Whether we want to admit it or not, alot of content creators are addicted to what they do. Especially bloggers. When you create content and put it out there for the world to see, review and critique it can be a scary thing. And It can lead to us content creators becoming obsessed with stats and opinions of us.
I myself have gone through that phase. I never liked to admit it, but I started seeing other people admitting how they were addicted to checking the stats on their blogs and seeing how well their posts are doing. It can quickly become an unhealthy addiction.
I didn’t just want to include my own addictions here on this post, so I decided to take to Twitter and asked some fellow content creators what their addictions are. Here is what they said:
WHAT ARE CONTENT CREATORS ACTUALLY ADDICTED TO?
Ad Revenue Checker
“I am a serial page views checker and ad revenue checker!”
Lynn Mumbing Mejia
I can definitely relate to the revenue checker, especially if money is tight or blogging/content creation is your main source of income. Some people are so blessed to make content creation/blogging their full time job and income. The one thing I don’t like about blogging is how inconsistent the money is. It can be scary for those who rely on it to pay bills.
Are People Commenting on My Posts?
“I am obsessed with whether people are commenting on my posts”
Debbie Frampton
It can feel so disheartening when you take so much time, and put so much effort and love into creating content. For nobody to like it, see it or comment on it. I remember I used to be obsessed with counting comments and wanting the numbers to increase. Sometimes I think all of these obsessions really are to fill our egos. We want to be liked, to be told we did well and to become popular. Which isn’t all bad. But when it starts to become an obsession, and sometimes we can’t stop checking for. It’s a problem.
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I Wonder What My DA Score is Today? And Tomorrow? And the Next Day?
“One thing I do daily is check my DA score”
The Grumpy Olive
If you’re not familiar with what a DA score is, let me explain quickly. A DA score is a search engine ranking score, that can predict how likely a website is to rank high on a search engine. The higher the score, the more likely your website/posts will appear on the first or second pages of Google searches. Which is what you want!
I am yet to figure out how I can successfully improve my DA score. Every time I actively try to improve it, it lowers. And every time I don’t try, it increases. I honestly think it’s a game, that I don’t know how to play. So I can see why people might become obsessed with trying to improve it. If you want a successful blog, your DA score should be higher. And alot of brands now ask for your DA score if they want to work with you. The higher the DA score, the more likely they will be to want to pay you for some work.
I Wonder How Many People Visited My Site Today
“Serial Page view checker here, multiple times a day!”
Vourneen
Hands up if you’re a serial page view checker! Yep, probably all of us reading this are too. Honestly, I can recite all of the hours and days I spent clicking onto WordPress just to see if my posts have been viewed a certain number of times or to see how many likes it got. I did this awful thing where if my post didn’t get a certain amount of likes after 3 hours of being live, I knew it wouldn’t do well. Which is such a stupid thing to think.
Your worth is not based on the numbers of likes you see next to your post. Just because less people are seeing your content doesn’t mean it’s bad, or that nobody likes you. I came to a place in my blogging life where I post my content, log out of WordPress and go about my day. I probably check once now. Because I know that no matter what, I put my all into creating that content, and I know it’s good. And thats all that matters to me.
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The Higher The Engagement The Better
“I Check how many likes vs comments I get per post. I love trying to get it to higher numbers”
Mind Beauty Simplicity
Honestly, its like were in competition with ourselves isn’t it? We always want more and more. Which, isn’t always a bad thing. But if it becomes an obsession, we know we have to take a step back. With the rise of social media, we have become programmed to believe that the higher the number of likes or comments the better we are. But, wouldn’t we rather receive a smaller number of likes from genuine people who actually do love the content we create? Rather than a bunch of bots, or people who haven’t even bothered to read the content liking our stuff? It’s a hard one to navigate.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with striving for better though. Wanting more reach, more engagement and more love on your content isn’t bad. It’s when it starts affecting your mental health and wellbeing that it becomes a problem. We need to worry less about these things.
True, I am also a daily search performance checker and, I also get worried when my post reach gets down. Though, I am trying to get out of this addiction and enjoy the process more than seeing for the results.
The process is what it’s all about. Enjoy it and focus on the reason you started
Yeah!
such a creative post idea! loved contributing and reading what other bloggers are addicted to. #relatable
Thanks so much for contributing!
I strongly relate to checking the number of daily site views, as well as the ad revenue. It’s not even like I earn anything significant from WordPress either but I like seeing that I earned a few extra pennies.
Its important to keep tabs on what you are earning for sure!
Thanks for sharing this sweetie!
Danielle | thereluctantblogger.co.uk
Thanks for reading!
This post couldn’t have come at a better time because many of these thoughts have been weighing on my mind. For instance, I wonder, where are my readers? Are people only liking my posts because they want something in return? Better yet, why is an older gentleman from a country 20,000 miles away my only reader? How long should I expect this to last?
But when I step back and re-evaluate the situation, I realize how unhealthy it is to tie my self-worth to these ridiculous social media stats. As you said, this behavior takes a toll on us, and we do ourselves a disservice by allowing others to determine our worth. It’s like handing over our power on a platter.
And you’re right: we need to stop caring so much and take our power back.
Thank you for covering this important topic, and I enjoyed the read.
I’m so glad this post found you at the right time. It can be a challenge and all bloggers can relate to what you’re feeling. I hope you feel better soon and you can overcome those thoughts and feelings!
Thank you for sharing this post. Very relatable I must say, I’m new in the blogging world and I find myself under the category of constantly checking page views. Seeing that my posts are getting much views and likes could be quite exciting. However when I post a content for over 4 hours and it has no likes could be sad , unknowingly I find myself measuring my abilities and how good the post is with the number if likes and views it gets. Thanks for this, totally enjoyed reading through.
I definitely relate to this! I used to check my DA score all the time, but I have stopped checking other blog stats. I am bad with Instagram likes though, I should really turn off the number x
Yeah I can relate. But on the other hand, it’s a bit normal to want feedback on what you wrote with your heart(!). Granted, views and likes are not perfect feedbacks on the quality of what we did, but that’s the only one we have…
Wanting feedback is important. We all want to know what our audience thinks. It’s when it crosses over and becomes people pleasing. And only writing content for your audience. It takes a bit of your authenticity away. You should write what you enjoy!