jamie ann

blog annoyances

November 17th, 2008 at 9:00 am . Posted in bloggy things .

The other day I cleaned out my reader and twitter. It was long overdue. I’d skip over way too many blogs when they updated and basically it was just taking up space. Since it kind of ties in to my cleaning the house of my internet life, why not blog about it? I know there is a thread going on the 20SB forums about this but not everyone uses the forums so I thought I’d post about it here too. It should make for an interesting discussion!

I’m going to add this as a note before: don’t get all offended if you see something you might do in this post or comments. That doesn’t mean no one likes your blog or you or whatever. We are talking generally here and not pointing fingers. In the end – it’s all about content. Don’t get your internet panties all in a twist!

What makes you click that unsubscribe button? Or click away when you come across a new blog? Or unfollow on twitter? What turns you off?

Let’s hear it.

Mine:

Partial feeds. I probably love you and your blog but the partial feed thing kills me! You can say I’m lazy but I’d rather read through my reader and if I have a comment, then I’ll click over.
Even worse – no feed. I hate when I try to add something to my reader and am unable to because you have no feed. FeedBurner is your friend. Burn, baby, burn!
LOLspeak. I know we all use it occasionally, but if your whole blog is all OMGWTFLOLZBBQ!@? Well, that can be hard to read unless you are in 8th grade where that is spoke fluently.
Excessive emoticons. ‘Nuff said.
Light text on dark backgrounds. It’s way too hard on the eyes. Seriously, my glasses could be coke bottles and that makes it just harder!
Cluttered blog design. If you have gifs, glittery blinkys, tons of images all of your blog, it is definitely hard to read because I’m too freaking distracted by the rainbow that vomited to tell me how much you luv you have 4 ur gurlz or whatever.
Hard to navigate blogs. Plain and simple.
If your blog is ugly or boring. Not everyone wants a custom design or can afford one or even cares. I just think it’s nice to have something on it, whether design or something in your sidebars that shows some personality. Something that shows you. If I come across a blog for the first time that has nothing, I’m more than likely going to click away.
Blogs that talk shit all the time, are constantly negative or feel the need to attack others to get attention. LAME.
Twitter peeve: Don’t twitter your whole story in a flutter of tweets. It’s called microblogging for a reason. Hit up your real blog for that.
Trying to hard. Don’t force it. Some people just have a way with words and can make anything sound beautiful. Others don’t. Don’t force it. Don’t try so hard to move your readers to tears or be super deep. It’s obvious when you’re forcing the words.

Overall, remember content is key. If you have great content, people will come back. Everyone has different tastes too. Some people might love your blog, some people might hate it. Don’t take it personal.

Always, have fun with it though.

92 Comments ( Reply )

Maxie
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:13 am

Reallllly long posts all the time. If it’s every once and a while it doesn’t bother me.

During the election I unsubscribed from a few for anti-Obama stuff (not hateful, just different from my POV)… if they wrote about it once I could deal, but if it became a regular thing I’d just unsubscribe.

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jen
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:23 am

I agree with Maxie on the long blog post.

I also have an issue with people who constantly bash things I love – like TEXAS! If you don’t like it, LEAVE and stop griping about it. The constant negativity is the worse.

During the election I unsubscribed to a few of the Obama “followers” that did nothing but bash our current administration. That was more than a little out of control on a few sites.

Thanks for doing this. I’m looking forward to checking the comments and learning more.

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Kyla Bea
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:32 am

I really agree with these – I hate it when people twitter endlessly about one thing and give a play by play. It’s not IM & you’re talking to 100+ of us!

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heidi
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:43 am

people who are too political (on the contrary to maxie’s post i unsubscribed from a ton of people who all pro-obama all the time back when i was incredibly undecided)

partial feeds – HATE THAT

generally if i’m reading, and commenting and they don’t click over to my blog after a while, I’ll unsubscribe. Why read if it’s all one sided right? (is that petty? probably but i lurk a lot of the time)

whiny blogs. People who are “woe is me” all the time. Every dog (or blogger) has their days and thats fine but if jane doe is constantly blogging about how no one likes her or she can’t find a suitable boyfriend it becomes redundant and boring.

