How important are followers and comments to being a ‘successful’ blogger?

Thought of the day: It’s hot today and I really really want ice cream. 

Hiiii everyone!! How are you all today? Today I’m here with a blogging discussion, because it’s been SO LONG since I last did one and they’re so much fun to write! (Though half the time I have no idea what I’m writing, but shh. Minor details.)

So, I was glancing at my stats the other day, and I’m almost at 1000 WordPress followers?! I’m currently at 998, without counting my email followers. And gosh, I’m just so surprised and shocked and so THANKFUL, above all, that there are actual people out there who read (and sometimes even enjoy?? I hope???) my insaneeee sleep-deprived rambles omg haha. ❤

Which brings me to this post! I’m planning a follower-themed appreciation post when I hit 1000 (and possibly a giveaway? POSSIBLY. I am a poor broke bookworm, but fingers crossed!!) but for now I’m going to just share some of the thoughts I’ve had on blog followers and being a ‘successful’ blogger!! LET’S GO.

Defining blogging success:

It’s SO SUBJECTIVE?? I feel like everyone has different goals and ideas on what it truly means to be successful. In the eye of the beholder, or whatnot. Maybe it’s reaching a certain amount of followers. Maybe it’s reaching a certain amount of comments or likes per post. Maybe it’s achieving a goal, whatever that may be. But from a general, outside perspective, the common idea is that being a ‘successful’ blogger, means you have perhaps, a large follower count, lots of interaction (comments), and views. In the book blogging world, maybe a blogger who receives a lot of ARCs and review copies.

Now, I don’t know about all of you, but to me, my idea of success lies primarily in reader interaction AKA comments. Views, likes, I’m glad for all of it, but comments feel a lot more meaningful to me, because they’re how I get to actually TALK to people, which is a huge part of blogging for me. I always feel so grateful for anyone taking the time to write a comment to let me know their thoughts, and hence I always do my best to reply to the comments on my blog, obviously, but also on the commenter’s blog.  Maybe it’s a form of validation, kind of?? That what I’ve written is useful, or enjoyable or whatever, and that I’m not just talking to myself haha. But of course, I completely understand if you don’t comment, because time is precious and sometimes we don’t have enough of it. *SIGHS* Personal struggle, here.

But yes, for me, comments is a way I measure success, if you will? Don’t get me wrong, success is not limited to that at all, and there are so many different things that play into your own view of success, but interaction is one of the most important parts of blogging for me, and so comments mean a lot in my mind! 

Impact of followers

So we’ve established the importance of comments! But.. of course it doesn’t stop there because we also have FOLLOWERS. I’d be lying if I said followers weren’t important ahah. Because even though they’re not necessarily an indicator of success, interaction-wise (you could have a huge amount of followers but not really have as many comments, for example), I just think there’s this appeal, in our minds, to reaching those milestones. No one celebrates the achievement of a certain number of comments (not outwardly anyway haha) but reaching the 100 followers, 200 followers, 300, 400, 500, etc etc marks? IT FEELS GOOD, it makes us happy. Even if it’s just a number. And so we set goals, expectations, hopes, that one day we’ll reach an even bigger number and so on, you know? There’s nothing wrong with that, with being proud of your achievements or even wanting a bit more. We’re human, it’s normal.

Oh and!! To tie it back to my previous point, there’s this idea that a large amount of followers = a lot of comments. After all, more followers mean more people will view your post, a larger possibility for people to comment, etc etc. Wow, we’re really getting double the temptations here.

But because I’m extra contradictory, there’s also the question of dead followers?

Because a large amount of followers does not necessarily equal lot of comments? Or even a small amount of followers does not equal less amount of comments, in fact there are so many blogs out there with perhaps a lesser amount of followers but with so much interaction on their posts. Because followers, are not always a reliable indication of anything when not all those followers are actively reading your blog: AKA what I refer to as dead followers. The majority of these I’d consider to be the non-book blogs, for me. Most of the people who comment on my posts (being an active follower) are book bloggers? So. The non-book bloggers… I don’t know what they’re doing honestly haha. They might still read my posts, but who knows.

But wait… does success = lots of followers yes or no???

From comments to reaching milestones to dead followers… where did this discussion go?? I DON’T KNOW.

Verdict: Maybe? Maybe not? Sometimes? HELP ME OUT HERE. A large amount of followers means at first glance the blog seems like it’s really popular which could be synonymous with successful… But on the other hand not all of those followers necessarily follow the blogger’s posts, yet at the same time a large amount of followers give a higher chance for lots of comments, which can be an indicator of success?

I am very much over complicating this. SOMEBODY STOP ME. 

Ahem.

Okay, maybe success for some people is defined by their follower count? But when you think about the many bloggers with a lower follower count who are still achieving so much–they are totally successful! So to me, there’s no number associated with success. Followers are super great and make you feel super great, for sure and I’ll always aim for that high follower count haha but being successful with blogging is something you measure based on your own goals.

Okay, so this post was kind of a complete mess? I’ve abandoned these discussions for SO LONG haha whatever ability I had to write somewhat coherent posts has disappeared. 😛 But I hope that made a bit sense?? Let me know your thoughts on this!! What does success mean, to you? Comments, followers, both, or neither?? What are your opinions on followers–is it something you care about or not really? Any other thoughts?  Bonus: feel free to tell me your favourite ice cream flavour!! 😉