What's Following All About?
May 18, 2009
If you're previewing the new TypePad, you may see some new things on your Dashboard, and you might be asking yourself: "what's this new following thing all about?"
Something we heard over and over when customers were giving us feedback on TypePad is that it was too hard to find new blogs to read. We want to make it easier for you to discover great blogs, keep tabs on your favorite bloggers, and to help you engage more easily (like with quick comment replies) with your readers.
Your Dashboard helps you to know when someone you're following comments, answers a Question of The Day, follows another TypePad blogger, or adds a post to their TypePad blog.
Best of all, it’s fun! Being able to track what my most pithy and interesting commenters say and do is a great way to get inspired to blog even better."So, how do I find people to follow?"
We’ve suggested a few folks you might want to follow, just as a way to show you how it works. For example, Sweetney is a great blogger, and some of her best zingers are in her comments. You can follow her to get an idea of what following feels like in your dashboard, and how it can help give you insight on ongoing conversations within the TypePad community.
You can follow the people your friends are following, or you can also follow the people who've commented on your blog with TypePad Connect.
"Why is this on my dashboard?"
We're still working on making the dashboard more interactive and customizable - this is only the beginning! It's why we're previewing the new TypePad and taking your suggestions and feedback. Let us know what you think of the feature, how you found people, and who your favorite people to follow have been.
I don't really find this "following" thing necessary, or, rather it should show up as link only on the dashboard.
Frankly, I find it distracting.
Posted by: IHahn | May 29, 2009 at 12:10 PM
I like it. I just wish it was easier to search Typepad for blogs I am interested in and could "follow"
Posted by: Shannan Sinclair | May 30, 2009 at 11:02 AM
How do you get on the list to be suggested as somebody to follow? Is that open to all or is there some special requirement to be suggested?
Posted by: Doug Millison | June 10, 2009 at 08:22 PM
right now, it's just some of our beta users and a couple of employees. We're thinking about how best to show new people to follow, but since the feature is SO new, we thought it best to kick-start it with a few suggestions.
Really, I just wanted more traffic to my own blog. ;)
Posted by: Ginevra | June 11, 2009 at 07:10 PM
I agree 100%. I'm encourage that somebody else has the courage to say so. I'm looking for instructions to unlink several people right now. If we all liked the same things we wouldn't have blogs.
Posted by: the WanderingSalsero | June 30, 2009 at 06:53 PM
I think you'll see the following feature evolve and grow. We're trying a lot of interesting things out based on everyone's feedback. If you don't want to follow someone, you can just click "unfollow", but I've found it a really useful way to see what my commenters are doing elsewhere on the web and to support them in turn. Most everyone loves comments. ;)
Posted by: Ginevra | July 01, 2009 at 01:48 PM
Hi Ginevra:
I understand what you're saying but I'm just overloaded with informational distractions that don't make me money. I have a big problem with focus. To some degree it's representative of my happy-go-lucky attitude and not so much a bad thing. But at time it makes me very frustrated with myself. I don't remember why I did it but I did keep you on my list. It either because you're cute and/or you said something about dancing.
Art
Posted by: the WanderingSalsero | July 01, 2009 at 09:54 PM
Hi Ginevra, I just visited Sweetney's blog, one of the suggested blogs and from there visited the blog that she commented on.... I Tweet and that's fun and easy but I'm not so sure It's the same here at TypePad, (yet). I love following, so I hope it works out.
Posted by: Griswald and Kya | July 03, 2009 at 02:46 PM
Why does a person I decide to unfollow keep showing up on What's happening Now?
Posted by: Anastasia | July 10, 2009 at 02:26 PM
those are hard-coded in there for now, but we're working on new ways to suggest more people to follow. Great feedback that it is a little confusing for you to unfollow someone and they're -still there-! It does seem a bit wonky.
Posted by: Ginevra | July 10, 2009 at 04:50 PM
Thank you for your prompt reply, Ginevra. But yes, it's a bit frustrating to unfollow someone who keeps appearing on my What's Happening Now. It looks like some kind of spam to me! The worst bit of all was that I was prompted to ...follow once I had decided to unfollow! I'd greatly appreciate if there was some way to delete a user who keeps appearing. Just like in comments where you can delete or block someone.
