I felt like blogging (which is code for I-was-really-doing-anything-to-avoid-the-laundry) but I didn’t feel like editing photos or anything that brain cell consuming.
So, I opted for a blog topic that wouldn’t require photoshop or jpegs or a whole lot of inspiration.
Besides, I’ve been finding myself annoyed with some blogs lately and thought I’d rant about it on my blog. :)
Here is a list of my biggest blogging pet peeves:
- Auto Play Music. I bet this is on everyone’s blog pet peeve list. YET, there are still bloggers who have it. THIS MAKES NO SENSE TO ME. How can you see that people are completely turned off and CLICK AWAY from your site because you have music playing on every single pet peeve list ever published, and yet, you still do it???? I appreciate that you may have phenomenal taste in music…I get that you want to support your favorite little indie band…and I concede that I might even like it…but the point is that a vast majority of my computer time is during naps…and may the Good Lord help me if your stupid blog music woke my kids up…it won’t be good people. Not even a little bit. So please, if you have music on your blog…take. it. off. Forever. You can do a post on your favorite music if you want to. If I wanted sound, I’d watch TV. Thanks.
- Blinky/Animated ads. The whole glittery cartoony ad buttons? Um, when was the last time you were on myspace? Right. Leave the goofy and ultra distracting buttons to your pre-teen daughter.
- Bad Grammar. Okay…let me say something here: I am well aware that my writing is not something that would garner me an ‘A’ by my high school English teacher. I know that sentences aren’t supposed to begin with “and” or “but” or “because” or “so”. BUT…I take literary license here. I want you to feel like I’m talking to you when you read my blog. So, basically…I write like I talk. That’s the point. Not Shakespearean prose or following every rule in the book. That being said…I have read blogs where the sentence structure is SO bad…the grammar SO horrific…the spelling SO atrocious…I can’t even finish the post. No matter how great the topic was. If you can’t find the time to run spell check, or do a quick read through before you hit publish…well…I don’t have the time to stick around. (Besides, aren’t you a wee bit embarrassed publishing that????)
- Too tiny pictures. I’m not a professional photographer. In fact, lots of my pictures are actually blurry. Your photos don’t have to be perfect. That’s not the point. The point is that if you are going to bother having photos on your blog, can you at least make them big enough so that I can really see what you are trying to show me? If you don’t know how to do this, ask Mr. Google. He’s pretty good about stuff like that.
- Not enough pictures. I don’t think every blog post needs a picture. In fact, a lot of times there isn’t really a picture that you can put up there. (um, like THIS post) But unless you are Ann Voskamp and have the ability to string words together in an unusually beautiful way…I’d really appreciate a little break from the text on my screen. Something. Anything. I like pretty colors. That, and I’m easily bored. Work with my undiagnosed ADD. Jay kay. Kinda.
- Complaining too much. I believe that the best bloggers are authentic. They tell it like it is. Even when it ain’t pretty. This is good. But this is a classic case of “There is Such a Thing as Too Much of a Good Thing.” If you spend an inordinate amount of time complaining about your husband, mother in law, sister, lot in life…well, I don’t care if it’s true or not…but after a while, you’re a Debbie Downer. And I don’t have time to just hang out with Downers all day long.
- Never complaining. This is the direct opposite of #6. If you’re always unicorns and rainbows one of two things is going to happen: 1) I’m going to assume you are lying and full of it and I will then second guess everything else you say or 2) I’m gonna feel really bad about myself because clearly you have the best life ever and you are way too perfect to be my friend.
- Throwing People Under the Bus. This is kinda the same as #6…except that basically, if you take the time to PUBLICLY wank about your husband…or your mom…or whoever…even if they really are awful and terrible…well, I don’t want to hear it. Here’s the deal: if you are willing to totally slander someone you know in real life in a very public manner like a blog…then you’re probably not the kind of person I’d really want to be friends with anyway.
- Thinly Veiled Versions of #8. I see bloggers do this all the time. They’ll be talking mad ish about “someone”…or “people”…and really, I’m not Einstein, but I’m not that stupid either. Don’t insult my intelligence. We all know exactly who you are talking about. Just because you don’t actually say their name/s doesn’t suddenly make it better.
- Copy-Catty. You ever read a blog, and then suddenly the tone kinda changes and the style is different and it oddly reminds you of…oh yeah…that OTHER blog you read? Yeah, that’s lame. Be yourself. The reason people read is because they want to read YOU. If they wanted to read that other chick’s blog…they would.
- Black background with White Text. This just hurts my eyes. Be creative with other elements of your design, okay?
