Wow! What a month...Congratulations to everyone who finished in one piece and thank you to the organizers.
With nearly 2000 blogs participating, I knew I would never get around to everyone, I did hit about 470 though! (roughly 20 a day) Can you say VARIETY?! Holy Mayonnaise - I saw blogs about blogging, kids, pets, comics, food, swearing, Gods, you name it.
Now lets get down to it... the good and the not so good.
WORD VERIFICATION - I promise you, I am not a robot, please turn it off. With only so much time to get things done, staring at slightly askewed characters wondering if its a 0 or an O drives me nuts. I will admit that as the month wore on, I lost patience and exited some blogs without getting my comments posted. (sorry, but I'm being honest abut it)
NON-PARTICIPATION - believe it or not, I started a list. Each time I clicked a link to a blog that wasn't playing along, I wrote down their number, but I got bored and stopped doing it. I know stuff happens and a bunch of bloggers do have exciting lives off their computers (lucky), but if you have no intentions of participating, please don't sign up just to increase traffic to your blog. (a nice little blurb stating you know you signed up, but something came up is always a great idea)
POST LENGTH - everyone rambles, I'm guilty, I'm doing it now... for challenge posts, I love the short ones, after paragraph 5, ADD kicks in and I just want to skip to the bottom. Pictures and comics are a great.
COMMENTS - who doesn't love comments? Responding to them is a great idea. (I tried very hard to reply to all the comments I got during the challenge, I know there are still a few I missed, sorry, I'll try and get them done)
FOLLOWING - this can be a touchy subject. Not everyone is my cup of tea, just like I am not everyone else's cup of tea. I follow a blogs that do not follow me back, and there are people who follow me that I do not follow back. If I'm not following you, I'm not saying that I don't think your blog is good, it may just be beyond me (I only have a little brain). I appreciate every follower I get - believe me, I do a little jig each time someone new follows me, and I can't help feel a little hurt each time someone unfollows me too. I'm working on it.
So there you have it. My thoughts however muddy they may be. Again, CONGRATS to all the finishers, THANKS to the organizers, and WELCOME to my new followers (I have done a jig in honor of each of you) I hope you enjoyed your April 2012 tour of Newfoundland.
Hey BayGirl, I have to admit that I agree with almost every point you've made here. Word Verification has to be one of the most annoying things on Blogger and I really do wish some of my favourites would turn it off. It was great for you to check out so many blogs during the challenge and that you did such a good job yourself throughout the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not in a hurry, word verification is not tooooo much of a big deal, but I still don't like it
DeleteWord Verification! Arrrrgggghhhh! Sometimes I don't think people know they have it on. Holy Mayonnaise! (Love that phrase!!!)
ReplyDeleteI make my own "swear" words - they're not as sweary
DeleteCongratulations! That was some month, wasn't it.
ReplyDeleteit was for sure!
DeleteI like your take on post length! I had a couple blogger buddies who did long posts and they were the only ones I read - skipped all others. You did good to get to so many participants - good stuff!
ReplyDeleteYou had a great theme and hope to see you back for next year's Challenge.
I will be back next year for sure!
DeleteI kept my posts really short this year because I understand time is a premium. I enjoyed your photos. Your part of the country reminds me of my home state of Oregon.
ReplyDeletenever been to Oregon, but if its like here, I wanna go
DeleteI agree that short posts attracted me more, what with the sheer volume of participants to wade through. A long rambling post turns me off straight away.
ReplyDeleteI only encountered a handful of blogs that kept their word verification turned on. Yes, it was a whirlwind month, and I'm now following lots of new blogs, and gained a few followers myself! :)
one of the best things about the challenge is fowwers/following - it exposes you to so such
DeleteYour challenge observations are right on! This was my third year doing the challenge so I'm getting smarter about the short posts and pre-scheduling. We live and learn. :D
ReplyDeleteLive and Learn - the only way to go
Deletethis was my second, but I'm looking forward
to my third
Comment moderation has simply gotten terrible on Blogspot. I had to turn mine off - didn't want to inconvenience my readers any worse. Some with vision problems simply could not parse the insipid CAPTCHA at all anymore.
ReplyDeletethe listening option is even worse - you can always turn it back on after the challenge
DeleteThoroughly enjoyed the tour of Newfoundland....can't wait to see it in person. It was a great month and yes, those word verification thingees are enough to drive a sane woman mad. Of course, I don't really KNOW any sane women....