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Arielle
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:44 am

The main factor for me unsubscribing is blogs/tweets that are always flat out boring. I like reading about people’s lives but you have to be able to tell a good story or at least know when the story is worth sharing. I don’t give a crap about the tiny minute boring details.

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Ben
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:44 am

Nothing but daily recaps – tell me an interesting story not just “these are the 23 things I did today including what snacks I ate”.

Excessive Youtubage – if I want to watch video after video, I’ll go to YouTube. Not your blog.

Coloured fonts – please remember that people are trying to READ what you’re writing, not have seizures as a result.

What spellcheck?? – I’ll forgive the occasional screw up but when your posts are constantly riddled with grammatical errors and typos? I’ll give up pretty quick.

Girly parts – I do not and I never will enjoy reading about your periods. End. Of. Story.

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alexa
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:45 am

not showing their whole post in a reader annoys me – it doesn’t make me click through, duh.

cats, i really hate cats.

negative blogs, everyone has the right to vent (i do) but come on now smile a little.

and the light text on dark background thing DRIVES ME NUTS. i can’t read it – no way no how.

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Dutchess of Kickball
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:46 am

I also agree with the long blog posts. I don’t have time during the day to read all that. I fit my blog reading in during quick breaks from doing work generally, I want them to be quick and to the point. And if they don’t hold my interest I just go back to working.

I also dislike when I comment continuously on someone’s blog and they obviously never come back to read my blog.

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jessica maria
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:48 am

I hate partial feeds!!!

I unsubscribe if a person doesn’t write well; and if they write in very long paragraphs. Well-written paragraphs shouldn’t be so long, and one paragraph made of 50 sentences should not be an entire post. It makes it so much harder to read and get into it. Very distracting.

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jessica maria
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:50 am

PS Apologies for my light text on dark background; I like it! At least you have me in your Reader and don’t have to read it as such!

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sara jane
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:52 am

I’m with you on the partial feed and the dark background with light fonts.

I find myself liking blogs that not only talk about what they’re doing in life, but more so talk about how it made them think or feel. A daily recap isn’t all that intriguing.

I can’t say I’ve ever deleted anyone though. I know that they won’t know, but I feel like it would hurt their feelings. I’m such a sap.

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Ben
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:56 am

OH! I forgot my least favourite one:

A! NEW! MEME! EVERY! DAY!

SO! EXCITED! TO! SHARE! THIS! SURVEY! / RANDOM! FACTS!

No. It’s not reckless exclamation point usage. It’s those goddamn random fact emails that people get out of control with. Once a month? Sure. Twice a week? Gimme a break. No one is going to hate you if you stop filling them out when you get tagged.

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Amy
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:10 am

for me i get turned off if a post is really long and it doesnt interest me in the first paragraph or two. i like lists [like this one!], i like funny stories…i like life stories…i like pictures!

i don’t know how much you read my blog, but i’m happy to consider not having many of your reasons for NOT reading one! i know that i DON’T have a way with words, so i try to keep my chattering to a minimum, using lists and pictures w/ captions instead

i’m also really busy and never go through my reader…so i often read blogs that are posted via twitter or the title sounds interesting…[which is a huge failure of mine]

anyway…………happy monday!

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Rachel M.
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:24 am

My pet peeve is multiple posts in one day…I can understand 2, maybe 3 if something exciting happened to you, but the people that post about their morning drive, being bored at work, what they should eat for dinner, and being excited about their favorite show coming on that night, they drive me nuts. It makes my reader look even more intimidating then it already is

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deutlich
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:27 am

Not only do I agree on EVERY single point, I seeeeeeeeeeriously loathe twittering of one’s whole story and quickly delete people for it.

Cuz eeeeeew.

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ashley.marie
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:37 am

alot = a LOT

That one bugs me a lot. I won’t unsubscribe, but I just feel the need to tell everyone: good grammar is your friend!

