Annual Blog Review - Your Feedback

I want to begin my post by extending a huge thank you to everyone that filled out my blog survey. It’s the first time I’ve done one of these and while I’m not sure if I’ll do one every year, it’s also a good measuring stick to who my readers are and what post topics speak to them more than others. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m scrapping posts that a vast majority of survey responders don’t like but it does help me see what your likes and dislikes are.

What you like

There were three post topics that stood out as winners: personal thoughts on life and issues, singlehood posts, and healthy living/fitness posts. I think I do a fairly good job at covering all three topics. I try not to blog too much about my singleness because I don’t want to come off as whiny or too “boys are bad business, man.” I think I’ve gotten better at opening up about being single and my low-key dating life, but it was interesting to see how many people wanted to hear more about it! I know being open and honest about my life and my struggles is something I do on a regular basis. Even though I’m not anonymous and I have family and friends who read my blog, my blog is also very therapeutic for me. I have hard time keeping silent on certain subjects and as it turns out, most people like that about my blog!

What you don’t like

Book reviews and faith. Those drew the most dislikes, although they also drew the same number of likes. I know faith posts can be very subjective (and controversial!) so most people stay away from them. Which is fine and I see nothing wrong in that, but it’s not for me. :) As far as book reviews go, they tend to draw the least amount of views or comments. I tend to skip over book reviews of books that aren’t ones I’ve read or highly popular myself, which is why I switched over to a different kind of book review (a three-in-one snapshot type). My Letters to My Future Husband series drew a fair number of dislikes, but it also garnered the fourth-most likes so I’m not sure that’s an accurate measurement. (Which is good, since that’s my favorite series and I would not get rid of it even if everyone hated it. Wheeee!)

On weekly posts

For the most part, no weekly post was the least liked. Some people had their own reasons for not liking certain posts, all reasonings I could understand. Wine and Love got the most likes (yay, Nora!) with Ten on Tuesday, Weekly Weigh-In, and Project 365 all tying for second. I try to keep my blog content fresh and new, not wanting to fill up every day with a meme so just know I will never become a “meme a day” type of blogger, but I also really love Ten on Tuesday and Wine and Love so those posts are here to stay!

On writing about my faith

I was really interested to see what people thought about faith and religion posts. I used to write more about my faith, struggles I was having, and just things I believe in. 2011 I didn’t write much, mainly because I was more consumed with graduation, finding a job, and settling into my new role. It was also a year my faith felt very stagnant and elusive. But I’m finally feeling a burning need to write more about my faith. I’ve thought about opening up a new blog specifically centered on faith posts but it felt very two-faced, as if I was living two different lives. As if writing more about faith would make me lose readers and honestly? I shouldn’t care about that. I find it sad that some people cannot understand where I’m coming from, yet I’m supposed to be non-judgmental and completely okay with where they are coming from. But if there are people who cannot understand my faith (I’m not saying they have to believe as I do, but being able to not judge me harshly for what I believe in), those are people I don’t want to be friends with anyway. That’s a very shallow and close-minded way to live, in my opinion.

Off my soapbox!

I plan on beginning a series of faith-based posts, I’m creatively titling “On Faith”. A mix of posts about things I’m struggling with, things I feel God is trying to teach me, and a general view on what I believe and why I believe it. Nineteen of you had no opinion about me blogging about my faith, many of you not wanting to hurt my feelings but said those post just didn’t interest you. Totally okay! I get it. I generally skip over posts with political rants or design DIYs. To each their own. I’m excited about this series, though, and I had quite a few of you who did want to hear more about my faith and I can’t wait to start sharing again.

Overall...

I’m really glad I did this survey! I was able to get some great feedback on what you guys want to see more of and what you could do without. A few of you also mentioned wanting to know more about my day-to-day life which, I’ll admit, I sometimes forget to talk about because I have all these THOUGHTS I want to express first! But I also noticed this when I wrote my 2011 recap, it was kinda hard to figure out what I did each month since I didn’t document the little things that happened all too well.

I did get one rather harsh comment (from someone who doesn’t even read my blog anymore, go figure) that got me thinking about a lot, mainly about how my writing comes across in certain subjects. I’m sure this will ensue a blog post, because while I don’t like to give fire to anonymous comments, I think it’s an important topic to talk about. It was the only less than positive comment so I’m trying to brush it off, but it also makes me incredibly sad someone would feel this way about me. (Also, Exhibit #858 on Why I Could Never Be a Popular Blogger.)

All in all, great feedback for me to better this blog in 2012. I have big plans on a move to Wordpress, brand-new design, fun giveaways, and some new series ideas to put into action. Cheers to a beautiful and vibrant year!