ReplyDeletethere are sane women? I've never met one :) when you get here, look me up!
DeleteI have to confess: I have never been to your blog before...there were so many! I'm with you on the problem of non-participants - that was really annoying. I felt guilty for not answering the comments on my blog...I will try to answer comments next time :) Congrats on finishing!
ReplyDeletethere were tons of blogs, I'm sure I will be clicking on that list until next year before getting to them all :)
DeleteI agree with all of yoir points and congrats for the succesful ending :)))
ReplyDeleteit was quite the month!
DeleteI tried to comment back to everyone and/or follow them. Reading long posts was hard for me; I tuned out after a certain length, too. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeletesometimes it gets a little difficult to stay on top of it all. Congrats on finishing
DeleteGreat points. I make a lot of the same observations in my reflections post of tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI will have to sneak a peek
DeleteGreat Reflections post! I agree with all of your points.
ReplyDeletethanks :)
DeleteYou had a great theme.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your reflections.
We just do the best we can.
Congrats on the challenge and thanks for the support.
Heather
thank you. we do what we can when we can :)
DeleteI'm still wading through the list. I did at least bookmark a bunch of posts which were on the long side so that I can now go back and read them properly. One thing I harp about - a few new followers didn't leave links and don't have their blogs linked to their profiles, which makes it really time-consuming to track them down, as I have to either email them or google them. :-((
ReplyDeleteits much easier when people leave a link in their comments (if its their first visit)
DeleteI tend to write posts that are around 800-1500 words in length unless it's something like the Six Sentence Sunday bloghop, since I tend to write about serious, substantial stuff. I tend to prefer other blogs that also have posts of more substantial length instead of only a few paragraphs. Word verification is really annoying, as is the discovery that someone isn't participating.
ReplyDeleteif the topic is one I like/ am interested in 1500 words is not bad, but other times its just too much for me
Delete470? Amazing. Am I rambling? :)
ReplyDeleteyou ramble? occasionally - but not now :)
Delete470!! Wow that is awesome. I'm going to be rolling through the list for the rest of the year just to see everyone's blogs. I hated the word verification, too. It's frustrating. And I'm working on getting back to all my commentors, too. Congrats on a great A to Z 2012.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll be rolling through that list for quite a while. congrats to you as well!
DeleteCongratulations on surviving the Challenge and thank you for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeletethank you as well :)
DeleteI think signing up to increase traffic is
ReplyDeletelow.
Impressive how many blogs you visited. I didn't get even close to that #!
as long as made it to a few, you did good :)
DeleteAgree with all your points. I reached a stage where I wouldn't read all the post if it went on too long. And, don't get me started on the word verification thing!
ReplyDeleteI didn't intentionally mean to zone out, it just happens, so glad I'm not the only one :)
DeleteWow. I am "meeting" so many new people from this Wrap Up! I am amazed how many people finished this challenge.
ReplyDeleteI will have to come back here... your Bay looks lovely (I was thinking it was the San Francisco Bay, perhaps, probably because I am in California.
I hope to see you before next year!! :~)
Julie Jordan Scott
Fellow A to Z Challenge Writer
twitter: @juliejordanscot
A to Z Recap Post
On a Mission to Spread Word-Love Throughout the World
my bay is a lot colder than yours! there is something to be said about living near the ocean
DeleteThe A to Z Challenge was one of the best things I could do for my new blog. As far as what you wrote, two of your points really hit hold.
ReplyDelete1. NON-PARTICIPATION - I just got out of a blog hop with lots of non-participators, at least that's how it felt. I was so fed up that I didn't even bother reading the last few blogs. The A-Z Challenge wasn't like that. Sure there were many who did not visit others' blogs and only thought about themselves, but there were many who were *not* like that.
2. POST LENGTH - Yes, my eyes scanned over posts that were too long. Long posts are never a good idea for blogs, many of which are read by very busy people - such as myself.
Jolie du Pre
Precious Monsters
non-participation for me was clicking on a link and scrolling through a few posts looking for a challenge related post that was not there
DeleteI think a lot of people went above and beyond when it came to visiting others, and I can't wait to do it again :)
Your points are all good ones. I can't believe how many blogs still had Captcha on them. Did you see how many posts about this we did on the A to Z Blog and our co-host blogs, not to mention others did on their sites and the pleas we even left in comments. Beyond that I don't know what else to do about the Captcha issue.
