Category: Blogging

Why do you Like?

I’m… like… confused about why… like… people… like… like, if you… like… know what I mean.

Facebook is the mother of likes, I think. It has many objects you can like. Posts, comments, pages, photos. In WordPress, you can like blog posts.

But why? Why does anyone like anything? Possibly you:

Just want to show you like the object.
Want to show you agree with the object.
Don’t have anything particular to say about the obect.
Are to lazy to say anything about the object.
Don’t particularly like the object but want to encourage the person who created or posted it. Saying, “This is awesome!” would be going too far, but one click of a like… well, that’s OK if it makes someone feel good.

While these can all be valid reasons, surely when you click that four-letter word you’re aware that you’ve made yourself visible to a lot of people, some of whom might know you or know of you, but most of whom will not. Surely you’re aware of the possibility that some people might want to know more about this person who clicked this button.

In WordPress, in order to like a post you need to have defined a gravatar. I have no idea why it works in this way, but it does. A gravatar is a sort of profile. It tells people things about you. In particular, when you define your gravatar, or when you edit it, you can add links to it. You can direct people to your blog, Facebook page, Twitter profile or whatever you like.

And this leads to the reason why I’m confused.

Of the (currently) five people who liked my last post, only one has any link at all on their gravatar. And that one contains two links that no longer exist and no link to the author’s blog, although I know he has one.

And I ask myself

Surely most people who press like, especially on a blog post that is usually viewed by other bloggers, are interested in publicity. Surely they want new followers and are keen for others to find them.

So why don’t they all update their gravatars and include links to their blogs/websites/social media profiles? Perhaps they:

Don’t know how to.
Can’t remember their password.
Can’t be bothered.
Other (please state).

Those problems can be solved. I think it’s important to solve them. Don’t you?

Tags Facebook, gravatars, publicity, Wordpress

Blogging Books

Appreciation

It feels good to be appreciated. I don’t think I get a lot of appreciation at home. Generally, I’m taken for granted.

Yesterday, I received two signs of appreciation online.

The first was about a new short story anthology, which includes a story of mine: Reflections in Watercolour. It’s published by Stringybark Publishing and is called: Hitler Did It, a title I’m not too enamoured with, although the story with that title is a beautiful tale set in wartime London.

If you’re interested in reading the anthology, it’s available here as an ebook and there might be a print version soon.

The other sign was a blogging award:

which I received from Rachael of Honest Speaks. Thank you, Rachael!

So I’m supposed to list 7 things about me and 15 inspiring blogs.

I have worked with computers all my working life. That doesn’t stop my son from telling me I know nothing about computers.
There isn’t a lot of food I adore. Eggs, potatoes, white chocolate. I think that’s it.
My favourite drink is cold borscht.
I love the weather in Jerusalem. Cold, rain, sun, heat, snow, I love it all.
I’ve never been to the Far East, but hope to rectify that soon.
I’m not good at pronouncing Rs, which is unfortunate since there are three in my name.
I love most classical music and pop, but not jazz.

Now for the blogs:

I think seven is enough.

This blog post has added 247 words to my word count for today. No – 256… 257…

Tags anthology, blogging award, borscht, published, short story

Blogging

A to Z Challenge

So I seem to have signed up for the A to Z Challenge for the third time running.

BUT I don’t have a theme yet.

Two years ago I wrote about writing and social anxiety.
Last year I wrote about Jerusalem.This year?

Following my post from yesterday, I’m thinking of doing some research on memoir writing and organising the fruits of my labour alphabetically.

Do you think that could make an interesting topic?
Is there any other topic you’d like me write about?

I’m open to suggestions at this stage.

Blogging

Happy New Year!

In 2012,

Many thanks to everyone who commented in 2012, and especially to Mike Offutt, Angela Brown, David Rory, J.C.Martin and Rosalind Adam.

Have a great 2013!

Tags 2012, 2013, active, commenters, New Year

Blogging Books

Word Challenged

I seem to keep signing up for writing challenges. Maybe, eventually, I’ll manage to write the required number of words!

So this time it’s 100K in 100 days organised by Sally Quilford. If I write a thousand words every day from 1st January, I will have succeeded in the challenge. IF.

