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Sunday, January 31, 2016

#31 ~ Mysteriously Losing Followers Daily on Blogger

My Baga is losing her “Followers” a few more each day. Please read what I have to say.

My name is Eloise, and I am not happy.

The more I think about it, the more upset I get. 

Oh dear,  this is it. I’ve lost it. 


  
 OK, Google...I, ten year old Eloise, am extremely upset with you. What are you doing messing with my Baga’s “ Followers”? You are taking them away from her a few each day. This is not nice thing to do if you ask me. She has spent years earning the trust of her followers, and now you are just dumping them in the trash. Well, I’ve had it. When you upset my Baga, you upset me more. 

Below, my Baga has put together as many updates as she could find regarding this HUGE change in your approach to your blogspot.com members. I hope all that you blogspot bloggers who are having problems like my Baga is will read these. Maybe it will become a bit clearer. Poor Baga....she is totally confused and does not know what to do.

The really sad thing is Baga was so excited when he finally hit 250 followers she made a special little gift for that person. Unfortunately, she didn’t pay any attention to the number, so now she has the gift and no #250.  She said to tell you if you were #250 to let her know, and she will send you your little goodie.

It was fun talking to you. Maybe one day I will have a blog, too.

Eloise

~~~~~~~~~~~~


In 2011, we announced the retirement of Google Friend Connect for all non-Blogger sites. We made an exception for Blogger to give readers an easy way to follow blogs using a variety of accounts. Yet over time, we’ve seen that most people sign into Friend Connect with a Google Account. So, in an effort to streamline, in the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes that will eventually require readers to have a Google Account to sign into Friend Connect and follow blogs.
As part of this plan, starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.


We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers.

Posted by Michael Goddard, Software Engineer

Here is one of the older Google releases I just found from 2011, but it tells you what they are planning on doing. This is the part that refers to Google Friend Connect.The rest of the post I left out.

This is our third blog post in our off-season spring cleaning series. To recap, we’re in the process of shutting a number of products which haven’t had the impact we’d hoped for, integrating others as features into our broader product efforts, and ending several which have shown us a different path forward. Overall, our aim is to build a simpler, more intuitive, truly beautiful Google user experience. In terms of the details, here is the latest update:
  • Google Friend Connect—Friend Connect allows webmasters to add social features to their sites by embedding a few snippets of code. We're retiring the service for all non-Blogger sites on March 1, 2012. We encourage affected sites to create a Google+ page and place a Google+ badge on their site so they can bring their community of followers to Google+ and use new features like Circles and Hangouts to keep in touch.
Here is a reply I found last night. Mary had written about her concerns of losing her followers day after day. This is Joan Davis's reply. Being a non-techie I do not really understand it.....

Joan Davis
1 day ago

+
1
2
1
 
Reply


Hi Mary!  I was reading through the comments to Blogger's post and found yours.  There are tons of ways for people to follow your blog on blogspot...so, there are no worries about the "friend connect" widget.  (It's been outdated for years anyway.)  My suggestion is to offer other ways to follow:  Blog Lovin', Feedly, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google + and RSS feed.  Most of my "followers" use their own method (i.e. Blog Lovin').  Anyway, best of luck to you!

I read somewhere last night that we should expect to lose 10-20 % of our followers....UGH! No one in the thread I was following was happy. Many had lost way over 100 friends, and it is continuing. Some of the people commenting were writing in non-english, so it is happening all over the world. None of the comments I read, and there were so many, were positive.


Here are my questions and concerns...
1.Is this why I am seeing so many people switching to Google+ with “circles” in addition to “followers”?

2. It looks to me like Google is going to be able to get lots more info about us to use for their business purposes.

3. Are we going to be in a situation where we have to switch to Google + to keep our followers?

4. What would happen if I was to switch to Wordpress? Would my blog remain in tact?

5. If I change to Google+, will my blog remain in tact?

6. Looking at Joan Daviss reply, is there one of the choices that is better than the others?

Thank you in advance for any comments, explanations, or suggestion you might have for me. I was so upset then I saw my followers disappearing I decided to write up a post, but I wanted to add a bit of humor to it...so in comes my Eloise. I had that funny shot of her and decided to use it.

Many Thanks.....Genie

The good news is I have made it one month posting daily. Now, comes the second. I wonder if I will make it.





21 comments:

