Hello everyone!
Maybe you stumbled on here by accident. Maybe I screwed up the scheduling and ended up posting his before Remy but this is part 2 (some of my sharper readers may have picked up on that from the title. In any case, you should probably read part 1 over at the Lily Garden first. Or read it after, be a rebel!
Should you correct people’s grammar/English – How would you proceed?
R: I prefer pointing out typos via PM. Pointing them out in a public comment just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. What about the person’s image?!
R: Lately, however, I’ve been struggling on deciding IF I should tell others about their typos at all. Some have reacted poorly to my efforts and some typos aren’t really too noticeable, after all. This is a tricky minefield which is why I always try to emphasize that they can tell me to bugger off if I’m being too nosy about typos.
R: With that being said, I really enjoy playing editor.
I: I have nothing to add. My spelling is horrendous. I ask Remy or other kind bloggers (so that Remy won’t just stop talking to me) to proofread my posts. Basically I don’t have the skills to correct anyone. I guess I would find it a bit odd if I noticed a comment saying nothing but “you should have a comma there”. But I’d also find it kind of boss.
R: If I received a comment like that, I would assume the person only wants to humiliate me and I’ll be a little scared to interact with said person unless if I happen to be in a kinky mood.
Must you respond to awards / tag posts?
R: I’m incredibly burnt out from these award / tag posts, so I would say no. The fact that they even considered me at all was very sweet, though.
R: I only recently answered the Five Flaming Hotties tag because I wanted to have fun writing in a different style and because soooo many people nominated me. I’m not sure why they did, but thank you! But a lot of people have revealed that they would rather me act like normal and not switch up writing styles, which means I lost a lot of incentive to respond to future award / tag posts. Sorry about that.
I: I answer them but I will group a bunch together because it can get tough to keep up. I post daily and I don’t do episodic reviews so I appreciate the topics. Then again I don’t want to convert my blog to just being blogging awards all the time.
I: I think it’s important to acknowledge nominations/tags but it’s ok if you simply can’t answer them. Just ignoring them altogether is a little cold in my opinion.
***I’ll be honest, if you ignored a nomination from me, I’m 100% fine with it***
Do you have a responsibility to point out problematic aspects in anime/games… (whatever you are reviewing?
R: I think it’s nice if you do so. But you have to be careful with wording or else people will twist your words. You also have to understand that some people may strongly disagree with you. So be firm yet polite and understanding. Like a yamato nadeshiko.
I: I make some assumptions about my readers. For instance, I assume that they are old enough to pick up on sarcasm and understand the concept of a parody. That my obvious liberal leaning will attract like-minded readers. That said, I have enjoyed and have gushed over anime that probably isn’t appropriate for young children or that has certain elements that just aren’t acceptable. I don’t point this out as I think my followers already know all these things, but considering the current climate maybe I should mention once in awhile that women aren’t things and that talking problems out is more effective than violence. But that’s soooooo preachy.
How should you deal with behavior from others you don’t like?
R: I either just like their comment if I find said comment to be more annoying than negative (which is similar to smiling when you feel dead inside), or I flat-out ignore the comment. Or I try to gently correct them, but some people are simply hopeless.
I: I honestly don’t know what to do. I mean it’s just blogging, not worth making a whole thing about. Do you guys know what to do? Is there one of you I can hire as an enforcer?
What do you do if someone plagiarized you? What if it’s not the same but really close or stating the same thesis?
R: I just tell myself that “imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.” It’s nice knowing that you’re a source of inspiration?
R: With that being said, I don’t think anyone has done this with my content yet? Or perhaps I’m just oblivious. Hm.
I: As far as I know this hasn’t happened to me…YET. But it has happened to a blogger friend of mine and I was really wondering what I would do if I was ever in that position.
I: I’m nowhere near as agreeable as Remy so I would probably comment something passive aggressive like : “Great post, I completely agree” then link to my post!!! Yes I know what we said but this is for a good cause. Revenge is a good cause, right??