Up to now, I’ve realised, I haven’t planned enough in advance of the challenge’s start date, so I’ve been thinking about it and this is the plan so far:

Novel in progress. There are several scenes I want to add for this second draft. Hopefully that will make up the 17,000 words that it needs.
Short stories. There are seven in various stages of planning (mostly only a sentence each). If each story is 2,000 words, that’s 14,000 words.
Blog posts. Yes, we’re allowed to include blog posts this year – as long as they’re not the what-I-had-for-breakfast type. Mine never are. I wouldn’t bore you with porridge, toast, butter, avocado, coffee and the occasional egg that tries to be soft-boiled. I have two planned. Blog posts, that is. Let’s say 1,000 words each. 2,000 words.
Once a week, I’m going to go out to a cafe or a park or somewhere else and describe what I see (and hear, smell, taste, feel). 100 days = 14 weeks. 14,000 words.
Hopefully those descriptions will spawn some short stories. 10 x 2,000 = 20,000 words.

So that’s 17K + 14K + 2K + 14K + 20K = 67,000 words. Hmm. I might start rewriting my NaNo novel. And I’ll probably think of other blog posts over the three-and-a-bit months. That should do it. Hopefully.

How about you? You can join, too. 🙂

Tags 100K100Days, engaging the senses, soft-boiled eggs, writing plans

Blogging Uncategorized

A-Z Challenge Reflections Post

Post author By Miriam Drori
Post date May 7, 2012
9 Comments on A-Z Challenge Reflections Post

The people at A to Z Challenge posted some questions to help reflect. I’m using them as my brain has gone into hibernation following the long month of April.

How did your journey through the alphabet go? Did you meet new bloggers with similar interests? Are there any you would like to feature and share with others?

Some bloggers expressed an interest in reading about Jerusalem. Of those, J.C. Martin was the most vocal.

What were the highlights for you? (lowlights too…we want to hear it all)

The highlights were the comments. Lots of lovely comments from friendly bloggers. Lowlights? I don’t think so….

Did you enjoy posting daily? What was your biggest hurdle? What was your easiest task?

I tried to photograph every place I mentioned. Sometimes time got in the way, but mostly I succeeded. Describing the places was quite easy, as there is no lack of information out there.

Was time management an issue? (I know, silly question, when isn’t time management an issue – but, it is worth reflecting on)

Er… yes.

And what about your content – did you have a theme or did you wing it? Was it easy to come up with ideas for each letter, or were some harder?

I had a theme and plenty of choice for most of the letters. The only hard one was X. I cheated a bit there. There was one place I wrote about and scrapped at the last minute. I was afraid the stories surrounding the place would turn out to be too controversial.

How about commenting – did you stumble upon lots of sites still using word verification? Did this prevent you from leaving a comment? What worked for your blog?

Most sites were easy to comment on. My problem was finding something to say. I read a lot more posts than I commented on. I didn’t visit enough blogs – it was hard to find the time.

What will you do different next year? (Yes, you are doing this next year, you know you are, even if your brain is telling you to run for the hills – it appreciates the exercise)

I’d like to say I’ll schedule all my posts in advance so that I have more time to visit other blogs, but I doubt that will happen.

What pearls of wisdom do you want to share with the Co-Hosts of this event? (We would love to hear from you and know what you think would make this awesome event even better)

Thank you for organising it. It was fun.

Blogging

My A to Z Topic Is…

So from Sunday I’ll be doing the A-Z Challenge again.

Last year I wrote about writing and about social anxiety. You can read my posts (going backwards) here.

This year, influenced by others who blogged about places last year, I’ve chosen the topic of Jerusalem.

See you on Sunday!

Tags A-Z Challenge, Jerusalem

Blogging

3 TODAY!

Three years ago, I ventured out into the world, scared of what I might find.

I’m so glad I did.

Tags being brave, blog birthday, taking risks, three years

Blogging

A to Z Tag

I found these questions here, and as I have signed up for the second year running, I thought I’d answer them.

Are you signed up for the A to Z Challenge?
Yes, I am, and I managed to complete it last year, so should be easy this time. Maybe.
What is your sign-up number?
I’m at number 209: Miriam – An de walls came tumblin down
Are you ready? If yes…explain yourself.
I have my theme and I’ve decided what to write about for each letter. I haven’t actually written the posts yet, but I don’t need to do that in advance, do I?
If you’re not ready…what’s your excuse?
There is something I should start doing, though. I need to take a few photos. But there’s still time for that. I hope.

You can answer the questions, too.