  1. Thanks for that info, genie. I was wondering why this was happening. I've lost about 90 followers and I'm disappointed that Google have made this change. Sadly, I have a feeling that some of those followers are not regular users and will unlikely be signing up to a Google account and then coming back to follow.

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  2. Dear Eloise... :-) Thanks for this informative blog post. I have read a little bit on this subject and I don't think for a minute that Google is trying to 'make this a better experience' for us bloggers, as they would have us believe. Personally, I think they're trying to force us into joining Google+ because it's supposed to be their alternative to Facebook and for that (although I don't have a personal Facebook account, but have read others' opinions in a forum somewhere) Google+ is failing miserably in this department, probably because so many of us are not joining Google+ even though they constantly have been pestering us to do.

    Since the first time I got a message from Google that I was supposed to join Google+, they've never accompanied it with any good reason (or any reason at all!) why I should join. They've never told of advantages, or how it works, just JOIN NOW or some such button. I too am very annoyed that my GFC followers number dwindles daily, and I don't know how I'm supposed to let readers know to follow me somewhere else if they've been deleted from my GFC followers list and are unable to read the blog post informing them.

    I am also concerned about your #2 and #5 questions, particularly. Along the line of personal information gathered, I've noticed also with my phone that some of my apps are requiring more and more permissions for information to upgrade. So I think the grab for personal information is everywhere. But in #5, I am also wondering if my email connection will disappear from my blog if I were to join Google+. I notice that many who have joined appear as 'No Reply Bloggers.'

    I'm sorry this is getting so long. I'm hoping that others who are already using Google+ will tell us why we should join - hopefully with a better reason than that Google is trying to force us into it.

    Thank you for all your research and for sharing it with us.

    Love the photo (at least the very cute first one, anyway). :-))

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  3. oh, what luxury sorrows....
    every system has its existing rights. we must accept it, though we often do not like it!
    You try to stand in your original way!
    Two wonderful posts, my dear.
    I myself, I decided to stay NOWHERE as a follower.
    because for me - it is just the other side.
    I am new in the blogger scene, and I understand googleplus better than the blogger system.
    At last we will see.
    it is not a fight or struggle!
    in googleplus we can get friends similar and without difference.
    it is a bit like fighting against windmills....
    A smiling Pippa, who misses you at:
    http://letzterrang.blogspot.de/
    I stay in my snakehouse there, only there! P.

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  4. Hello Genie, I thought some of the followers I was loosing were people that also stopped blogging and never deleted their own blog. Also, Blogger was trying to get rid of a lot of spam bloggers, I did notice my spam comments were starting to disappear. That makes me happy, most were anonymous anyway and I do not publish them. I rarely use google plus, sometimes I enter my blog post on Google plus. I hope it all works out for you! Have a happy week!

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  5. Genie, I am as confused as you over this. The bad thing is I have tried other places to blog and just like blogger so much better.

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  6. another answer: you can use both at the same time. you can switch. if you go to googleplus, every follower can stay. it works totally independently from your follower list.
    It is important to know, that with one klick you can go back from googleplus to normal blogger-profil and nothing will be changed because of the move.
    So you can try part for part!
    it is only a very little try to switch between both possibilities of the profil.nothing else.
    wordpress is a complete other system. I could not work with it as easy as with blogger.

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  7. Hi Genie I have just had a wonderful time going through your last posts that I somehow seemed to have missed, I couldn't believe it when I read that your wonderful farmhouse is named 'Homeplace' .... guess what... mine also :) I have a wonderful sign made by my very talented niece about 25 years ago that has been at my front door ever since, what a coincidence oui! I also have been noticing my followers dropping and wondered for a while if I'd written something that offended some :) couldn't imagine what though :) I really don't want to move to Google + and if they make it compulsory, I do hate anything that's FORCED on me, I may even think about giving it away which would be a shame. I love your Eloise, she has such a personality, I bet you two have so much fun together. Are you still having as much snow, our weather couldn't possibly be more different, here we are sweltering in hot and humid, although for the last two days we have had some respite.. February is the worst summer month and there's always so much on in Feb. still, at lease we're all in the same shiny, sweaty boat :)

