Where has all the blog love gone: the postscript

                                                  Source: etsy.com via Jane on Pinterest

Ah lovelies! I'm so over-the-moon excited at your fabulous responses so far to my last post about my hopes to bring back more kindness and connection to Blogland. I'm particularly chuffed at the lovely lurkers who have outed themselves ☺ - hello! And I'm thrilled to see some newbie bloggers introducing themselves. I've since edited the post to add the list of new blogs I've added to my blogroll as your comments roll in. Why don't you treat yourselves by having a peek at them and introducing yourselves or following them if they take your fancy? You could add them to your blogrolls as well - see how the ripple effect starts?! I'll answer your comments as soon as I can.

My brain is whirring away with a tumult of ideas I'd like to build upon. I think I may have a new project here...

Encouraging fellow bloggers has been so important to me since Day 1. Part of that is due to my values and upbringing. But another huge reason is because of the fabulous guidance I received from a number of bloggers when I was a newbie. I guess I'd like to 'put back in' some of that heart-lifting karma which was so readily and generously given.

Here are some more thoughts I've come up with:

Posting blogging tips for newbies (and old-hands as well)

As I said before, I'm no blogging expert or HTML guru. But I have worked out a lot of things myself which might come in handy for you. I've also picked them up from other bloggers and found the info in the Blogger Help Forum.

Long-time Planetarians will recall that I used to have a page tab up the top of my blog called 'Blogging tips'. There I had links to posts I'd written about blogging tricks I'd picked up. I've since deleted it as I have other plans for that space up there. But in case you've been looking for them, my 'blogging tips' can still be found if you click on 'blogging' under 'Planet Baby categories' in my sidebar.

That's where they are for now. But I will soon move them to a new regular column called 'Blogging 101' where I'll post more of what I've learnt. They'll be tips I've road-tested and applied here so you know they work. I'll also share useful links to other blogs and websites. 

Some of the topics I'll cover include:

• How to add a blogroll to your Blogger blogs;

• How I've developed friendships through blogging;

• How to build a community amongst your blog followers;

• How to leave meaningful comments on other blogs which promote the development of connections and friendships; and

• How to make offline blogging connections by email.

Contacting some prominent bloggers to invite them to help 'bring back the blog love'

Nothing ventured, nothing gained - right? I'm going to email some of the really well-renowned bloggers I follow and invite them to help me spread the word to bring back some kindness and civility to Blogland. 'Operation blog love', if you will (anyone have a punchier, shorter suggestion for me? All contributions are welcome!).

I'll see what responses I get, if any. But you know what? All it takes is for one influential blogger to get on board and real change can happen.

I've seen it. Just look what happened when Ez from Creature Comforts posted about 'Things I'm afraid to tell you' back in May 2012. It went viral and prompted many bloggers all over the world to post really honest and transparent posts about their 'real' lives behind their blogs. Some bloggers may have used it for self-promotion, I guess, but in the main, it was a force for good in Blogland.

We need more of that.

I'll let you know how I go.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on my ideas and any further suggestions you might have. Have my posts encouraged you to do something similar? Or have you decided to approach blogging a little differently now? I can't wait to hear what you come up with!

PS I see lovely Romy now has another 5 followers since my last post - all wonderful Planetarians! Go, you good things ☺.