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Saturday, January 8, 2011

A Growing Community: Would you Follow?




Have you noticed the counts on the different sections? How they grow each week? We have over 500 blogs listed now!

Kathleen and I try hard to visit as many blogs as we can, but I know that we don't get to read every post by every one. Hah, with 500 bloggers, that would take some doing!

Some of our bloggers are beginners, just starting out, looking for community. I hope you'll take the time to go visit and say hi and follow them.

Just a reminder that most of the sections show the latest 25 updated blogs. That's what I work off of when I make my rounds, but that still gives me over a 100 blogs a day to try to read, and I can't keep up with all of that. This strikes me as a good thing, even while it saddens me to not have enough time to visit and say hi to everyone. And my spring semester will be a bit full, as I have six composition classes and an American Literature class to teach, so at last count, I'll have about 175 students writing dozens of papers of varying length, so my time to read blogs will be curtailed sharply. I'll do my best to continue to read as many as I can, but if I've been a regular reader and all of a sudden disappear for a bit, you'll know why. If I've never been by your blog and commented, I apologize (and if you're on the directory but not fond of me and I know that's how you feel, I'm respecting that and not commenting).

Today,  I'd like to ask if you would take the time to try to visit some of the blogs you've never been to and just say "hi, I'm glad you're in our community."

We don't need to leave long, drawn-out comments to show others we care and they are heard; sometimes it's enough to just say hi and that you enjoyed the post. I know it makes my day to read comments, and I bet it makes your days, as well. And I know when a post doesn't draw any comments I'm left wondering if I did something wrong. Bet that happens for y'all, too

I hope this new year is a good year for all of us, that we see this community grow by leaps and bounds and that we focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. When our emphasis is on positive support, we can let the differences alone.

We're all doing the best we can with the information we have. We may think we know better (and in some cases we may be armed with better information), but we know how well bludgeoning others who believe differently works for creating community: it doesn't.

Help us grow this community into a beacon of light so that families new to the diagnosis will find a welcome, positive group to be a part of.

Thanks,

KWombles

10 comments:

Unknown said...

K,
I sent an e-mail, but I never heard anything back. I'd really like to be listed in the directory.

Kim Wombles said...

Apples, I'm sorry! I didn't get the email; I've been answering them and updating as the emails come in. I've added it now and am following. :-)

Clay said...

In general, I think it's a good thing to have such a variety of bloggers and their opinions, and I especially like the fact that no one is refused being listed because they don't "tow the line" on certain subjects. That is, there's no sanction against disagreeing with any particular view. That's a good thing.

The only "bad thing" about having 500+ blogs presented is that, as you say, nobody can read all that, and so viewership of any particular blog may decline, as people are busy reading other blogs. Attention is no longer focused on say, a dozen active blogs, but diffused among hundreds.

Ah well, maybe that's a good thing too.

Aspergirl Maybe said...

Hi there,

I visited several blogs and left comments. Thanks for the reminder to expand our horizons a bit more.

Have a great weekend!

D. S. Walker said...

Kim,
Thanks for reminding us to broaden our horizons a bit. I appreciate those who have visited my site. Clay, I think you can continue to follow your favorites. You don't have to follow every blog that you visit. I'm adding new blogs, but I'm still concentrating on some more than others. However, I do try to leave comments on new ones. What if we all agreed to at least stop by one or two new blogs a week? That isn't too hard. I try to occasionally go back to new blogs and I hope others do the same, but you don't have to be a routine follower to make my day. :-)

Kim Wombles said...

Clay,

I think that it creates more readers for everyone, more community, more support. :-)


Aspergirl Maybe,

Thank you! Hope your weekend is lovely, too!

D.S., a couple new blogs a week is a good goal. No one should feel pressured, but that will give folks a chance to meet new folks and build relationships. :-)

Anonymous said...

I've been visiting and commenting, and I keep being amazed at how many people here have things to share that I want or need to hear. After feeling out there on my own for so long, it's quite a turnaround to find more amazing blogs that I can ever possibly read. This is an amazing community!

Diane

Jen said...

I like the stopping by one or two new ones a week, I know quite a few of the bloggers from here by now but with 500+ there are plenty I don't! Jen

Anonymous said...

I'm slowly mkaing my way through the whole list. Still at A though. I dont always leave a comment, but it is lovely to discover all these interesting people/blogs as I go along. My blog'd blog list gets longer every day. Thanks for this wonderful site.

kathleen said...

There are so many..and it is overwhelming..I think what I'm going to do from now on is just say "Hi from the directory" This way people will at least know that I have visited..it is hard though..because I WANT to thoroughly read each piece and then leave a comment showing that I've read it thoroughly..I figure that if someone spent the time to write...well..sigh..but "hi" it shall be..I hope people read this and know by my short comment-I have read..:) boy that was long winded...

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