- Purple. This is totally personal, but I really genuinely do not like the color purple. At all. So much so that if your blog is bathed in purple…I might have a really hard time sticking around. I know that’s ridiculous, but it’s true.
Did I miss any? Are there some on my list that you disagree with? What are YOUR biggest bloggging pet peeves???
I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.
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Too much of any color is ridiculous.
Haahaha the myspace thing made me laugh.
OK. So about the copy cat thing… Isn’t it nearly impossible to prevent this? Like who coined “whatevs” or “for reals?” Or periods between every. single. word. Kind of reminds me of 8th grade when all us girls started talking the same.
And SO with you on the everything’s rosy blogs. Those annoy me.
Jessica Johnson´s last blog post ..Faith Like a Child
Periods between every.single.word.
Oh,, and when someone writes something snarky, but then ends with a little :-), like that makes the comment less snarky.
Jessica-
About the copy cat thing: the use of specific words isn’t what gets me. Because really, that’s just a sign of the times. Like how everyone said Groovy in the 70’s. Or how aqua is the color du jour right now. And you can’t really help starting to sound a little alike anyway…just the way that you and your best friend in middle school were practically clones of one another. That all happens organically. That’s not what I’m talking about. My issue is when it’s more than one or two things…it’s the wording, the format, the colors, the styling, the tone…and it’s usually obvious…like a light switch was flipped and suddenly you’re reading a whole different blog. I don’t know, maybe that was a bad pet peeve? :)
jeannett´s last blog post ..Truck Love
oh crap. I totally have a black background with white text on my blog. Really? you don’t like it? Dang! Now I’m going to have to put “make over blog” on my to-do list. But other than that, I love your list. Except you forgot requires captcha for comments. Seriously. I hate that. You can’t get THAT many spammers that you should put your commenters through that. Amen about the music though…I swear, if I go to a blog and it starts playing music at me I can’t leave it fast enough.
rachel´s last blog post ..POTD 261-365
Love this! Your list is fairly comprehensive and covers all the pet peeves I can think of :)
Jen´s last blog post ..Author at the library
Oh so sorry Jeannett, I really hate buttons. To me they are a little too TGI Fridays. My biggest pet peeve is any post that necessitates multiple scroll downs to get through. One scroll down = o.k., two scroll downs = tl;dr I’m just lazy that way.
I hate it when blogs have HUGE pictures. Takes FOREVER to load. Plus, then you have to scrool to the left and right to read if it goes off the screen.
Kelly´s last blog post ..KARSON ALLEN CRAIG
I’m with you, I dislike music. Not because I don’t like a good tune every now and then, but because each time I click on a new page the song changes/stops/starts. So it’s more like listening to a good song with a skip in it.
I’ll add:
-I dislike any advertisements, or any blog that reviews items and then gets paid for it. That’s just a little bit contrived for me.
-I actually don’t like blogs that change backgrounds with every season/holiday/whim. Somehow when this happens often, I feel like I’ve shown up to the wrong party.
-I read most of my blogs through Google Reader. I hate it when only a partial post is displayed. To me, it’s like a 7th grade girl saying “my blog is so important, you have to come directly to me to get the full story’. BAH! If I’m interested enough in your post, I’ll come to your blog and leave a comment.
-Vague posts. Please don’t post ‘so much drama in my life right now, I don’t know what to do’.
-Be respectful. If you can’t/won’t/shouldn’t say it in real life to someone then keep your keyboard shut. Maybe I worry too much about offending people, but I think I would have even been afraid to write out a post like this for fear of hurting someone’s feelings.
-I get bored with posts that are always kid related (or for that matter always about one subject). I get it, your kids cute, but what about YOU?
-I’ll ditto your #7. Life isn’t perfect. Don’t pretend that it is. Blogging is great, but don’t spend more time documenting your life and making sure that it’s blog-presentable, then you actually spend enjoying it.
-I like it when the blogger responds to comments within the comments (especially when they ask a question). Readers are there and are commenting, give them some love back.
Love this post!
I also Do NOT like music on blogs. At all.
And, totally agree with #12…purple is nasty.
Too bad it is Kate’s favorite color & she asks every week for a purple room. ugh.
mel´s last blog post ..Generic School Pictures
Well I succumbed to the “turn your music off” peer pressure! I have heard this plenty of times before, but to be honest, I’ve always thought ‘it’s my blog, I’ll do what I want’ – I never imagined that it was THAT annoying to people. That and if I’m at the office and need some tunes, I just flip on my blog and listen away! But alas, autoplay is officially OFF. I certainly don’t want people to go away just because of something simple like that!