Blogs that constantly have product reviews also annoying (um – that ALL happen to be raving reviews since they’re being PAID to say that.)

Oooh, the long, rambling ones that aren’t even entertaining bug me, as well.

And now I’m just ranting. Truth be told – I tend to read blogs that make me think or laugh. Usually, I’ll read the ones that make me think more often. I don’t read blogs that are solely about hooking up or getting drunk, because that’s just not interesting to me. (Nor is the play-by-play blogs like Ben mentioned.)

If you’re on my faves list in Google Reader – I care about you and what you have to say. And think you say it well…it’s really as simple as that.

(I’m not as angry and picky as I sound, promise. I adore the blogging world.)

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Ashley
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:37 am

I agree with all these, i’m a light text on dark background culprit since I can’t find a theme I like just yet but thats changing, because i hate it too

My irks? SPELLCHECK. My lord use it.

Same with the constant abbreviations/LOLspeak–LOSE IT. One word or one sentence is fine but i cannot read an entire post like that.

Partial feeds. I will never read a post if its not fully there in my reader. (I’m lazy and i have way too many blogs to read)

Negative people. There’s only so much I can take of woe is me.

I always have a hard time removing people from my reader, I always feel guilty especially if it was a blog I used to read regularly.

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ashley.marie
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:38 am

PS: Twittering about your husband grabbing your boob and/or enjoying post-coital snacks = TMI, people! I don’t want to know that ish!

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Captain Steve
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:42 am

I loathe partial feeds. I can deal with boring templates though, simply because I’ve tried screwing with mine and I am woefully undereducated in computery type things so it always looks all wonky.

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slynnro
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:43 am

I have a partial feed for a very valid reason- my career is such that blogging is kind of a major no-no, so I have to see who’s reading. I click through and read everyone’s blogs NOT in reader, so I’m keeping myself honest. Seriously- I hate reading in Reader. I think it is so annoying and there is something to be said for visiting a person’s actual page. I think it adds to the reading experience. You have to consider why someone might have a partial feed.

I had a friend on Twitter I had to stop following because at least 75% of her tweets were about hating people in my particular profession. I called her out and it, and in her very next tweet, she complained yet again about how much she hated people in my field. UNFOLLOW!

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Suz
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:46 am

I totally agree with the partial feed one! I will unsubribe so fast if I can’t read you in my reader.

I also don’t like ones where everyday is a different theme day but none are of any real substance like on Monday I’ll feature a recepie and on Tuesday I will tell you about what my kids are doing this week on Wednesday I’ll post my favorite links…and then repeat it all the next week.

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Kandi
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:50 am

Rants.

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Kandi
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:54 am

and short feeds. with no pictures.

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Travis
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:55 am

A lot of YouTubers like to Twitter their entire day. “Going to Starbucks with SupaDupaFlyGirl.” “Having a great time at Starbucks.” “Texting olgakay.” “Back home.” Etc. You may be a big hit on the Internets, but not every detail of you life is that interesting!

One of my blog pet peeves is people who don’t update in months. If it’s been three months since your last post, you’re off the list.

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nuttycow
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:00 am

You’re not alone on the whole “full feed” preference. I can’t stand it when people only put a) titles or b) the first paragraph in their feeds. Why do it? So desperate to get some stat porn? *rolls eyes*

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Viviane
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:04 am

I pretty much agree with you on all your points! I often find myself skipping really long posts or posts with partial feeds. I mean the feed reader is there for a reason, so you don’t have to visit the blog itself, and then the partial feed forces you to click links and open more windows/tabs.

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Crissy
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:09 am

I just lost a reader recently. I see him commenting EVERYWHERE else and so I know he’s still around but for some reason? He doesn’t read my blog anymore. So after a few weeks I stopped commenting on his because I’m hurt.

There. I said it. It’s hard not to take it personally when you lose a reader.

It’s just like, WHAT DID I DO MAN? YOU USED TO LOVE ME!!!!

