Blogging: Eliminating Distractions
This is Lionel "Ploum" Dricot writing about his blog on People and Blogs with Manu Moreale:
My blog is exactly where I want it to be. If I had to start again, I would simply do it like I did in 2022. I was quick to remove any form of comments from my blog and, later, any kind of statistics. As far as I know, I’m one of the few strong advocates for the complete removal of statistics/analytic/tracking tools. It’s not ethical to spy on users but it is also completely counterproductive. Statistics on websites are a brainworm. People are obsessed by it and it makes them write dumb stuff in order to increase a dumb counter. Getting rid of any audience-measuring tool is one of the best things I did in 2013.
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I’ve completely deleted all my social network accounts and never felt so free. Ironically, the less I was using social networks, the more readers I had on my blog. Social networks don’t bring you an audience. This is a lie! Social networks distract you from your real work and prevent your audience from reaching you. That’s their whole business! I know how frightening it is to delete permanently an account with thousands of followers. But this number is also a lie.
This quote has prompted me to rethink my approach to this blog. While I’ve always valued the freedom to write what I want, the reminder to eliminate distractions like analytics and social media has hit home.
I've turned off analytics temporarily to focus more on the writing. This may stick but we’ll see? I've also eliminated social media letting my blog stand on its own merits. This feels like a step toward a better connection with my work and readers.