blogging or reconsider your purpose.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. It’s never been about stats Kenne. I always enjoy having a follow up to a post through the comments. Perhaps I’ve just lost my way and need to take a break, I know the motivation is not the same since WP changed the weekly challenge schedule.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. I always enjoy reading your posts but I know I don’t always like or comment on posts – I’m a bit of a swine for that, the comments in particular. For me it would certainly be a shame not to see more of your posts.

    As for the stats themselves they could be misleading – I know there are occasions where if possible I read a post from some blogs I follow in the email if they appear in full. If there is no comment of like left then this presumably does not count as a ‘view’ as the page is not opened? Perhaps look at the options available to only show a preview of the post rather than the whole thing in the email? That would at least bolster the views though not necessarily increase likes/comments.

    Personally I like the variation in your posts from subjects and your own thoughts as displayed with them. Personally I would love to have more followers/views but I need to post far more regularly in order to get any kind of following. The majority of views I get are from people checking out what I have said about Viewbug (which isn’t a lot, just some of my results) and very little of anything else.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. I never thought of limiting the amount that is shown in an email, Neil. The followers have built up over the years, I’ve been blogging long enough for that to happen. I suppose in a way I just need a break, but have a look at my comment above to David.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I don’t think I have ever published a WPC in the week it had been set even when it was set on a Friday – which I agree was more convenient. For me circumstances limit when I can do anything unfortunately, so when I do respond to a WPC it is often from the back catalogue – on occasion this can be better easier but defeats the point of having it there to get you thinking of something new.

      As far as losing the enjoyment then it is best to take a break. If you feel like it come back to it in a few weeks/months or however long if you want to. You may well find that having not seen anything from you for a while there may be more interaction. But regardless, if you’re not enjoying it then it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Spend the time doing what you enjoy.

      Liked by 2 people

  4. Hi Mike. As per some of the other comments:
    a) I think you have to ask yourself why you decided to blog in the first place. (In my case it was partly to fill my retirement time, partly to show what a great place Switzerland is to go walking, but mainly to save me emailing my family with things they may or may not be interested in, so I let them choose what they might like to read – like any other followers, but..)
    b) once you have a certain number of followers, (and I have nowhere near as many as you), you do wonder why they follow you if your posts only get ‘Liked’ by less than 10%. Are they reading them at all I wonder?
    c) my general practice (rightly or wrongly), for the sites that I follow, is to Like the posts that have good content and I think are interesting. But I do read all the posts that I follow (not that it is a huge number I confess) and yours is one of the more interesting ones, with great pictures, so I do hope that you continue… 🙂
    In the meantime, have a nice holiday!
    Cheers,
    Mike

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I first started blogging Mike because I saw it as a way of promoting my photography. But I soon came to realise that I was doing it more for fun and by taking part in the weekly challenge it gave me an outlet to have a go at subjects I might not have previously considered.

      Plus there was the added bonus of of looking at how other bloggers tackled the challenge. I still make a point of visiting new blogs each week and leaving a like if if I like what I read. If a blog post really wows me I’ll always leave a comment. Those blogs that I like I will post a pingback to on my post. Generally I’m looking for new bloggers I haven’t seen before when I do this.

      Because I never really look at the stats I don’t know how many are liking my posts each week. But like I say I’m not really a stats oriented guy.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. I hear you on the weekly challenge Mike but I’ve found even tho WP changed it, many people are still responding as if the challenges were still coming out on Friday. I know I do just as well if I respond on Saturday or Sunday as I do responding on Thurs or Fri. I believe strongly that visits and comments you receive are pretty directly related to the number of visits and comments you make. So have you been visiting other blogs, appreciating others’ efforts and leaving comments as you visit? If not it might explain the falloff.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I do visit other blogs Tina, I make it a point to try and look at new blogs each week or blogs I haven’t visited in a long time. If you look at my comment above to Mike (Alittlebitoutoffocus) that sort of explains what I do each week.

      Like

  6. Yes. I concur with the majority. Keep posting. I also love your photos as they seem to tell a story, but don’t lose site of your passion. Do what you like, like what you do.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Yes! Clearly a passion. And I learn FROM you. On another note…I have seen a lot of people mention they aren’t receiving feedback. I think lots of people are on holiday and also getting little cherubs back to school. Just a thought. Have a good week. Now go find some cool “corners” for us. Wink.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Dear Mike, I would be very sad if you stopped blogging. I think I have only missed a few posts when I did not comment. I am probably your most loyal commenter but I could be wrong about that.

    Why are you doing the weekly challenge? If I had your equipment. stamina and photographic eye, I’d be posting what ever my heart desired. I think the WP weekly thing is limiting and it would have caused me burn out a long time ago if had been in your shoes.

    I found early on that if you don’t find blogs that you think are interesting and that you read and view and then comment on those blogs as regularly as you can, then you will not get comments in return. I have tried to cultivate bloggers that have pets. But some blogs I follow because I like reading what that person writes about. I like getting comments but my last post thus far has generated only around 20 maybe-not sure. Folks that have been my regular commenters have not commented nor liked. Sometimes notices of posts don’t show up in email and I keep wondering if that is what happened. I have un-followed a few blogs because that person never made an effort to comment on mine. A couple of them where bloggers who also write about pet/s and never commented on mine. In my conclusion I think some folks will not comment if they feel there is competition.

    To sum up, it boils down to “I scratch your back and you scratch mine.” With your blog it never mattered to me if you commented on mine or not. I follow you for the enjoyment of seeing wonderful scenes done by an expert photographer. And as I wrote earlier, I follow about three other bloggers who never comment on my blog. Those folks are talented, interesting and entertaining writers and that is pretty rare in my humble opinion. I do enjoy reading what you write- the how, when and, where and some personal tidbits thrown in which makes me it more interesting to read.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh! You are my most loyal commenter, Yvonne and I do appreciate it.. Yesterday I was tired and frustrated, today is another day and things look so much brighter. I do sometimes wonder if WP are really sending out emails to everyone who follows my blog every time I post but there again I should remember it is vacation time and a lot of people are away. The weekly challenge did give me an incentive to post each week and also it was a bit of challenge because it forced me to look at some subjects in a different way. Also when I was out I would be looking for a photograph to match up with the challenge.

      Maybe it’s time to break away from the challenge and just go back to showing my photographs when I like. I’ve also been thinking about changing the them of my blog to go back to showing larger photographs. But I’ll look at that after my holiday

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Have you considered the fact that people don’t have to come and read the posts because they have them mailed direct. I never (well only once of course) came to read the blog. Now it drops in my email box and I read it from there.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I hadn’t considered it Kris. but Neil Torr mentioned something similar in his comment. He did mention that maybe I should limit the amount shown in the email which would drive people to the blog to finish reading an article. I’m not so sure that I want to do that…..

      Like

      1. My point rather than saying it’s what you ought to do but was more to do with it affecting the stats in that not everyone that reads your posts is necessarily recorded in those stats and changing that could make a difference to what shows.

        Liked by 1 person

  11. I feel that blogosphere is all about interaction. So unless you are interested in others blog, very few will visit yours. Commenting and liking other blogs are part of this unwritten rule

    Liked by 1 person

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