Gosh. I feel much better now that I’ve talked to the Lovelys about it.

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Alyssa
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:21 am

I LOATHE partial feeds!!! I don’t get it! When I’m at work I don’t want to be clicking to go to all these individual blogs. Ugh! So I agree with most of what you said, although I do tend to use a lot of happy faces when I type Oh and my blog is pretty ugly right now until I make a cute banner! Boo.

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Marie
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:22 am

Agreed.

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Matt
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:24 am

I hate blogs that, when you comment you have to enter the word verification thingy.

After doing that ten times everyday, it gets a little old.

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brookem
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:33 am

i agree with most all of these for sure.

(and i guess ben will hate my TMI post from last thursday. but i mean, it IS TMI for a reason, right?)

i dont like a daily recap. or a recap that assumes you’ve read the one before. i realllly care not for the … text speak? or, whatever the hell category the “kthxbai” thing falls under.

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Kaci
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:47 am

Ditto to 1, 2, 3… eh, all of ‘em! I especially loathe the bad design, but that’s easily remedied if I like the writing by adding to my reader. Done and done.

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Astharis
Nov 17, 2008 @ 12:57 pm

I agree with pretty much every point you made, except for the one about Twitter. I could never get on with how that works. Unless someone is blogging live for an event (it was fascinating watching the tweets come in over Election Night), but otherwise I find it pretty dull.

And I only just realised the other day how much white text on dark backgrounds hurts my eyes. Wasn’t it only back in the 80s that they were claiming that it was better for your eyesight?

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Rachie
Nov 17, 2008 @ 1:07 pm

Of course this is just me but I don’t think my blog is any of those. I’m glad!

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Jane
Nov 17, 2008 @ 1:14 pm

I agree with these. But I have to say, there are blogs in my reader (and bookmarks list, if they break #2) that break all of these rules. I’m such a rules follower that I sometimes can’t help falling in love with the rule-breakers.

My reader is out of control, though. And I added some more feeds from following comments on this post. I’m pretty much hopeless.

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SA
Nov 17, 2008 @ 1:47 pm

If it gets boring. If I’m basically glossing through the words instead of actually reading them it’s time to unsubscribe the blog from the feed. As for twitter if someone updates way WAY too much I eventually get bored with reading them. So I stop following.

I agree with you on partial feeds. I wonder if there is a way to get around that.

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Erica
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:24 pm

Partial feeds x 100!!
Negativity also. And bloggers who REGULARLY (I don’t mind every once in a while) write all about what they just bought! Because it was so cute! Or ask their readers which item they should buy. This doesn’t apply to fashion bloggers, of course. Just personal bloggers.

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ANG*
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:25 pm

i’m harsh. i’ll admit it.

• partial feed? easy, gone.
• all you do is talk about your wedding? – no thanks, gone.
• go on and on and on about nothing and never make me laugh? – absolutely gone.

i have tons o blogs in my reader that i loooooove and i am constantly adding. i love the variety, but if i’m bored after a few weeks, i generally clean house.

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ANG*
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:30 pm

did i just lose subscriptions of my own? probably…

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Meghan
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:36 pm

Sorry. I’ll try to make my blog shinier. With pictures. And space cowboys. Or something like that.

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Gretchen
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:39 pm

I have to agree with everything that’s already been said, especially grammar and whining. Also, I do have an issue with excessive swearing. Some is fine by me, but I think there are better ways to express yourself than using certain words six times in a sentence.

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LizSara
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:41 pm

As another light text dark background culprit I find the ‘don’t partial feed’ + ‘don’t have light text dark background’ quite funny. Clearly you’re only going to the blog to comment because you read in a feed reader (as many of us do) so why is it such a hardship to have the other.

I do understand if it’s a partial feed and light text dark background though, if you can’t see it properly and you have to read it all each day that can be difficult.

I don’t think I do any of the others on your list though (phew).

