I’m sure that all of my fellow bloggers have had this happen. You check WordPress and see you have a new comment from someone you don’t know. You’re kind of excited. Oh, someone new! Then, you click on it and find a comment that reads something like “Hey, check out my new post. I think you’ll really like it.” Now you’re mad because not only did they hijack your blog to promote themselves but they didn’t even say anything about the post they put their self-promotion on. And, of course, you go and check out their blog and get even madder because their post has nothing to do with what your blog is about. Arrrrgggghhhhh
Well, my friend Monica and her father have cataloged this type of person and all the others out there who don’t play nice on the blogosphere in their new book Dirty Blogging: 40 ugly traps that wait for you at every step. For those of you who are veteran bloggers, you’ll read it thinking “God, I hate when that happens.” Some parts of it are a bit funny because they are so true. It’s a bit like the comedian who gets a laugh by saying how bad something is. It’s funny because we can all identify with it. And Monica and her father give nicknames to the various sorts of people. For example, there are the “Followers Hunters.” Here is an excerpt:
THE FOLLOWERS’ HUNTERS – There is a category of bloggers who start hunting followers in the blogosphere. How does it work? They come on your blog, check to see how many followers you have, and if you have around 200, they follow you. All good and beautiful until, by common sense, you follow back. From that moment you’ve been burned. Because, shortly, they will run away, unsubscribing from your blog. I found out this simply by mistake. These hunters are probably sure that when you have about 200 followers, you can no longer check who followed you and who you follow. I tried to do this, but it’s pretty tough and I did not go all the way.
I hate it when that happens and tend to now only follow people when we’ve established a real pattern of a relationship.
Their book is also good for new bloggers. It will help you to understand what to expect. A good example is the fact that all the likes and comments dry up on the holidays. It also explains some of the behavior that one will see in the blogosphere.
Monica and her father are not angry and have no ax to grind. They love blogging and are on a mission to civilize. Here is another excerpt:
“The blogosphere is a complex world. Like in real life, here you can find all kind of people. You can find friends but you can also find people who want to take advantage of your innocence. People who attract you in all kind of traps to make their businesses with you. To use you for their own good.”
Their point is that there are times that people forget about reciprocity, or else don’t care about it. Granted there is no rule that one has to reciprocate and play nice, but the world is a better place when we all do.
It is a good, quick read and sells for $3 USD. I swear you will recognize experiences you’ve had if you’ve been blogging for even a few months. You may get angry remembering some characters that you encountered; you may laugh because what they say is so true, and you may see a bit of yourself in what they wrote. And perhaps if we see ourselves (as I admittedly did), we will act a bit better on the blogosphere and their mission to civilize will be realized.
If you are interested in ordering their e-book, click here
Milford Street 
Thanks for the review. I had seen Monica’s book on her blog and thought it looked interesting.
My pleasure. It’s really interesting to see someone’s observations after blogging for a period of time myself.
Definitely. 🙂
Thanks for the advice. I did wonder about bloggers asking to be followed. The book sounds like a good buy. Thanks again! 🙂
My pleasure. Enjoy!
I have certainly seen some of these types of followers. Good tips for those of us who want to play nice. May have to check out the book.
Haven’t we all. It’s better when we all play nice.
Cheers!
Good share and it is really not nice behavior.
Thank you Garfield. Cheers
hehehe I hate that too. One of the things I enjoy most about blogging is growing an actively engaged community. (Don’t feel pressured to check it out, but I DID just write about similar frustrations in looking for genuine mebers of a growing blogging community.)
I’ll have to check out Monica and Victor’s blog, sounds like the kind of people I’d like to “meet.”
I’ll check it out. Monica’s blog is lookaround99. It’s on WordPress
Thanks for the review.
My pleasure.
Thank you so very much, Chris, for your kind gesture 🙂
Mo-hugs ❤
My pleasure, my friend. Cheers
😀
Thank you for sharing this.
My pleasure. Cheers
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Oh, no! I did have several blogger asked me to check out their posts and I did and follow. I guess as you said, they ran away, never responded to my posts. Now I can’t keep track. I need to read Monica’s book.
