Okay, so here's how I like to approach Holidailies. Step one: write something every day. Straightforward enough, if not necessarily easy.
Step two: post that entry on Holidailies.
Step three: go read other people's stuff on Holidailies (be the change you want to see in the world).
Step four: comment if I feel moved (and honestly, I make at least a minimal effort to be moved--see again being what you want to see).
But here's the thing, step four seems like it's gotten unnecessarily hard this year.
The first blog I wanted to comment on, it had three options for commenting, all of which appeared to require me signing up for something that I didn't already have. Ugh. I made a cursory effort to figure out one of them, but the documentation was more daunting than I had time for.
Then another blog that's on the same platform I am on required Google sign-in... but then wouldn't take my Google sign in. I was eventually able to finesse it by switching from mobile mode to the web version, but why did that have to be so complicated? And another website that wanted me to sign into Google, it turns out I couldn't do th same workaround, because I couldn't find a link to switch from the mobile version to the web version.
It just sucks because I would like to feel like part of a community of bloggers at least this one month of the year, but I feel like a part of that is interacting with my fellow bloggers, and I want that process to be friction-free (at least technically speaking). It's hard enough to invest the time it takes to write and read and comment, but when you have to jump through hoops to do it, and it seems like every blog has some kind of hoops to jump through... well, it's disspiriting.
And then there's me with no comment option because the blog is THAT OLD....Though in all honesty, given how spamming and comments and social media have gone these days, it may be a better thing to not have the option to share your thoughts on someone's page. Depressing but true when you see how people go nutterpants at times.
ReplyDeleteA very fair point! Though blogs these days feel like enough of a digital backwater that you don't get the same level of trolls and spam and nuttery as some social media sites or message boards.
DeleteYeah, I feel like something has gone haywire recently with the logins. But it is nice to get feedback every once in a while!
ReplyDeleteI realize--now that I've gone onto my laptop--that some of my problems may have been from using my phone, because it's been a lot easier to comment on here. But my laptop is garbage and brings its own trials and tribulations (mainly a noisy and constantly-running fan). And anyway, blogging platforms should, like, work smoothly on phones aka the most popular internet browsing devices.
ReplyDeleteI agree with with you, it should be super easy to comment on anyone's post. Alas, when I had my blog open for all the world to see and comment on, I just got a lot of comment spam which I had to defend against.
ReplyDeleteOh I so agree! Part of the problem is spam though. If I turn on anonymous comments, I get bombarded with junk every day. It might be okay to turn that off during Holidailies though.
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