I’m making a few changes around Redhead Ranting.

I’m still working on my color scheme and logo so don’t get too used to either of them. I have learned that I choose the design of this blog like I choose my husbands. I choose the design because it is new, different, attractive to me for a while, and then I get tired of it and need to change it. I really do want stability so eventually I will settle on one. Hopefully I can do that with a husband too.

Moving on.

I don’t know if it is due to cabin fever or what but there have been scandals, back stabbing, nit picking and all kinds of other nasty behavior in the blogosphere this week. Reading some of the blogs this week was like going back to high school.  That isn’t why I write nor is it what I want to read.

I’ve decided to leave Entrecard, with this blog at least. Not because of all of the stuff that happened this week but it didn’t help. This week while dropping I have been Rick Rolled numerous times (seriously who still does that?), I have found several trojans and I have to restart my computer at least once a night. I hate dropping. It is excruciatingly boring. 90% of the blogs I visit via Entrecard I don’t read. I’ll admit it (and if I had known of a way to cheat the system, to make the task almost bearable, I would have used it too). I don’t read them because they are poorly written, they are nothing but ads, they never update their blogs or I simply have no interest in the subject matter. The ten percent I do read I would read anyway, I don’t need Entrecard to visit those blogs because they are well written, entertaining, I enjoy the subject matter and I have connected to the writer in one way or another.

I’ve left Entrecard before, I stopped dropping last summer. It was wonderful, I had time on my hands to actually write and visit the sites I enjoy. It also gave me time to get away from the computer for a while and socialize with people face to face. The problem was my traffic dropped off considerably. I like it when my stats say I have a lot of visitors. It makes me think you all like my stuff. The problem with that mentality is that the ones who didn’t come back are the ones who don’t read my blog. Why do I want people to visit my site if they aren’t reading it? That’s insane.

I need to stop paying attention to my stats.

For the moment I am going to leave my widget up there, I have many advertisers in the queue and will wait until they have run. I have started to add all the sites I visit, comment on, and enjoy, to my blogroll. I plan on eventually getting everyone into a reader and going about things that way but so far I am just not that organized, and old habits die hard. If you comment on my site you are in my blogroll. If you are someone who lurks you need to speak up so I know you are there and can add you to it.

Ultimately I like making the connections. I like good stats too but they are misleading. Making a connection with another person is much more satisfying than having my hits go up, especially because I know those hits aren’t meaningful.

This will free me up to comment more. I spend so much time dropping, waiting for the pages to load, reloading, and skimming blogs I know have nothing I am interested in that when I do read something I want to comment on my comments are often short and somewhat confusing. It doesn’t help that there is a child, or two, constantly interrupting my reading and writing but I can’t do much about that right now. Time will solve that problem.

Don’t get me wrong, Entrecard is a great tool for bloggers. I have met some wonderful people through Entrecard. The truth is however, I would have met them anyway because they are good blogs. They are well written, amusing, thought provoking and the writers are engaging. I would have found them eventually because their blogs stick out as shining examples of what blogging is all about.

Entrecard is great for the beginner blogger. When no one knows about your blog it is a quick and easy way to find visitors. I don’t regret signing up for Entrecard. But Entrecard can be limiting for blogs that want to expand and reach new readers. If I am visiting 300 blogs per day within the network that leaves me very little time to go outside of it to find other blogs.  And there are so many other great blogs out there that are not part of the Entrecard network. I want to read them but I simply don’t have the time if I have to read 270 blogs I have no interest in.

For those of you who know me, comment on my blog, email me and basically are my friends don’t worry, this will not change anything. I will still continue to visit, stalk and leave strange comments on your site, along with the occasional long email. If I haven’t connected with you you won’t miss me and I won’t miss you. If you would like to connect with me then by all means leave me a comment so I can say hello and add your blog to my list. I love meeting new friends.