In what has been an interesting week in Blogdom, I happened upon a blog post by my A-Z April Blogging Challenge mentor, Arlee Bird. With the attention catching title of Why I Hate WordPress, and having been posted on a blog run through the Blogger platform I was curious to see not only what Arlee had to say, but also how his readers would respond.
You can read the full article here
In all fairness to Arlee, apart from the shocking title, the post represented a fairly balanced viewpoint on the difficulties of inter-platform commenting. The reality is that crossing the great divide and commenting on a Blogger blog using a WordPress ID is not as streamlined, efficient or as easy as commenting on another blog within the WordPress platform. I liken inter-platform commenting to starting a new job. In a new job, you have to learn what your colleagues all already know and take for granted – the real procedures for getting stuff done, where it is safe to put your personal belongings, where the restrooms and the lunch rooms are etc. These are the basics that once learned and mastered grease the wheels and facilitate job performance.
Commenting WordPress to WordPress is easy. No need to type in your ID or email address, no worrying about HTML to create a live link to your blog or loading a photo. It is all done for you and as an added bonus you get notified by the friendly WordPress system when someone responds to your comment. Cross the great divide to Blogger and you have to supply your own grease.
When I started this blog, I had little expectation other than to use it as a vehicle for learning. After a couple of posts, I discovered that content was the monarchy (you can argue whether King or Queen and there is plenty of literature out there on that issue if you are keen to explore it), but like all palaces it is the servants that keep the place running. In the context of blogging, the main servants are Networking, Promotion, SEO, Analytics, HTML and CSS. I don’t profess to be a master of these, I am but a keen student at the start of what is a very long path. So it was with this in mind, I explored the benefits and drawbacks of each blogging platform before I decided to stick my claim in a small piece of WordPress blogging real estate.
At the time I had a friend who was pushing heavily for Blogger and we in fact ran a joint blog on the Blogger platform for the 2012 A to Z April Blogging Challenge. That blog is dormant now, but you can check it out here if you feel the urge. The concept behind it was to show the difference in viewpoints of a generation X blogger and a generation Y blogger to the same issues.
I have therefore blogged on both platforms.
What tipped me to WordPress for my personal blog was two things: appearance and potential. To me WordPress blogs looked like they had more “gravitas”. They looked more professional and had more plug ins and features. This then tied into the potential point. The literature I read at the time indicated that to enable monetization of a blog, the only serious platform contender was WordPress.org and to move a blog started on the Blogger platform to the WordPress. org platform was fraught. The move from WordPress.com to WordPress. org was more streamlined and enabled continuation of an established following through various plugins.
All of this is rather technical as well as hypothetical and at this stage I have no intention to monetize my blog. However, I do believe in maximizing my options.
Returning to Arlee’s original “hate” post, what surprised me about the comments on it was the sheer negativity that was expressed about WordPress from the predominantly Blogger commentators, most of who had never run a WordPress blog. My search amongst the comments for some objective criteria as to why Blogger was a better blogging platform proved elusive. All that I learned was that comfort is a powerful motivator and clearly, the choice of blogging platform participation is an emotive issue. Of course, when you try something new, it is not going feel as familiar as the old and of course you may initially have a negative perception of your experience. But should this colour your whole view on the inferiority of a blogging platform? Personally, as a reader and a commentator I don’t find the long running scripts on Blogger or Google + comfortable, but I will tolerate them for the sake of expanding my world.
Finally, as a blogger you are not compelled to cross any divide. You can be effective and have a fulfilling blogging experience simply by sticking to blogs on your own platform. Bloggers, of course blog for a host of different reasons and if your main reason is to socialize then there is probably no need to attempt the divide crossing. It’s your choice but if you choose this path, then do so knowing that there is a whole world of blogs and blogging that you are consciously saying no to.
My questions to my fellow WordPress bloggers are:
- Have you ever crossed the great Blogger/WordPress divide to comment on Blogger blogs?