A few of my pet-peeves are when people comment but I can’t directly reply to them because their email doesn’t come up. It’s so much easier and more personal (I think) to respond to people’s questions directly, rather than have to go in and leave a comment on my own blog.
The word-verification drives me nuts.
And I completely agree with the product reviews. I used to read one blog and I really enjoyed it, but somewhere along the line it seems it was over-taken with reviews and give-aways….ONE of which I entered and won, btw….and NEVER got the product. So I rarely enter anymore. The less spam the better in my book!
And one more is lack of updates. I realize people are busy – life happens. But tell us when or if you’ll be back if it’s been more than a week or perhaps two. Please. Otherwise I may delete you.
Lindsay´s last blog post ..Quatro is a…………………
I think that I hit about four of your pet peeves on a regular basis. Ha.
I can totally relate to your list. Except the color purple, I have no personal issues with that. But visual attractiveness in a blog is very important. If someone’s layout is all over the place, I leave. And my biggest peeve is word verification. That really bugs me. Especially bloggers that moderate their comments as well. A little overkill if you ask me.
oh jeanett… what a great list!! i agree with all. (so sorry my fundraiser buttons are purple!! ) ;)
i’m having a hard time getting people to donate. it’s only $1 and there are some amazing prizes. any advice?
julia´s last blog post ..What happens when a mother doesnt have basic prenatal care
This list was dead on. Bad grammar, sentence structure, the whole abusing the English language… drives me away from reading a post faster than a swarm of bees! Shoot, I even proof read my comments before hitting the “submit” button!
One more pet peeve of mine: all the bloggers who apologize for their absences from writing and/or commenting on other blogs. We all have lives (I hope) outside of our blogs, so why say sorry for having one? It’s your little blog, write when you want, guilt free.
Katie´s last blog post ..Silent Partner
I am not a blogger yet, I might someday, but not right now. A pet peeve of mine is when a blogger gets somewhat famous and writes a book, then their blog only becomes about selling the book.
Amen to all of that.
I still visit ONE blog with music… because she’s a dear friend… but I mute my computer first (and curse her very existence when I forget)
Word verification only bugs me if it pops up AFTER I have submitted my comment… and yes… without it I was getting a lot of stupid spam bots. Besides, occasionally the WV will provide hilarious comment fodder :)
Ha! Too true. The auto music is the WORST idea ever. It’s not only startlingly loud, but it slows down the site. I’m impatient. If I have to wait for it to redraw too long, I give up.
I’m terrible about including photos on my blog. I love photos. I’m just lazy. Trying to improve it.
Great post! Found you from Julia @ Work, Wife, Mom…Life’s tweet. :)
NotJustAnotherJennifer´s last blog post ..Quick Update
Music players. I do not love them. In fact, I have my computer muted right now, because I have a couple blogs open with those stinkin’ music players and they’re interrupting my pandora listening.
elise´s last blog post ..the h word
Ha! This is very funny and a totally true list! I get really annoyed when people have “giveaways” but make you jump through a ton of hoops to enter. “To enter, go to my Facebook page and ‘like’ it, visit my Etsy store and tell me what your favorite item is, link to this giveaway on your blog, leave me an extra comment for each entry,” etc… I’d rather go buy the fabric, or book, or whatever and skip all the extra steps!
Nikki´s last blog post ..in the Christmas mood
I always get annoyed when a blogger seems to be begging for compliments or attention. “Isn’t my daughter adorable????” or “Look how handsome my son is getting. He’s the cutest boy in the WORLD!” Um, seriously?! Of course every parent thinks their child is the brighest, most adorable, etc. but bragging is such a turn-off. And so many times I’m tempted to say, “uh, actually, NO he’s not the cutest boy in the world.” Haha.
I also find it insulting when bloggers never respond to the comments they receive. Of course they shouldn’t be expected to respond to each and every one, but at least once in awhile is simply common courtesy. I tend to not comment on blogs when I see that the writer never/rarely responds.
I must admit the music thing is my primary pet peeve. I keep my computer volume muted for that simple reason. Also, blog posts that are never ending drive me nuts-save some of it for the next time for goodness sake! BTW, don’t visit my blog because it’s bathed in purple-LOL That is about to change very soon. Great post!
I love these, I do break rule number 3 a lot but it is in my description that I do. Also don’t ever check out my second blog, Bobbi Babbles it is bathed in purple.
Love this! I agree with most. I’d add that one of my biggest pet peeves is when bloggers do not release full content to RSS readers. I catch up on my favorite blogs through Google Reader, and I almost never click to the actual site when the post is truncated.