On Unfollowing.

There's been a good bit of... um.... political talk lately, right? For the most part, the commentary has remained civil, which is how it should be, because we are all lovely, intelligent ladies in this community, and we all know that there is no need for name calling.

(And to those of you that have resorted to name calling though this process, thanks. It's made it really easy to figure out who I would never, ever be friends with.)

Everyone says they don't care about followers, but most of us care at least a little bit, right? I mean, it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's exciting to know that there are people actually reading your blog. Real live people who don't HAVE to read your blog - they read it because they CHOOSE to. That's pretty cool! I'm humbled all the time that 300ish people read this blog. because it's about 298 more than I ever thought would want to read.

Some people get offended when people unfollow them. I don't (...usually). The best thing about reading blogs is that you're free to fill your Reader with blogs you love... blogs that talk about things that you want to read about. You're in charge of your own Blogland Experience (TM). No one else is.

I think it's totally your right to unfollow anyone you choose. For some people, their blogging time is their time to blow off steam, so they don't want to follow anyone who posts too many serious things, or too many political things. They want to keep it lighthearted and entertaining. Others use their blogs as a means to keep up with current events. Everyone's expectations are different. so naturally, the types of blogs they want to read are different too.

There are a few things that will make me unfollow someone:
1) People who make cracks about poor people all the time. You are insensitive and uneducated.
2) Or undocumented citizens. If you call someone an "illegal" and/or complain about how hard your life is because your taxes go to pay for things for said "illegals", you're out.
3) If you can't use the proper names for things. If you write a sponsored post about tampons, but you can't bring yourself to use the word "period" or "vagina," you should probably reevaluate what you're doing. Also, grow up. Also, it's not shameful to have a vagina. Stop acting like it is.
4) Speaking of sponsored posts: stop doing them for things that aren't applicable to your life. If you're not a mom, don't review pacifiers. If you're not in college, a post about renting your textbooks probably isn't going to work. I know you like the money that comes from a sponsored post (who doesn't, right?), but please don't sell out like that. It makes you seem untrustworthy to your readers.
5) If you're constantly fishing for attention. I won't lie and say I don't like attention. I think we all do, which is why we... have blogs. Right? But if you're constantly posting about how "awful" you look just so people can shower you with compliments, you're taking it way too far. Or "I have a secret, email/call/text/tweet me if you want to know what it is." lol WHAT? I already told you what I think about vagueblogging. Stop that right now.

There are other things that don't bother me that I know bother others... I don't care if you post a zillion pictures of your kids, or talk too much about your church or serving your husband. While all of those things are so different from anything in my life right now, I understand that's YOUR life, and I totally respect that. One of the things I really love about blogging is that it gives me a glimpse into the lives of people whose paths I would NEVER have crossed otherwise. That's pretty freakin' cool.

The moral of the story here is: don't get upset if you lose a few followers along the way. It's all a part of the process. It's not you, it's them. Unless you're doing one of the things I talked about above. In that case, it probably is you.

And if I see anyone else calling someone "ignorant" for their opposing views and getting into a comment war instead of, you know, just unfollowing them, well. I only have one word for you: