Not sure if everyone has caught wind of the "news" and Google, but the Google friend connect widget IS going away as of March 1st.
Yep. That's right. That awesome little thing that displays all our followers of our blog won't be there anymore.
Part of me is GLAD.
I think MANY bloggers have gotten caught up in whole numbers thing and it really bums me out. Blogging IS NOT about how many people you have following your blog. Pretty much anyone that tweets things like, "YES!!!! I'm almost to 1,000" or 50 whatever the desired number is, I stop following on twitter. That really annoys me. That's NOT what blogging is about. This isn't high school! Who gives a bleep how many do or don't follow you? so you reach a 1,000? Then what?
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The other part of me is sad, but event though it shows "how many" follow one's blog, it is something that I use to see other bloggers-esp the ones that are shy and don't comment all the time. Gives me the chance to see who they are.
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What google wants people to do is to add their Google Plus onto blogger and use google more as of the follower tool.
I have gone ahead and added my Google Plus account on my page, so I highly encourage you all to do this NOW rather than later (march 1st) when you really will LOSE all those followers!
Where did I get the widget from? click HERE to set yours up.
To those of you who "google me" or search me. I have two profiles. ADD THIS ONE.
The one that says C MAE
I can't delete my first account because it's linked with my yahoo email which totally displays my first and last name (so much for privacy)
So if you do happen to find me on my "real" formal name lol remember that's not an account I log onto--stick with this one!
You are more than welcome to GOOGLE about Google friend connect going away, it's all there in plain english. Sorry if I rained on anyones parade, just better to get adding all those followers now rather than later! :)
Happy Weekend Friends!
I agree that blogging should definitely not be all about numbers but I do, however, love gaining a new follower and then being able to check out their blog!
ReplyDeleteOh wow. Thanks for the information & the how to. Much appreciated. :)
ReplyDeleteI am a new follower of yours and also a new blogger! And thank you for the encouragement that blogging just doesn't have to be about the "numbers". For right now I am just happy that I am actually doing something I said I wanted to do...and I finally started my own blog! Thanks for keeping us in the loop! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first poster. Plus I hate having to re-find someone's blog just because they didn't have GFC. Here's to hoping G+ makes things easier.
ReplyDeletep.s. I like the idea you have two accounts I might do that as well to keep things separate!
I totally agree with you. It bugs me so much when people are constantly thinking about numbers, ugh!
ReplyDeleteDo you know if you can still follow blogs though? Like you know how at the top of some blogs it has a good bar thing and the very first link says "follow." Are they still going to have that available?
Oops i meant google bar not good bar haha my bad
ReplyDeleteugh...I think google makes things more confusing and not easier. I recently did a post to get my followers to 500. I'm ocd and like numbers to be in 5's. Ha...I had like 492 and it was bothering me that it wasn't either 490,495, or 500. Strange, I know.
ReplyDeletewill our google/blog reader still work? I don't like google + at all!
I am kinda bummed they are getting rid of it - not because of the numbers - but because it's the easiest way for me to track and read other people's blogs :( It will be hard to figure things out now.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the whole google plus thing. I guess I don't really get it?
Not going to lie. This kinda makes me sad. Guess I will have to figure out the whole google plus thing now.
ReplyDeleteI also use statcounter to track my site visits so I have an idea of how many people visit my blog.
ReplyDeleteI have definitely been excited when reaching certain milestones in blogging---as bloggers, we put a lot of time and effort into the content we create and it's nice to know when someone enjoys your content and adds you to their reader or blog list. It's not about the numbers---but I think every blogger likes to know how many people read their blog on a regular basis.
I also like to host giveaways during certain milestones to thank my readers and the numbers help me know when to host them. I thinnk everyone should blog for themselves...but I also love that I can give my readers a chance to get a nice prize for being loyal and engaging in discussions on my blog. I appreciate it a lot and always want to show my thanks :)
The only thing that bothers me about blog followers is when someone leaves a comment saying "cute shirt! please follow my blog!" and then they leave their url. I always check out URLS that are left on my blog because I want to find other blogs I love---I just don't like when people say "please follow my blog" because to me that sounds like it's about the numbers. I love it when someone says "check out my blog if you have a chance" because that is so much more genuine.
anyway...kind of went off on a tangent there...LOL :)
Hey girl! Everything I've read says GFC will still be available on all Blogger hosted sites (ie blogspot.com blogs). What does this mean for those of us who purchased the domain? This is all so confusing! I just want to blog and read blogs! Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteHi Cmae,
ReplyDeleteDo you know how you will read other bloggers blogs. As far as right now, when you log in, its on your blogger page, I wonder how that will be affected in the future... :(
oh no worries, I know you weren't referring to me, I just wanted to state that even though it's definitely not about the numbers---the numbers do feel rewarding in a sense because you feel like you're creating an awesome community of women who love the same things you do :) That said, someone can have a great blog with hardly any followers, if the content is good, people will come, it just takes a little time.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend girl! :)
Here is the link to the google blog post where they announced the closing of google friend connect. It says that it will be closing for all non-blogger sites.
ReplyDelete"We're retiring the service for all non-Blogger sites on March 1, 2012."
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-spring-cleaning-out-of-season.html
So maybe it won't effect us.
I thought I read that GFC will only go away for sites not hosted by Blogger? I could be wrong, but im pretty sure GFC will still be available for all Blogger sites. I have a Google+ account, but im clueless about it. Im gonna have to start using it!
ReplyDelete@ Amanda---Yes that's the weblink I was emailed by google. Not sure what that will mean for us..I think we will all see on March 1st!
ReplyDeleteWOW! I had no clue about this! So I should join Google+?
ReplyDeleteOh my goshhhh. Well I guess I am kind of relieved, but at the same time, I don't want to lose my followers! I love those guys.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely set up a Google+ for my blog.'
Thank you for letting us know!
From what I understand, if your blog is hosted by Blogger it will not affect you!!
ReplyDeleteGFC will ONLY be available for blogger hosted blogs!
(so ppl with wordpress/typepad etc. won't be able to use it anymore!)
Alright how in the world do you get your Google ID? I've tried it 4 times now... it says it's the link after the ... but I am copying and pasting that & it is NOT working....
ReplyDeleteSO glad you told me!
ReplyDeleteHey girl! I read a few articles that said that gfc is only going away for non blogger sites meaning Wordpress sites can't use it as a.plug in so if you're on blogger pure okay!
ReplyDeleteThough I understand that bloggings ISN'T about the numbers, and I agree. I am excited that I got to 700 followers and I DID tweet about it, (so if you stopped following me than thats ok) but its still exciting none the less when your blog is growing. There is nothing wrong with being happy about that....
ReplyDeleteHey darling! Thanks for the heads up! I'm a little confused about how this all works.. do we make up a name on the widget? I mean... I don't understand how the widget links to our google account?
ReplyDeleteI've seen this kind of post on another blog, but I'm confused - following will be gone altogether? What about before GFC when you could still "Follow" someone. Is that going away, too? :-( I hope not!
ReplyDeleteYou know why I like the whole following thing, though? Because it's so easy to read my favorite blogs...obviously, those that I follow - in my reader. I'm going to miss GFC!
ReplyDeleteWas this in the e-mail that Google sent out about PrivacY??I guess I should ahve read that!
<3-Cami from First Day of My Life
I hadn't heard this! It completely bums me out because that's usually how I find new people to follow.
ReplyDeletehmm.. I agree. I need to figure out how to change mine!
ReplyDeletexoxo.