As you all probably know by now, Friday Follow has come to an end. Friday Follow was so much fun in the beginning. I am thankful to the wonderful ladies from One 2 Try, Midday Escapades and Hearts Make Families. Hosting such a huge event is time consuming and without a doubt, a lot of work. I give credit to Friday follow for the majority of my followers. I joined in FF just a few weeks after I began Blogging in January. At that time I had less than a handful of followers and I imagined it would take months to even reach 100 followers. After joining Friday Follow, I my statistics began to steadily increase.
My first Friday follow I only gained 4 new followers. I was still very new so I decided to work on my blog layout and try to make things easier to navigate and more user friendly. From there, I began to see an increase in followers each week. A blog buddy of mine and I would sit at our computers every Thursday night and impatiently wait for the Friday Follow post to go live. We raced to enter our links, in hopes of being at least within the top 10. It was fun while it lasted. I have discovered some amazing women and beautiful blogs along the way. In my opinion, Friday Follow just became too big. Many weeks there were over 500 links. I think a lot of people entered their link and expected others to follow them. Some said they were following, when in actuality they were not. Towards the end, I was receiving less than 10 followers, yet the excitement and adrenaline rush kept me at it.
Friday Follow has ended and yes, there is a new Friday Follow. I am choosing not to participate for the same reasons as I am no longer participating in the original Friday Follow. It turned into more work than fun. When you are following hundreds of blogs, and only 10 (sometimes less) choose to follow back, it takes up hours, even days and is definitely not worth it.
I’m sure I am not the only one who has noticed a cluster of Friday Follow inspired blog hops. It seems like there is a handful of new hops each Friday. I am excited to be joining two in particular. The first is Fun Follow Friday hosted by Simply Stacy and the other is Smart and Trendy Moms Social Parade- Follower Friday. Both ladies have amazing talents with incredible blogs. I hope you will join me in either or both blog hops.
Have a safe and Happy Memorial Day weekend!
I second your post. YOu read my mind. Thanks for sharing JEN. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words!! Love your blog and always look forward to you linking up!
ReplyDeleteJennette
Smart and Trendy Moms
I found you on Fun Follow Friday
ReplyDeleteCome see my site
http://www.demonloversbooksandmore.com
DL
Hoping my first "real" friday follow is sucessful, I agree it takes a long time to click and follow all the blogs listed. I have participated in FF before but only followed those that posted that they were following me. This week I actually have a little time to follow other blogs first. I hope my time is not wasted.
ReplyDeleteStopping by From Fun Friday Follow, hope you will stop by Jessica Loves to Save Money and follow me back!
www.jessicalovestosavemoney.com
Have a blessed day!
Thanks so much for mentioning FFF!! I am so happy you are taking part.
ReplyDeleteI remember the Friday Follow excitement when it first started. I would stay up until 2 am to get my link on there at the beginning. It did get HUGE so quickly and I remember going through the list and following everyone and leaving comments. There's no way that all 800 of them followed me back though. I think some would follow me and then I would follow back, then they would unfollow. Not fair and not nice...
I am hoping with FFF that people won't feel that they have to follow- only if they want to or have to write a post. Its nice, but not mandatory. The goal is to keep it fun!!
btw your blog is amazing!!!
Thanks for the post! It can be very upsetting when you find the time to follow a blog and they don't follow back. I always try to follow back, but sometimes the "follow" comment could be lost among many other comments in a post. I suggest making a comment in a non-giveaway post for the best results.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you are participating in FFF. It's not mandatory to post about it, not even mandatory to follow the hostesses, it's just for fun and a place to learn about new blogs.
Thanks again for the post.
Lynette
xo
http://myweeview.com
Oh yea! forgot to mention - following you now ;)
ReplyDeleteLynette
xo
I am following from Social Parade. I know it is a little after Friday.
ReplyDeleteI am a mom of 5+ (I keep taking in teenage boys...3 so far). I lost my 15 year old son 3 years ago in a tragic go-cart accident. I am trying to connect with other grieving mothers. Please feel free to follow and pass on to anyone you think would be interested in connecting with me.
Thanks!
http://heroesinheaven.blogspot.com