The time has come.

I am finally unleashing my wrath on the world. Are you afraid? You'd better be.

The original inspiration for this came from Lisa at Not Quite Enough when she posted this list of bad blogger behaviours. I read them, chuckled at them, agreed with them and hung my head in shame at a couple of them (nobody's immune!) Lisa also posted this list of good blogger behaviours so check that out as well.

And as the time comes to clear out my Google Friend Connect feed AGAIN (i.e, because I am following the limit of 300 blogs from back in my click-happy days and now there are loads more I want to follow but can't) it seems like an appropriate time.

So, how many sins are you guilty of? Do you agree with them or do you think I'm being a moany hag?

1) Comments

This had to go at the top of the list. There are so many platforms out there for leaving comments now. Some of them I get on with quite well - the general Blogger one, Disqus... others, not so much. Squarespace refuses to acknowledge HTML (SO EMBARASSING when I forget this and everyone can see my < and my /), Wordpress forces me to log into the account I made and forgot about ages ago and Google+ shares the post all over my feed when all I wanted to do was say hello. 
And then we have the comment moderation. Ok, I get it about spam comments, they're annoying (mostly for their synthetic tone and absolute jumble sale of words). But do you really need to moderate my comment AFTER you've asked me to sit, squinting at a screen, reading something that's so well guarded against internet robots that not even a real human can discern those letters? I want to comment and I want to comment easily!!

2) Interaction

My favourite blogs are my favourites not just because they are full of interesting content but also because the personality behind the posts extends to their readership. They reply to comments, they comment on your blog, they chat to you and you have something coherent to attach that site to. 
Some bloggers have too many readers to be able to reply to all of their comments or visit their readers' blogs and I understand that. I like to see a bit of effort made in replying to some comments or to referencing readers' wishes in their posts but for the Big Blogs, it isn't much of an issue.
But when I've sent a thoughtful comment to a blogger with a small to average readership and I get absolutely no response despite my own dedicated following of that blog, I don't feel like I want to keep reading. It's not that it's the be all and end all of a blog for me but when I've been commenting for a few months and taking the time to leave comments I've thought about carefully and they're never even acknowledged, I feel much less inclined to visit that person's site.

3) Layouts

Ok a silly little pet peeve but layout is hugely important for me. I want everything to look pretty and I want the fonts to compel me to read on. I love writing and whenever I sit down at my computer and attempt to write another story (never gets past a page), I normally spend about half an hour fiddling with fonts to find the one that will inspire me. As a kid I always used to draw and design (probably should have followed my passions rather than listening to accademia and ending up in this odd place where I have no idea what to do?) So yes anyway. Aesthetics are important. I know, I know, I'm so superficial but I can't read a blog with a burgundy and lime colour scheme!

4) Spoilers

I literally unfollowed a blog after this. She had outlined EVERYTHING that happens in The Fault In Our Stars. WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?! The book was so marvellous and moving and when I was reading it, I just wanted to lock myself away from the world and swim in the pages. If somebody had told me what happened at the end, I would have murdered them! Immunising yourself from imminent death by distributing the plot on the internet is COWARDLY and MEAN. I feel very strongly about this. I had actually finished the book when I read her review and I just could not believe it when she glibly disclosed the ending. Is glibly the right word? I don't know but I am just so ANGRY!

5) GFC

 It's not working properly for me at the moment. So I have put it on my list of annoyances. It won't show me what my favourite bloggers have been up to lately and it won't let me delete people I don't want to follow anymore. Sob sob.