My pet hates are; life bloggers that only have 1 subject, whether it’s the election, their wedding, their diet whatever. Unless it’s a themed read vary it a little.
People who don’t post for ages, then apologise for not posting, then don’t post again.
Bad spelling/grammar/lolspeak/americanisms from non-americans

I’ve recently stopped reading blogs at work so i’m not as bothered about the partial feed thing any more, but it’s much nicer to have things in my reader.

I’m off to check I haven’t broken any more rules now x

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Kerri Anne
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:43 pm

I’m so glad I’m not alone with the white text on dark background pet peeve. DRIVES ME CRAZY, and also: blind.

I haven’t used a reader for nearly all of 2008 and I feel like I’m a better blog reader, and writer, without it. I use Twitter and my own links page to keep up with my friends and otherwise favorite sites, and try to comment as often as possible. Because I really do like! to comment.

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Chris
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:44 pm

Gretchen hates my blog.

Fuck!

Ok, seriously. I hate Twitterers who do it too much. I’m sorry, but you don’t have to post something every three minutes, somethings are better left unsaid. I’ve dropped quite a few people because of that.

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Lauren
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:45 pm

I agree with all of yours (oh man, I can’t stand OMG LOL etc) except for the last. I don’t think the writers THINK they’re trying too hard. It’s their place to write, so if they’re trying that style, go for it.

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nicoleantoinette
Nov 17, 2008 @ 2:50 pm

Ha, I love my dark background and white writing But i have a full feed so you never have to read it that way if you don’t want to.

My pet peeve? pointless posts. Posts that I read and think “why the HELL did you post this?!?”

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The Modern Gal
Nov 17, 2008 @ 3:00 pm

These are all reasons why I won’t subscribe in the first place. I try to read a blog for a few days and decide if they’re worthy of my blogreader. I’ve only unsubscribed from a few — one became so offensive before the election that it had to go, one just kept writing really, really long posts that stopped grabbing my attention.

I follow so many blogs now that I tend to only add new blogs if they’re regular commentors on my own.

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Julie Q
Nov 17, 2008 @ 3:07 pm

ugh I totally agree with your take on negative blogs. One of my favs has recently turned into a bitch fest, and i’m getting REALLY annoyed.. oh well, just don’t have to click on it, that’s all

I love your list! Its like all the stuff I think in my head and was afraid to write (cos everything will take it personally and think you’re talking about their blog)

i might have to piggyback on this post!

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Lacey Bean
Nov 17, 2008 @ 3:09 pm

Hahahah I almost peed my pants when you added BBQ onto the end of this “OMGWTFLOLZBBQ!@?. HAHA.

I unsubscribe in Reader when I find myself skipping past the persons blog, same as you. Or to be honest, when they’ve become uninteresting!

I also wont read a blog when I can’t follow the format (on the actual website) or if its too difficult to read. I also dont like blogs that write in a philosophical manner about their day/issues. Give it to me straightfoward!!

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Mrs. Priss
Nov 17, 2008 @ 3:26 pm

Oh, what a great post… and I’m loving reading all the feedback!

I definitely have to agree about the partial feeds thing. When you’re doing most of your blog reading at work, it’s too much work to click through your 300 unread posts…. ahhhhh.

Also, I loved what someone up there said about weddings. I like pictures, and enjoy reading about your big day in one or two posts, but good Lord, not every day.

The same goes for mommy blogs, where they basically just put pictures of their kids all the time and don’t include any other content. I know it’s going to be hard for me in a few weeks when I have my baby, but I’m trying to keep the variety!

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MIriam
Nov 17, 2008 @ 3:38 pm

IU’d have to agree with everything except for the excessive use of emoticons. I think we are all aware of how much I love my smileys

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Lisa
Nov 17, 2008 @ 3:45 pm

Exactly on the partial feed! Why does ANYBODY post a partial feed? DOOOONT DOO ITTTT

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brandy
Nov 17, 2008 @ 3:53 pm

I love this! I agree with a lot of what you said- especially with the emoticons. Also? I really struggle to follow those blogs where they have a side list of like, ten characters with bizarre nicknames who they reference constantly. Also? If you never make me laugh, I quit you.