BTW, have you received my posts lately? I can give you the detail here, but I also made a post of what happened to my site link. I have a new link and many bloggers couldn’t find me.
https://theshowerofblessings.wordpress.com/2017/06/09/thank-you-for-your-support/
Yes that happens. I’ll check out your link and make sure I’m getting your posts. Thanks for letting me know. Cheers
I’m glad you’re back!
Very interesting. My blogging life is a little different, so I wasn’t aware that dirty blogging is a thing. I hadn’t really analysed why I blog until I read your post today! My blogs are mainly a record for me about what I’ve seen and read, but they’re also about information sharing, in that I visit places and I read books and have thoughts about them that I think might help others decide whether to visit the same places or read the same books. I find other people’s blogs helpful when planning trips and choosing what to read, so want to give back, I suppose. I’ve never been bothered about SEO optimisation, or collecting followers, so when other bloggers do the things you highlight in your post, I tend to ignore them. If someone follows me, I’ll check their site out and, if I like what I see, I’ll follow back and will comment on the things that interest me. If someone comments on my posts, I’ll have a conversation with them, and sometimes that leads to online friendship, which is great. How great that Monica and Victor have made this guide to an aspect of blogging that isn’t really widely acknowledged.
I tend to agree with you and have similar blogging habits. I think overall that WordPress is a positive place and enjoy the time I spend here. Thank you for your comment. Cheers
Yes. I agree with how Jan Hicks and you deal with this. If someone follows me, I will check out their blog first then maybe send a like or a comment. But won’t follow them until they have established some repoire with my blog. One red flag for me is when I get a notification that someone had just followed me – but has not even “liked” or “commented” on any of my posts.
I completely agree with you. 😊
Thank you, Arlene. Cheers
I think that book would be very, very helpful for new bloggers! Most of the people I’ve “met” through my blog have been great, but not all. I get the person who “likes” 15 of my posts and then follows my blog, all at exactly 5:21. Gee, do think they read a single word? And I also get the people who follow me, then unfollow me if I don’t follow them back. Sometimes I get a follower who doesn’t speak English (and unlike some blogs, I don’t have the option to translate my posts into other languages.) The whole thing seems so pointless!
The fun of blogging is writing and/or posting about what interests us, and being engaged in a blogging community that we enjoy. I’ve discovered some terrific blogs out there, and I follow those. But I don’t play the “I’ll follow you if you follow me game.” And I never put a link to my blog in someone else’s comment section!
Obviously, you have good blogging manners…as do most people here. Yes, this should be required reading for new bloggers. Thank you and Cheers!
Well said Ann!
I am certainly ordering this. Funnily enough, I was thinking the other day (when I had an ‘I hate it when that happens’ moment about something or other) that it would be SO good to have a handy book to refer to. Ker-Ching … sale made 💵 📚 😊
Excellent. Yes, I now just trash comments telling me to go check out their blog. Cheers!
What’s really depressing is checking the huge amount of intentionally deceptive stuff caught by the spam filter. Funny thing is, those no-follow links spammers try to put in comments have no SEO value whatsoever, and produce very little traffic.
Good point. I’d not thought of that.
It can be a bit nutty, what happens here in the blogging community. A lot of the behaviors that seem odd to me are just things where I don’t understand what the blogger’s motivation is, like building a numbers of followers but not really interacting with anyone, I don’t get that. For the most part, I just try to let things like that get to me, and just continue running my blog the way I see fit.
I think that is a great attitude to have. That way other people’s behavior does not detract from your quality of life or what you believe in. Cheers
That’s what I’m going for anyway 🙂 Easier said than done sometimes!
This is why I’m glad my blog is unpopular! Lol.
This one seems like such an interesting book😀😀 I have had so many encounters with bloggers who simply would leave a comment with their link, or the ones who’d never come back once you follow and yes the ones who unfollow😀
Thank you. My friend Monica did a great job describing all of these types and more. Thank you for the comment. Cheers!
I have no idea how to check my following and have tried to alter the way I receive them on emails to only on Fridays. I have a lot of followers who I don’t check in too often but if someone pushes like, I do try to keep up. I like so many of my friends and I must admit there are crossover friends since mine are awesome! 🙂 🙂
Those who don’t comment and only promote their site are nothing but selfish. Well, they loss the real meaning of blogging. Only when you’re sincere to the other’s blog that you will get a sincere feedback. There’s no short cut in this. That’s what I think 🙂
So true!
And I thought she just put the wrong link by accident!