4 Must-See Blogging Changes in 2019
How is your January going so far? 2018 was a great year for blogging: new bloggers joining the community, brand collaborations, Joe Sugg participating on Strictly, plus many more things. Nevertheless, there are a few things that I would like to say goodbye to in 2019, as I’m sure plenty of other bloggers do. For me, I don’t have any issues with blogs themselves, but more social media and how that is affecting the blogging world. Here are my 4 must-see blogging changes in 2019.
Following and Unfollowing on Social Media
Probably the most annoying trait on social media that definitely gets on bloggers’ nerves. This whole follow/unfollow thing.
For those of you unfamiliar with this, people (or even automated bots) will follow you and if you don’t follow them back straight away, they then unfollow you. The idea being to get lots of followers, but not be following many people. This occurs mainly on Instagram, but it’s starting to spread to Twitter and other sites.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. It’s not a competition! I know many of us monitor our statistics. For me, that is simply to ensure my blog is making progress. However, I’m not concerned with how quickly this happens or how many people I’m following back. Anyway, if you’re wanting to work with brands, engagement is key. Even if you have thousands of followers, if none of them engage with your work, then brands won’t be interested.
Let’s say once and for all that the follow/unfollow trend needs to stop in 2019.
Obligatory Follow Threads
I love blogger threads on Twitter and Facebook. They are so useful for helping your blog to grow and a great way to find new blogs to inspire you. I’m very grateful for all the accounts that run these threads as it’s hard work. However, I have an issue with threads where you have to follow everyone.
For example, if there’s a blog follow thread, I’m unlikely to follow a blog about sport. It’s nothing personal and I’m sure it’s a great blog, but just not a topic I’m interested in. It will be the perfect blog for someone else though.
In 2019, I think threads should specify that you should only follow those accounts which inspire you and suit your interests. Maybe this way we can help avoid follow and unfollow situations.
Chronological Timelines
Will this be the year that Instagram finally make their timeline chronological? Who knows. If Instagram’s trial update for sideways scrolling that accidentally got sent to millions of people is a way to go, then I’m not too hopeful.
Whenever I go on Instagram, I always see posts from 2 or 3 days ago and from the same account. This is ideal if you need to catch up on an account’s content, but I feel so bad as it looks like I’m not engaging with people I’m following. At the same time though, I don’t think any of us has time to trawl through our following list everyday and go to each account to engage with posts.
Instagram, please let 2019 be the year of chronological posts.
Complaining about Social Media on Social Media
Ok, I’m guilty of this too, but it’s something I want to see less of. I’m increasingly seeing social media posts about how people are not liking a particular social media platform. Why tweet that you hate Twitter? Instead, just stop going on social media. I’ve noticed some bloggers stop blogging because it’s not right for them. I’m so happy they’ve made the decision to take a step back and take a break.
Those are my 4 must-see blogging changes in 2019. What are yours?
Megan x
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This post is EVERYTHING!! Totally agree with the first two points, I always see accounts with loads of followers following me and I’m so reluctant to return the follow because I know for a fact they’re only doing it to unfollow me the next day. Also agree with the obligatory follows, sometimes I find being in blogger groups too stressful as I there are too many ‘rules’ and I feel like my comments stop being authentic! Thanks for bringing this to light!
Alice, https://alspalss.wordpress.com x
Thank you so much! I don’t tend to follow bigger accounts back unless it’s someone I know from blogging x
following and unfollowing is a big pet peeve – must be left behind ?
these are good points you have made – let’s see if things change a bit.
-Lena
x
https://lenasnotebook.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-blogging-goals.html
Thank you! Following and unfollowing is the worst!
I’d love for Instagram to go chronological! It would make things so much easier as the amount of times I’m seeing things for the first time that were posted 2 or more days ago is crazy. I agree with you on the follow threads to, I much prefer those that you follow who inspires you etc as then the follows you receive would be people that fully appreciate your blog to and it would help to find more like minded people!
http://Www.frugalbridetobe.wordpress.com
Absolutely! Really hoping Instagram goes chronological!
I totally agree! I started my blog last year and I have noticed that sometimes there’s a pressure to follow all blogs, but I would rather follow blogs I’m actually interested in. Also, I know there’s a lot of hate towards Instagram in terms of following/unfollowing, so I hope to interact with my followers to not fall into those problems.
Exactly! I want to interact with my followers more but I can never find the new posts because of the timeline!
Omg yes please! This needs to happen!
Less frustration more growth ??❤️
This post is amazing and addressed many issues that I know tonnes of people are dealing with
Thank you! Less frustration for sure!
I love this and I so so agree!!
This Follow / Unfollow disaster has to go. And yes!!! Omg I’m so happy you brought light to it. It’s nice that the people who make these follow threads really want everyone to follow through with it, but following everyone just seem… impractical, for lack of better words. I used to do this before on Twitter and my feed got filled with spammy posts. No more ?♀️
I rarely do threads now unless it’s optional and you can choose who to follow x
I loved reading this post Megan. You have written literally everything I have been thinking. I agree with it all and these are also my goals for 2019. I will admit that I have been stressed over my following on Instagram and the stupid follow/unfollow game but I’m just not letting it affect me anymore. I love what I put out there and I hope my followers to do and that’s all that matters. 🙂
Absolutely! I think it’s better to have a smaller following but who actually engage with your content anyway!
Love this posts, really hope all these get left in 2018.
Really hope so too!
TOTALLY AGREE! If only Instagram would go back to being chronological. I am tired of seeing a post from 5 days ago like just show me it when it happened plz. Follow/unfollow really has become such a pet peeve with me too, especially when the same people keep following/unfollowing me only to show up a few days or a week later to do it again. It has got to stop.
It’s so annoying! So many reasons why I prefer Twitter to Instagram!
So true! I agree with everything you mentioned. Especially about following/unfollowing. Engagement is key. It can be disheartening sometimes but at the end of the day, the ones that stick around are your true readers.
That’s so true!
Obligatory follow threads annoy me. Like I love follow threads because I find so many new people/blogs, but like you say, sometimes the content just isn’t in your interests. I’d rather have people follow me because they like the content, not because they have to!
I do disagree about chronological Instagram though. When it used to be chronological you’d only see posts if you happened to scroll really far down. With so many accounts on there now, I feel like I’d end up missing so many posts because there’s just not enough time to constantly scroll as far as you can to see from where you last got up to. I agree it would be better if it was more instant though, rather than seeing really old posts!
I get what you mean about Instagram. I don’t really mind if it’s not entirely chronological, but I feel like I’m always seeing the same accounts on my timeline and missing lots of stuff!
Oh yep! Agree. I like finding new accounts to follow, but hate any pressure to follow – surely that doesn’t actually create a genuine engagement which is no help at all really?
So true!