I'm late with my Reflections Post although you've probably heard it all before. I didn't care for the way this year's challenge was set up. In my last challenge (2015), there was a list of bloggers who planned to participate and after each blog name was a two-character category chosen by the blogger to identify their blog style.
ANIMALS: (AN)
ART: (AR)
BOOKS/REVIEWS: (BO)
CRAFTS: (CR)
CULINARY: (CU)
EDUCATION: (ED)
FASHION: (FA)
FILM/MOVIES: (FM)
GAMING: (GA)
GARDENING: (GR)
HISTORY: (HI)
HUMOR: (HU)
LIFESTYLE: (LI )
MEMOIR: (ME)
MUSIC: (MU)
MYTHOLOGY: (MY)
PERSONAL: (PR)
PHOTOGRAPHY: (PH)
POLITICS: (PO)
SCIENCE: (SC)
SOCIAL MEDIA: (SO)
SPORTS: (SP)
TRAVEL: (TR)
WRITING/STORYTELLING: (WR)
ADULT CONTENT: (AC)
I found this very helpful - there were a lot of participants (1500+) and I wanted to zero in on the lifestyle bloggers as that is my blog style and what I enjoy reading most. I was able to make up a blog list and add to it as I discovered other styles that interested me - crafts, travel, and fashion mostly. I knew right away that I would have no interest in gaming, adult content, or politics among other styles. I have a limited amount of time to visit other blogs so I wanted to make the most of it.
This year, we were asked to post a link to our letter of the day post and then visit other bloggers by going through the comments to click on the links. In a word, tedious. In addition, many bloggers didn't indicate in any way the topic of their post. I spent a lot of time clicking a link, and reading a paragraph only to find that I had no interest in reading any further. What a waste of time and after a few days, I gave up. I made a blog list of several blogs that I knew would be participating (through another meme where we discussed the upcoming A to Z Challenge) and I stuck with those.
I enjoyed coming up with twenty-six posts on a theme. It's a great way to get your creativity flowing. I'd love to participate again but it would only be if the list and the categories are used again.
I appreciate all the hard work that went into the development and the administration of the challenge. It was fun in 2015 - I met some bloggers that I still follow today - but this year, I was disappointed.
This really is helpful for anyone hosting a challenge like this. No one has unlimited time these days. Any help in finding pertinent interests is a must.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you regarding the difficulty in finding blogs that were of special interest. The categories that were used in previous years made finding blogs much easier than this year.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind not having the content catergories so much, though they were suppose to still state if it was Adult Content and notice some failed to do so. I like visiting bloggers during April that may blog on something different than me. I learn new things that way. My issue was trying to keep track of which blogs I had read and which I hadn't. Donna from Girl Who Reads
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