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erin
Nov 17, 2008 @ 4:06 pm

i would pretty much agree with every single one of your reasons. I should probably do some de-cluttering myself.

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kim
Nov 17, 2008 @ 4:24 pm

Negativity = deleted from my reader.

There’s no reason to be mean to other people and call them f*ck sticks. Your own insecurities are glowing like a neon light when you do that.

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kim
Nov 17, 2008 @ 4:25 pm

Oh…continuous cursing. Ew ew ew. You can drop some 4 letter words if it’s amusing and makes your writing better, but throwing in a tapestry of obsenities hurts my ears.

and then I can’t read your blog aloud to my friends at work.

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Helmey
Nov 17, 2008 @ 5:02 pm

for most people its finding my blog…its so awesome everything else is a huge let down… I might be full of shit here…

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mel
Nov 17, 2008 @ 6:00 pm

I just noticed my own was set for a partial feed! OH NOES!!

Fixed that.

Because that’s one thing that annoys me, too….

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Andrea
Nov 17, 2008 @ 6:23 pm

I hate partial feeds. 99.9% of the time I. Will. Not. Click. Through. Even if I’m interested. Seriously, I must be the laziest MFer alive.

Bad grammar. I’m not the best typist ever, but poor grammar bugs me.

Pity party blogs. Pity party entries are okay. But if it’s the whole blog? I’m out.

Please don’t Tweet every time you’re about to go have sex. It’s annoying. And I’m not just saying that because I don’t get laid enough.

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Megkathleen
Nov 17, 2008 @ 6:23 pm

I hate bad grammar and bad spelling. It just makes you sound stupid and I don’t read stupid people’s blogs.

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Vanessa
Nov 17, 2008 @ 6:40 pm

I’m loving reading your comments on this! I agree with those listed and want to add: poor grammar, misspellings (once here or there is tolerable, but proof your work!), negativity and/or constantly talking about your wedding/baby/diet. Another thing I hate is blogs that won’t allow comments from the Blackberry. Since starting school, I have precious little free time for blog reading. If I make the effort to read you while I’m on break, in the waiting room, etc, let me leave a comment! I know not everyone can control this one but it’s a pet peeve of mine. PS: Your’s is one of those that doesn’t allow comments from the BB, but I love you and get over here as often as I can! Great post.

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Erin
Nov 17, 2008 @ 7:56 pm

Super LONG blog posts. I want to read you, but I read blogs to relax. If your posts are too long for my ADD brain, I’ll give up.

Nothing but bitching and moaning. If your life sucks, change it.

No feed. Sorry, but I live in my reader. If you don’t have a feed, I’m not reading you.

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Jessica
Nov 17, 2008 @ 8:46 pm

Flat out, my recent annoyance has been blogs that play music when you open them and you have to scroll really far down to put it on pause. That really bothers me.

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Maegan
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:30 pm

I agree with your list, and I’ll add that if there is so much junk & links & “click here!” on a blog that it takes eons! to open up, not just once but repeatedly, then I’ll stop reading it. I know patience is a virtrue and perhaps I am missing some good stuff, but I would just rather move on to something that is guaranteed good.

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susan
Nov 17, 2008 @ 9:58 pm

I just ran to see if I have partial feeds, I don’t – phew! Not because I would be embarrassed to be off point here, but because it would make me a hypocrite because I hate them too! I don’t even know how to set it to that, I am just glad mine isn’t.

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Allie
Nov 17, 2008 @ 10:24 pm

Wow I see I’m a bit late to the game here – but I had to add my comment because I just went through the SAME thing this weekend. I cleaned up Twitter and my reader – I was just sick of reading people who kept talking about the same thing every day. Time for change.

