So I guess this is a big deal to some on WordPress? Judging by the crap some blogs receive for engaging in this practice.

I’m not “new” to blogging; I’ve been here about two years. But I have no idea what mass following is as compared to just plain regular following. Thus I don’t know what people might be up in arms about.

Near as I can tell, the idea is that you can follow a bunch of bloggers (or Twitter accounts, or other social media avenues) that talk about a specific keyword you’re interested in. Maybe a number of those people decide to follow you back. Ta-da, you gained some audience for your blog.

The assumption is that’s shady, I guess. You’re supposed to put great stuff out there and like magic, if you write it, they will come.

Well I see a lot of people in my reader who put out some great thoughts and get maybe 4 likes. The magic doesn’t always work.

Not to mention, part of what I personally enjoy about blogging is the variety of thought and content out there. Blogs open windows to worlds I’ll never be a part of. They give insight into experiences I’ll never have. So if a subject interests me, it might be perfectly natural to go out and search for a wide swath of bloggers and Tweeters who are talking about that subject. I might learn something new.

I can always go trim the fat off my Reader later.

What’s wrong with this? I thought this is kind of the point of social media interaction, tagging posts, hashtagging tweets, and seeing what else is out there.

If you’re aware of something about this that I’m not, I’d love to hear your perspective. Meanwhile, I’m going to go see who all is writing about my interests, and I might even click follow on their blogs.