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  8. I've learned over the years that Google will break your heart with what they do. They buy up and coming sites and services and then expand them then drop them dead. I got concerned about their support for blogger and that is why I went to a self hosted WordPress blog. I miss blogger a lot because you don't realize everything they do until you have left them but I didn't want to be left high and dry. I use feedly now for the blogs I follow.

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  9. First of all -- Eloise is beautiful even in blue and yellow -- even when she's lecturing Mr Google. I have never been a follower of you officially (Or of anyone -- I blog on typepad and have never understood being a followre), but I try to read every one of your posts and can't help but comment on most of them because they are so good.

    I did create a Google Blog because that makes it easier to comment, if I use it I don't have to do the verification thing on google blogs like yours. I'm not having any trouble these days commenting here or on any blogs.

    And even if I'm not listed as one of your faithfuls, I promise to follow you unofficially as long as you keep posting ;>).

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  10. There are so many people, who love the follower- gadget, why should You change anything.
    everything is all right.
    No need to change everything or to add another follower-way.
    there are a thousands possibilities.
    Ask thousand people and you will get thousanandone answer.
    stay calm and blog on as usual! P.

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  11. Hi Genie
    Now I'm confused, but I hope I find you again and again, no matter where that will be. Have no idea of Google friends or Google+ for me there is only blogspot.
    Greetings and a nice week.
    Sadie

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  12. Not news to me, but does affect many followers. Google + is getting as weird as Facebook. YOU, WE - are all being watched and followed.......and it ain't Big Brother.

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  13. Cranberry hit the hammer right on the head. If anyone is worried about losing touch with you, their only option is to become a Google + member. YES, Google + is forcing that on YOU non googler + persons.....so, open your mailboxes for junk. There are other ways to read Genie's posts. Email.....Genie can send a copy of her posts through email - we have all heard of copy and paste and group addresses - don't let Google + intimidate you, look for other ways to get your info out. Hey, wait till the "tweeters" find out they are affected too. ha,ha Mostly, don't panic - look for other ways. If you know your followers, which I do, I just send a mass copy by email. Solution for me, but then I do not have as many followers as you, but you can still change the way people read your posts. Damm Google +.....ooops

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  14. The sad thing is I hate google+ and I hate having to search it to find people's blogs to return a visit. :(

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  15. I've lost 39 followers over night. It's another move by Google to gain an increasing monopoly :( I added a follow with email gadget to my blog. I think like Saucy Kodz, google+ ~ I'm good, thanks.

    Greetings from Germany
    Gaby

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  16. A big THANK YOU for this information Genie. I was tempted to make a post up as to the fact I lost 5 (yeah, only five - it could have been much worse I suppose) followers in one week. "Well what did I post now that pissed people off so much?" I wondered. Maybe the Diesel Fried Chicken turned a few stomachs. Well now I know - it wasn't personal. A BIG hug to you Genie for digging into this matter. I am going to make a post and link your post to it so others can know.

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  17. one thing for certain in the digital age. Nothing ever stays the same. No matter the platform, how well it performs, the InterWebs are no more eternal than are washers, dryers, automobiles or …. smartphones. they have their lifespan and that’s all there is to it.

    Get used to it.

    It’s not going to get better. Not unless the company is making heaps and gobs of money from whatever YOU are doing with it and even then if they think they can make MORE MONEY some other way you better believe your favorite Whatis is going to disappear.

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  18. I'm so pleased you wrote this post as I too have lost followers. I did join google + but find it difficult to see any advantage. Perhaps Google need to listen more!

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  19. I, too, have lost followers. Maybe Google will hear our complaints and fix this? I doubt it...oh, well...

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  20. I'm confused too, Genie. I have been resisting Google+ because I don't see how it would make my blogging experience better. I'm another one who stubbornly opposes being forced into changes. lol

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  21. I've lost over 40 followers in the past three weeks. I've was just wondering what the heck happened. Thanks for info Genie...

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