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Jamie
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:11 pm

oh i have some thoughts! i unsubscribe when they are hard to read, like you said about the light words on dark background. also long rambling posts, i understand sometimes it’s ok, but if they are all long, unsubscribe. i don’t like the sparkly blinging things. oh oh also my biggest annoyance is the music that starts when you open the blog page! i hate hate that!!!
i hope to make my blog prettier at some point…

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anna
Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:45 pm

I usually unsubscribe when they’re boring. I feel like a lot of bloggers are boring, but I give them a while before I ditch them. Other things I hate, when they link to a bunch of bloggers, asking for attention or whining about people not reading their posts. LAME

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Ginger
Nov 18, 2008 @ 12:42 am

I think you read my mind! And everyone else filled in the blanks. I would add if everything seems to be an inside joke that only readers who’ve been around forever get, without any links back to what you’re referencing, I’m pretty much done.

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Princess Pointful
Nov 18, 2008 @ 12:55 am

Holy Christ, I never knew everyone hated me for my partial feed until now! I actually just changed it less than a week before this post…

It wasn’t for more stat hits, I swear. It is because I thought a not cool person found my link and I needed to know for sure by keeping an eye on my stats that she hadn’t passed my super anon blog to all my friends.

For me? A ton of pointless posts will do it, eg “I have nothing to say” or “Today was weird, and I saw a cool movie”.

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nicopolitan
Nov 18, 2008 @ 2:33 am

I am such a grammar knit-picker that I might as well be called a red pen, but I let it slide because “too” vs. “to” and “their” vs. “they’re” vs. “there” confusion has become blogging zeitgeist.

On a tangent, I just noticed that there’s some people on this comment thread that I do read on my own, and these are people you’ve converted to full feeds! You’re my HERO, Jamie!

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Agent Elle
Nov 18, 2008 @ 12:28 pm

Reminds me: I have to sort out my Reader too.

Hmm my blog annoyances are:

Bad grammar – I think everyone gets annoyed with this. Heck, even Blogger comes with a spellcheck function. No excuses, people!

Blog designs that are far too cluttered – I think I might be a liiiitle guilty of this, but I’ve seen much, MUCH worse.

Autoplay music – there’s nothing worse than trying to sneakily view blogs at work only to have a track blare out at full volume when you’re not expecting it.

Baby pictures – but maybe that’s just me.

Long posts and nothing much else – There’s nothign wrong with a long post every now and again. Although I do prefer to read the shorter posts. Just a personal opinion, but I like variety in terms of post lengths, and although I try to read every post from my favourite blogs, sometimes I can’t read about 20 long posts (especially as I read blogs mostly at work).

Bloggers who think everyone’s interested in what they had for breakfast – Sorry, I’m not. It sounds awful, but some people just aren’t as good at blogging as others, and when their posts merely detail uninteresting facts about their daily routine, it can get irritating.

/end rant

By the way, I can’t view your blog properly here at work. We use IE6 (ugh). The design is messed up…is this just me?

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Pam
Nov 18, 2008 @ 3:14 pm

Wow. I had no idea what a feed was before reading this post (I am very new to the blogging world), but now I want to go home immediately and see if I am guilty of being annoying (and figure out what feeds actually are). Yikes. I want people to be interested in my blog, not turned off.

Funny comments, though. I agree with the light type on a dark background…it kills my eyes.

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katelin
Nov 18, 2008 @ 4:34 pm

i’m totally guilty of the light text on dark backgrounds, i can’t help it. a white background is just creepy, haha. but maybe one day i’ll get around to having someone professionally make my page for me, woo.

as for annoyances, i’d say the hard to navigate one i couldn’t agree with more. i hate when i can’t find stuff on a page. and umm other than that not a whole lot since i’m pretty sure i’m guilty of a lot of blog annoyances, haha.

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Michelle
Nov 18, 2008 @ 9:06 pm

My biggest pet peeve is music on a blog that automatically starts. I hate that. I also really hate partial feeds. I get annoyed when people aren’t real on their blogs – if they work so hard to not offend anyone that they sanitize any personality from it. What is the point then?

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sizzle
Nov 18, 2008 @ 11:34 pm

You took the words right out of my mouth!