ReplyDeleteAlex weeded out over 200 non-participant or advertising blogs during the Challenge. Over all I think the list was pretty good, but I've still been running across a few. Then there were some who started late and some who just gave up. To be expected I guess in a Challenge of this nature with that many participants.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Lee
A Faraway View
An A to Z Co-host blog
with that many participants, it is to be expected
DeleteWord verification drives me BATTY! Turn it off peeps!!!!!!! Egad. I wish I would have made it by here. *sigh* Too many blogs, too little time. *waving*
ReplyDeleteHi *waving back*
DeleteEnjoyed your reflections, looks like you posts were really short. Mine probably were not short enough. I didn't really work hard enough seeing other peoples entries, was just too pushed for time.
ReplyDeleteI kept mine short in an effort to save myself more time (it kind of worked - but I still didn't have enough time)
DeleteCongrats on finishing! What a month :)
ReplyDeleteI agree on most of what you said. The word verification drives me nuts too. Mine somehow turned itself on but I finally caught it.
Definitely some interesting blogs out there. Loved all the variety!
the variety was amazing
DeleteFantastic reflection post and I agree entirely with you on all the points you made.
ReplyDeleteCongrats for crossing the finishing line and thanks for commenting on my blog. :)
thank you for commenting :)
DeleteLong posts are EXACTLY why I try to put in pictures. I realize that, even though I'm funnier than hell (but looks aren't everything), it can get tiresome to wade through paragraphs without at least one picture of urinating dogs or Anthony Weiner.
ReplyDeleteHey, here I go again, blathering on and on.
And you didn't even get a picture.
Glad to have reached the challenge summit with you.
and your pictures are so great
DeleteI really liked your post - kinda quirky and fun, and I see that we share a lot of the ideas and problems. You have a great following, and like you, I also can't get around someone unfollowing....
ReplyDeleteI will also try to conquer the list and see what happens in the end!
See you around fellow A-Zer!
thanks :)
DeleteEnjoyed your reflection post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by, much appreciated.
Yvonne.
thank you for stopping by :)
DeleteWell done. You make good points. 470 was a lot of blogs. It was returning comments I found most time consuming, must work out a better system for next year.
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
@mooderino
The Funnily Enough
I keep falling behind in return comments, I don't mean to, but it gets hard sometimes
DeleteI also get annoyed by word verifications. I have some blogs that I read and comment on that still have it activated but if its someone I really want to follow, I'll do it.
ReplyDeleteThe A to Z Challenge was a blast!
I also got irritated by non-participating bloggers. You should've sent your list to the host so they could remove them from the linky list.
I debated sending in the list, but I felt like a tattle tale - i mean stuff does happen right?
DeleteI totally agree! And I'm impressed you got around to so many blogs! It was an incredibly busy month for me on the publishing front, so even though I posted every day, I didn't get around to nearly as many blogs as I had hoped to. :( I'm hoping the list stays up for a while.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm excited about the jig in my honor! :o)
I will jig for you anytime (its just not pretty enough for anyone to see)
DeleteI didn't make it to you during the challenge, but I have no idea about the no. I visited.I did note that some didn't get the idea to return visits. Long posts were a turn-off and like you I enjoyed the pictorials.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making it here now :)
DeleteCongrats on finishing. I have to admit, I skipped over some of the longer blog posts unless I found the topic extremely interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one
DeleteHi ! It was fun and I enjoyed visiting such a variety of blogs , but I too didn't comment a lot but I guess even if it is just to say "Hi, have a nice day " would be better than nothing , right?
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and commenting
I tried to comment as much as possible,
DeleteCongrats on finishing the challenge. I feel about the same way you do all the way around :)
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
DeleteHoly mayonnaise. Isn't that what the Pope uses on his ham sandwiches? Unless he becomes a saint. Then, he probably uses Miracle Whip.
ReplyDeleteMiracle whip! I get it
DeleteWell done on your challenge. Just caught up with all your great posts. the pics are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by and commenting.
Thank you as well
DeleteJust got a chance to review all your posts for the A-Z challenge---A is for Awesome!!! Your blog is neat, I'll be back....you also got extra "brownie points" for using Gambo for your "G" day!!!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Thanks for the brownie points :)
ReplyDelete