Posted by: Anastasia | July 11, 2009 at 05:13 AM
I'm a Twitter chick, so I like the follow option and looking forward to being able to allow my readers to follow and for me personally to find other blogs.
AK
Posted by: Andrea Kane | July 14, 2009 at 08:39 PM
Yes, totally. I'm having trouble finding other Typepad bloggers that have city-blogs.
Posted by: Mikey | July 15, 2009 at 12:51 AM
Just tried the switch to your new format. I'm also confused about how you find blogs to follow -- I couldn't find any information on TypePad explaining how to do this; can someone from Typepad please explain?
Posted by: Wayne Senville, Editor, Planning Comm'rs Journal | July 15, 2009 at 03:39 PM
Now I get it. I follow my those who comment on my site, they follow my comments. We create backlinks like crazy.
Posted by: S. Anthony Iannarino | July 15, 2009 at 09:08 PM
This is my second day on TypePad and I think the new format is totally confusing. I have discovered that to find other blogs, other than the officially sanctioned blogs you merely click on a person's name highlighted in red. This link will direct you to their blog site. If you click on my name highlighted in red "Charby" you will be sent to my blog site.The idea of following another blogger seems to have its roots in Twitter. I say let the Twitter format stay there and let TypePad offer it's subscriber's a lot more value for the money we are all paying to blog here. Beta formats are for the most part situations still undergoing development. Drop the format until the bugs have been ironed out!
Posted by: A Twitter User | July 19, 2009 at 11:05 AM
Hello Wayne. This is merely my second day on TypePad but I think I have discovered a way to find other blogs. Initially you find comments with names highlighted in red and click on that. I explained this discovery on the comments page where you posted your question. I hope this helps.
Posted by: A Twitter User | July 19, 2009 at 11:08 AM
I am very new to the blogging thing I think that as form of expression it works pretty well. I will be in touch with liked minded folk as well those who share opposing views which makes for healthy debate looking forward to blogging.
Posted by: Ashton Merryfield | July 19, 2009 at 07:02 PM
100% Agree with you... I think is a nice way to know the job from others and help between us
Posted by: Capitancinema | July 21, 2009 at 01:41 AM
G - I think following could be a good feature, I'll try it out. I do think the Typelists should NOT be buried under Library. I adjust mine often and I would like to see the link either NEXT to the Library link or on the DESIGN tab. After all, you already have it so that you reorder the typelists there, why not be be able to edit them right there as well? You could also have it in more than one place.
Thanks! (p.s. I do have 25 yrs experience with software and web design, training, help systems and GUI interface. My job was to design the need for training OUT of the software by make it as easy and intuitive to use as possible and by including instructions and Help notes at the point of need.) typepad is getting better at this...but definitely could use more of that kind of thinking! I still have to search around to find out how to do simple things. Like delete an old blog I never used. I searched on delete blog in the Help and it did not come up! You have to search on Delete Weblog. I mean come on, who calls them weblogs anymore? : )
Posted by: Ariane Benefit, M.S.Ed. | July 21, 2009 at 08:53 AM
I think following people who are in Typepad because they are in Typepad is a pretty dumb reason to follow. That said, I am interested in comments and I'm trying to build a community on my blog. It's getting tougher because the conversation is moving to Twitter and so the days when the blog was your central hub of commentary seems to be changing. (anyone else find that?)
As I wrote to G, perhaps if people who followed us were counted as subscribers in our Feedburner stats, that would incentivize people to follow more people. Friendfeed subscribers are captured in Feedburner and I don't exactly know how they did it.
Lastly, (off on a tangent here) the Twit me feed flare is a poor man's Tweet Me. I think it causes some frustration because you have to go through a third party to re-tweet and which generally makes me not want to do something.
Posted by: Christopher Ming Ryan | July 22, 2009 at 11:18 AM
D'accord! I agree. It would help to create readers and community who write about similar things. Isn't that the point of the follow feature? To create community?