Do you need to have permission before linking to someone else’s blog?
R: If I’m a little distant with the person (while also being on speaking terms with said person), then I might opt to ask if I can link their blog or post beforehand. Otherwise I just go for it and hope they don’t file a complaint! They would win the lawsuit every time.
R: …Actually, I’ve only asked for permission once. Never mind. Just link to their blog posts if you want to and give them a surprise!
I: I used to do this every time. In fact, there are a few blogs I didn’t link to because I never got an answer from the author so I ended up rewriting my post, but I quickly realized no one else ever does it. Not a single person has asked for permission to link to my blog and I didn’t mind at all.
I: In fact, the surprise was a little thrilling. I have no clue why I’m writing in the past tense. Whenever I get a ping on my blog, I experience a pleasant jolt. It gives me a small sense of accomplishment every single time.
Is it ok to directly contact bloggers (i.e. use the contact page?)
R: I think it’s totally fine. That’s why the contact pages are there! To be used! Surely there are some bloggers who are waiting for someone to use their contact page.
R: With that being said, I think the situation changes depending on what you’re sending to the blogger. If you’re asking them questions about the hierarchy of food and condiments, then you better be sure they can take a joke!
I: Admittedly, I don’t have that many followers so it’s not like I’m getting inundated by emails but personally, I LOVE when people use my contact page. I’m not sure why but those contact emails, even those that are just a random comment that goes nowhere, always get me super excited.
I: I imagine that bigger bloggers that get tons of emails regularly probably might consider it more of an imposition, unless you have a specific reason to contact them. Not my case!
***I love that meme – very Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared***
NOT AN ETIQUETTE QUESTION but I’ve always been curious – what is the average growth rate of a blog?
I: In the end it really makes no difference, I just like numbers, is all. When I first started I had a nebulous goal in mind to reach 365 followers by my one year mark. This seemed pretty ambitious as it would imply a new person actively choosing to read more of my stuff every single day(!). In a couple of decades, real life Irina has only managed to get roughly 3 people to listen to her about anime. Oh my, I’m talking about myself in the third person, this is how it starts, folks. My fall-back position was 52 followers. Like, I would be happy with anything between 52 and 365. Still the case. But once in awhile, people ask me about follower count and I’m not sure how to respond.
I: Remy didn’t answer, I guess he doesn’t know. OR he chose mid-collab to top talking to me… Good burn Rem, resspek.
R: Ah, I wasn’t sure how to answer this one. I didn’t ditch you, Iri! Plus, I wanted to actually let you answer a question first since I was bit too gung-ho and did that for all of the other questions…
R: From what I can gather, the people who make vague comments about follower counts are either impressed or jealous.
R: For example, you can take a look at my modest stats. I remember that it took me 6 months to reach 60 followers. Then it took me another 6 months to reach 230 followers. And then 6 months after that (as in after my first blogging anniversary) and I’m sitting at 440 followers. I guess what I’m trying to say is I had to endure a bit before people actually noticed me. But after I got through the honeymoon period, my growth increased by quite a bit! Thank you, everyone, for bothering to read my crap!
R: However, I’m definitely not the most unfortunate. In fact, I’m rather lucky. Some other bloggers who definitely put out a lot of quality content have even less followers. There is no justice.
R: Anyways, that’s my take on things. I hope this collaboration proved to be informative.
I: Nevermind guys, he answered…
I: Oh follower count is definitely not a mark of quality. There are some tremendous blogs out there that are just inexplicably underrated. I’m always grateful to find one myself. And in the end if even a handful of people like your stuff that’s already impressive and more than everyone who doesn’t have a blog can say…
Did you all enjoy reading this? I enjoyed writing it! Did you learn anything? I did. Would you like to see more of these types of posts about blogging?
Should I just go back to what I usually do? (rhetorical – it’s just an excuse to post this gif)
