I really don't understand the ins and outs of Blogger. Maybe you have even noticed this. It's probably time for me to update the look of my blog and do those other necessary housekeeping tasks that I just ignore for the most part. It seems enough for me to manage to get pictures taken and posts written, let alone keep up with technical details related to how this all works. I was rather distressed to read the following this afternoon when I went into my dashboard:
"Starting the week of January 11, we'll [meaning Blogger-km] remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we'll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.
We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Goggle account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they'll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.
We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers."
Though I'm not understanding the reasons for the change, I quite understand that it will happen without my say-so. The way to follow blogs changed once before and I didn't comprehend it. I just adapted. I do wish Blogger would detail how this change will improve our experience. I quite doubt it will be a positive change for those who have to create a new account. I am distressed because I know there may be some of my readers who will be affected by this change and I hope you can manage it without too much frustration. I sincerely appreciate all of my readers. I hope you'll stick with me.
Hmmm. This didn't appear on my dashboard, Kathleen. I have no doubt it's true but it seems strange that they wouldn't announce it to everyone at the same time. We are always sad to lose followers, aren't we?
ReplyDeleteNeither do I understand how this will be an improvement for me or my followers. Besides, that text did not appear on my dashboard either, but I've noticed I lost many followers in a single day, in the past December. Bad for us all, because if the followers have been taken out of the system, how will they find us again????
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very odd that not everyone has seen this message. It came as part of the "Blogger Buzz" on my dashboard, supposedly posted on Dec 21.I just saw it today however. I really am sad to lose followers. I hope those affected will continue to find my content even if deliberately. Cristina, hopefully those who are removed will still find it worthwhile to google your blog or type in the address or follow you on Facebook or Pinterest where you might have a link. I guess we will have to become better at promotion.
ReplyDeleteYeah. That part about loosing followers is not good at all. I still don't understand the reason of all these changes.
ReplyDeleteDid the Blogger changes affect you very much?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so. I have 10 more followers in Google Friend Connect than I did before. I don't know if they converted or if they might be new. But they are welcome.
DeleteI should update this last comment. Yes, I have lost followers at this point. My Google Friends have gone down now by about 20. But I had gained some as well. Because I don't do much with analytics, I can't really tell where everyone comes from. It doesn't bother me a lot. Because I am a fairly specific niche blog, I know that I come up in a reasonable search about hope chests. So people can find me if they wish to. I think. Someone correct me please if I'm wrong.
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