- What has been your experience with cross-platform commenting?
- Is there a way that you have found that may make it easier to comment on Blogger blogs?
- Would you follow a blog on a different platform?
I’d love to hear your comments on the Blogger v WordPress issue.
Related articles
- BLOGGER vs WORDPRESS (ictwelcome.wordpress.com)
Raising the Curtain 
I do follow some blogs on blogger but not many. At first it was a pain to comment, but I think now I can comment directly using my Google+ ID. At least I think so. I follow blogs on a couple different platforms, so I might be wrong. But it seems easier than it used to be for me. That being said, it’s much easier on WordPress, and I too prefer the look of WordPress. Speaking of, love your new look!
I think you’re right that Google + has made it somewhat easier as signing up for Google + gives you an ID for blogger too, but wouldn;t it be great if they made the two platforms compatible? And about the new look… I hadn’t appreciated the work involved in changing themes until I was knee deep in it, so I’m glad you like it.
I comment on them frequently enough; a lot of A Round of Words in 80 Days people use Blogger. I actually tried blogging before this one, and that was a Blogger blog. I didn’t like the interface as well as WordPress’s, and I didn’t like not being able to ping back (maybe they’ve fixed that, I don’t know). I will generally use the OpenID option for commenting, and indicate that I’m using the WordPress option, or you can use your name and blog site to sign. Blogger seems to use CAPTCHA as its default, and many bloggers over there haven’t shut it off. I remember Arlee saying something about shutting it off for A To Z, but most of rthe blogs I checked still had it on.
I agree with you about CAPTCHA, it certainly doesn’t facilitate easy commenting. As Arlee notes in his comment below, the WordPress solution may not be optimal either as good comments may be going to spam. I tend to use by WordPress ID as well when commenting on blogger blogs, but sometimes I have to redo two or three times before Blogger will accept it.
I comment on blogs across multiple platforms. Some are annoying, some not so much.
but I’ve never had problems with reading or commenting on a blog that I would stay away from it.
I started on Blogpost. That lasted a day. Personally, I like WP a lot more.
I agree with you that the problems are minor annoyances and frustrations in the scheme of things and shouldn’t prevent commenting. It’s interesting the passion that this topic generates.
Excellent coverage of the topic. It will be interesting to see what others have to say and how many of those on Blogger will comment.
My biggest annoyance about WP blogs is that many of them have their spam screening too tight or something. Akismet frequently tosses my comment into spam and if the blog owners don’t check their spam frequently that’s where my comment ends up and I’ve wasted my time. Sometimes I’ll leave a second comment to notify that the first didn’t go through. In any case it can all be a big hassle and waste of time for me.
That being said, there are some wonderful WP blogs out there. I do find me commenting on WP blogs more than I receive comments from WP bloggers. Does that mean I’m more willing to make the effort? Couldn’t say.
Now let’s see if this comment goes through or ends up in spam.
I fished you out of spam. I have noticed that there are times when more legitimate comments go to spam – it seems to be swings and roundabouts. Most of the time through the comments in my spam folder are true spam. You’re right though the issue is the time factor.
Looks like my first comment ended up in spam. Very annoying.
Funny, you didn’t sound spammy at all. Your English was very goodly!
Soe good, some not so. I have enlisted into Google+ but shite..still trying to figure out how the damn thing works..as you have probably guessed technology and I are not friends 😦
We didn’t start off as friends either and I think Google + is kind of clunky. But the more I use, the easier it becomes. At least that’s what I say to myself 🙂
that was some – not soe ffs argghh!
It sounds like both are incompatible with each other, if you’re used to one you dislike the other, like most things in life you gravitate to the familiar.
I cannot work with Blogger myself, I find it near impossible to find things I am interested in. Their home page looks like Instagram, so people’s blogs are identified by a photo and don’t appear to have any snipped of the topic which you can get from WP, maybe there is but you may have to actually have a blog on there, I’m not sure.
