The following is a public service announcement brought to you by Hollaback Health in regards to your mental health.
Do you often find yourself visiting a blog that you honestly just can’t stand to read? Do you roll your eyes at the bad jokes of the author? Do you resent the blog and find it an annoyance to the blog world? If so, then you may be suffering from hate-following.
Every day, thousands of readers and bloggers alike fall prey to this condition, and it must be stopped. Hate-following is a condition that occurs when you continuously return to a blog and read it, even though you have previously sworn off said blog or do not like the message that the author is sending.
The causes of this condition are unknown, but likely related to the same phenomenon that causes Facebook stalking of ex-boyfriends and frenemies. Experts believe that hate-following has to do with competition between blogs and a constant need to make sure that you still, in fact, hate that blog.
Do you think you or someone you love might be experiencing hate-following?
Symptoms of hate-following include:
- “Spying” on a blog by staying constantly in-the-know about the blog and not actually reading for enjoyment
- Occasionally (um, daily) checking a blogger’s Twitter account to see if they’ve posted anything particularly juicy
- Reading posts daily but rolling your eyes and asking yourself why you’re reading it the whole time
- Scanning blogger gossip on Twitter to hear about the blogs you love to hate
- Checking on the blog in secret and hiding from other bloggers that you still read that blog
- Finding yourself trying to one-up something a blog you hate-follow has recently done
If you suspect you suffer from hate-following, the swiftest cure is to simply delete the blog from your reader or bookmarks. Cease and desist. Another way is to remind yourself that the other blogger gets additional hits and sponsor money for your visits. Remind yourself how reading the blog makes you feel (angry, jealous, enraged, pissed off, etc)…and then stop doing it.
We suggest you take that valuable time you spend reading blogs you don’t like and put it into the BTB time on your own blog. In that case, everybody wins.
For the public health and mental sanity of all bloggers and blog readers out there, please do yourself a favor and stop hate-following. Together, with the support of your blogger friends, we can overcome this crippling condition.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. Why waste your time? Although, I’m not going to lie…I love a good trainwreck every now and then
Great post. I have to admit that there is a blog or two that I read even though they annoy me and there is never anything interesting. Why do I even bother?
I usually do a pretty good job of avoiding blogs/bloggers I don’t like unless there are community-wide discussions, like the Marie-Clare-gate thing where everyone is commenting on everything. I don’t want to avoid reading blogs that I like because someone I dislike reads and comments on them, so sometimes it is hard.
I might have to use one of those “block your ex’s name” tools so I can stop irritating myself by happening upon bloggers who always piss me off. But doesn’t that seem a little cray-cray too?
Melissa, I agree — why waste your time?!!? But you’re right, I do love a good train wreck. Which is exactly why I have trouble quitting some blogs.
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I’m with MelissaNibbles…sometimes a peak at a trainwreck is kind of entertaining.
its like the car wreck you just cant take your eyes off of. just too good to miss, but i totally forgot they are making money off my haterade! duly noted, will stop now
I hope I am not the train wreck everyone is referring to.
It is hard in the beginning to quit a blog but it’s like a band aid. Just rip that bitch off! And then you’re gold.
“Just rip that bitch off!” Best quote of the day!!!
I am totally guilty of this, I deleted the ones that I do this with off my favorites but will peek in every now and then. This needs to stop.
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Where are the trainwrecks? I wanna see! All the blogs I read must be from extremely well-adjusted writers because I love ‘em all.
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I admit it. There is a blog I used to hate follow. The biggest reason for me to stop?
“Another way is to remind yourself that the other blogger gets additional hits and sponsor money for your visits. ”
And I didn’t want that blogger to get money. Yeah, that’s mean of me, but it worked!
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I left Tumblr so I wouldn’t have to witness SO MUCH of this. I just want to be happy and I want to surround myself with happy people. Of course every day isn’t sunshine and rainbows, but a little positivity and less haterade goes a looooooooong way.
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I’m loving all the comments — especially the trainwreck comments. It is so hard to take your eyes away, but you MUST! I slowly cut myself off a few and now I just stay away for my mental sanity.
God, I used to be SO bad about this when I used Tumblr — I think something about the platform of reblogging lends itself really, really well to hate following. You get sucked into the cattiness and the drama — it’s bad news.
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