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Maris
Nov 19, 2008 @ 12:04 am

=Partial reads are SO annoying
-I also don’t like automatic music..some of us want to read blogs from work without blasting shakira for the whole office to hear
-Bloggers who gripe/are self centered: if I don’t think I’d like you in real life, I probably won’t read your blog, As snotty as that sounds, I think you can get a vibe from reading a blog for the first time as you would any first conversaion.

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deutlich
Nov 19, 2008 @ 10:18 am

DAMN there are a ton of responses to this! Good golly!

But I also have to say I completely agree with Ang. CONSTANT blogging about the saaame topic bugs me, whether it’s the boy/girlfriend or the wedding or the job or .. just anything.

Figure out a better topic.

Yeesh.

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MissB
Nov 19, 2008 @ 10:20 am

I totally changed my feed because of you, lol.

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the almost right word
Nov 19, 2008 @ 11:49 am

I love how many changes their feed preferences after this post, Jamie! You should post the most common annoyances and then the flipside answers too!

But I’m totally with everyone regarding the partial feed AND the light text on dark background — that drives me CRAZY.

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Laurie | Your Ill-fitting Overcoat
Nov 20, 2008 @ 1:45 pm

My #1 Peeve – Not. Editing. Your. Work.

I know that a lot of bloggers pride themselves on never editing a post, but I think it’s lazy and an insult to your readers. Most of us wage a daily battle with Google Reader, just trying to keep that “unread” count down to a manageable level. I feel really honored when readers take the time, in that overwhelming sea of content, to read my post. The LEAST I can do is fix the damn typos.

Most of us aren’t getting paid for this and my posts certainly aren’t publisher-ready, but if a blog has so many typos and spelling/grammatical errors that I frequently struggle to understand the post, I stop reading. Unfortunately, this is the case for some pretty popular blogs and it just amazes me.

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Laurie | Your Ill-fitting Overcoat
Nov 20, 2008 @ 1:58 pm

Reading the other comments, it’s interesting to me how many of these are very personal peeves. Like the “theme day” peeve and the “philosophical post” peeve. Even things like “I hate reading about your wedding.” I hope that bloggers don’t take too much of this to heart– it isn’t your job as a blogger to be loved by EVERYONE.

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Miss A
Nov 22, 2008 @ 6:01 pm

Light text on dark background – HATE HATE HATE. Unless you’re blog is fabulous then I will probably not persist with it.

Auto music – Not interested.

Posts that require too much backreading – rather than hyperlinking to the 2,000 word post that “gives me background”, can’t you just summise in 2-3 sentences?

Mutliple YouTubes in the one post – not interested at all.

No “About me” section – I hate visiting a new blog and having no idea about the person who I am reading about.

No upper case – people who don’t use captial letters in appropriate places…. what are we, 5?

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wishcake
Nov 24, 2008 @ 7:53 pm

Things that turn me away:

Dry, humorless blogs.
Blogs with partial feeds.
Bloggers who write like they’re twelve.
Political craziness, on either side.
Bloggers who hate things I love.
Too many memes.

Aaaaaand yeah. I think that’s it, actually. For a while I felt too bad to delete people from my reader, but I realized that I was getting entirely too overwelmed. I do feel bad when I don’t subscribe to a blog when that blogger is a peach and comments alot (but I really didn’t enjoy their blog). But, really? I can’t subscibe to everything on that basis – to me, those that I follow mean ALOT to me, and I kind of like that, too.

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wishcake
Nov 24, 2008 @ 7:58 pm

Oh, and I love what Laurie wrote a few comments back. In all honesty, blogging is a personal thing. If you want to write about your dog, your period, your wedding plans, your favorite kind of pretzel, etc. then you should be able to! We certainly can’t please them all, right?

PS: Here’s a confession, though: I usually don’t read any posts pertaining to people’s dogs, because I’m totally not a dog person. And I know you are one, Jamie, so please know that I don’t judge! I’m just not there. Perhaps someday I will be. I’m trying to not limit myself. Heehee.

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sizzle
Oct 30, 2009 @ 7:47 pm

You took the words right out of my mouth!

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