I just tried searching for topics I’m interested in and it came up blank, only finding those keywords if they form part of the blogs name, at least in WP I can enter a myriad of topics and be taken to blogs tagging that, again, maybe Blogger has this it just wasn’t that clear from what I could see.
I found it odd on the article that people commented that on WP their replies go unanswered, they are following the wrong blogs 🙂 Everyone I follow replies to everything I add and in turn I reply to ever comment I get, the community on WP has blown me away, it wasn’t something I even thought about when I started and now it’s the main reason I love blogging.
There seems only way way to resolve this dispute, we meet behind the bike sheds after hours, last one standing wins!
Hi Joe and thanks for swinging by with an insightful comment. Your first sentence says it all and reflects the point I made when I commented on Arlee’s original blog post. At the end of the day, it somes down to how much effort you’re willing to put in to build a varied community. There are quality bloggers on both platforms.
I also prefer WP’s features over Blogger and I know that WP bloggers tend to reply to comments. The difficulty may arise because sometimes the WP comment follow function can be glitchy as evidenced by some recent feedback I received about it.
Your idea of a blog duel behind bike sheds should like a great idea. Can I be your second?
oooh, not sure, I’m terrible in a fight, I was planning to hind behind someone else and just throw cutting remarks before running away
I used to have a blog on Blogger yet found the entire process below par (just my personal opinion).. I miss some of the blogs there as I have no way (like with WP you can get emails) to stay notified of new posts.. other than that, I’m a WP convert
I have noticed that a lot of Blogger blogs don;t have an email sign up for posts – they tend to rely on RSS feeds. You can import the Blogger URL into your WP reader and get the posts that way, but the reader won’t send you an email of when the feed is received. I have done that with a few Blogger blogs.
I have never attempted to cross the blogger divide. But I am perfectly content to stay with my nucleus of WordPress bloggers and have been quite pleased with WordPress in general.
It also comes down to why you blog and what you want to achieve with your blog. If you’re happy with your nucleus then no need to go chasing electrons 🙂
A few friends blog on Blogspot — I find it difficult to leave comments — I fill in all the details and then they still don’t show up. WordPress is pretty easy for a Neanderthal like me.
There are no Neanderthals here, Elyse. I prefer the term Amazonian, myself 😉
You obviously haven’t seen me try to do anything more than type on a computer!
Leaving comments on Blogger (from WP) is inconvenient. Some keep bouncing me back so after a couple of tries, I give up. I like WP. One “Blogger” I follow works fine but I don’t know enough about it to understand why that one works.
I’ve also had experience with the bounce backs so I know exactly what you mean. Elkement made a great comment below in relation to Blogger and Internet Explorer, maybe the browser is the problem?
I had some annoying technical issues – authentication as a WP user simply did not work for some times. As a security consultant I should have tracked it down, but didn’t 😉 I have discovered recently that related issues happen with Internet Explorer only, so I will try with Firefox. But since I am on G+ now, I might simply use my G+ account instead!
Great solution! You’re my shining light on Google +. It’s interesting about IE, that’s what I use to and it can be glitchy with Blogger. Let me know how you go with Firefox.
Today I had a chance to test again – indeed it has worked fine with Firefox immediately. But I might have screwed up my IE settings as I use my own computer too often for testing some security stuff.
No, I did not find it easier to comment on blogger posts, I just know that every time I comment on it with my real heart and then the webmaster would put it up!
And of course I will follow a blog on different platform, I like good contents, and I like sharing!
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I also follow Lee and read his WP ‘hate’ post. I’m a WP fan myself for all the reasons you state. I agree that the two platforms don’t play nice with each other–that’s the main problem. I do cross platforms because there are some great blogs I don’t want to miss out on, but I tend to comment less on Blogger blogs if CAPTCHA is set up or if it won’t recognize my WP identify (I agree Google+ has been a nice mediator).
Jagoda