Posted by: Luc de la Rue | July 23, 2009 at 03:57 PM
I think it is an attempt to build a Typepad community/family. It's not a bad idea if there were a better way to search Typepad bloggers to follow. I agree that Twitter is eating into blog comments. I have a friend who is managing blog feedback in both his blog comments and Twitter simultaneously. It's exhausting to watch but he's ADD anyway. That iPhone is attached to his hand 24/7. Me, I got a life.
And yes, if followers were counted as subscribers it would be optimal. There should be a way to capture them to provide us the best service.
Posted by: Luc de la Rue | July 23, 2009 at 04:15 PM
Can you create a list of TypePad bloggers by category? I'd like to follow other TypePad bloggers in my content area as well in my interest areas . . .
Posted by: Tim Tyrell-Smith | July 24, 2009 at 06:24 PM
Ditto that!
Posted by: Erin Moriarty | July 24, 2009 at 07:24 PM
I like this idea, too! totally makes sense. I'd love to see a cross-referenced list (ie by location and by category).
Posted by: Lisa the Waitress | July 25, 2009 at 11:07 AM
I completely agree! If there's some way of doing this already, I haven't stumbled upon it. Blogger seems to make things very easy for its users, but I purposely chose Typepad because I had heard that it offered greater capabilities---but I'm still waiting for that to pan out. And now everywhere I read that I need to get on Twitter if I really want to be found. Do I really need to work yet another site (besides Facebook) to prevent myself from being invisible?
Posted by: Laura | July 29, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Can I take this follow thing off my dashboard? And then later have the option of bringing it back?
Posted by: Lesley @ The Design File | July 30, 2009 at 05:33 PM
I'm interested in following TypePad bloggers, but aside from the "suggestions" we're getting on our Dashboards why not let us search for people with keywords??? That is severely lacking in TypePad and can't figure out why searching isn't available.
Posted by: Jon | July 31, 2009 at 04:02 AM
I like the old design very much and I am not sure that I would want to have any changes
Posted by: BrigitteNacos | August 01, 2009 at 07:37 AM
How do I search for blogs on the topics I like and then follow them only?
Posted by: Neil Gandhi | August 01, 2009 at 08:26 PM
Yeah, I would go so far as to say the "following" thing is nearly useless to me without a way to actually search and browse through the community of Typepad bloggers on keywords representing mutual interests. Otherwise, this is just a random walk of people who happen to stumble upon your blog at random. I suspect Typepad may be trying for the happy accident of people stumbling upon blogs they otherwise might never bother to look at if they were just looking for things they were already interested in, but I'm afraid I don't have time to wade through all the unhappy accidents to find the happy ones. :-D
Posted by: mizducky | August 02, 2009 at 04:18 PM
I agree - I've just spent 20 minutes trying to find the 'search' function - guess I can stop now.
It would be a good addition - I'd like to find other people and blogs that share the same interests.
Posted by: MooBeeTees | August 04, 2009 at 07:41 AM
Hi Ihan
I agree with you.Ithnik it is distracting and rather confuse. Just like finding lost in your own home imagine
Regards
Jimmy
Posted by: Facilities Management | August 04, 2009 at 09:27 PM
I'm a bit confused. I love the following idea. But I want to follow blogs that I'm already addicted to. I don't see the option of adding our own favorite blogs to follow. Or maybe I missed it?
Posted by: rockronie | August 05, 2009 at 12:09 AM
hear, hear for the categories!
and I would like a language-search option.
I write my blog in Dutch, and I can't be the only one!
Posted by: Eva van Herel | August 05, 2009 at 05:18 PM
I so agree about the Typelists. I spent ages trying to find them earlier today. Not obvious at all.
Posted by: kimbofo | August 06, 2009 at 09:47 AM
Let's say someone 'follows' you that you don't want following you... for example, if there is a huge ideological conflict and I don't want my content appearing on their area. Is there any way I can stop someone from following me?
Posted by: Sky Corgan | August 06, 2009 at 01:49 PM
i totally agree with you!
Posted by: Derek E. Baird | August 06, 2009 at 03:52 PM
This seems more like Twitter. I don't want Twitter, I want a blog. I wouldn't mind being updated on what my friend's blogs are doing. Like rockronie said... how do we follow our favorites?
Posted by: Michelle Marti | August 09, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Help, I don't know how to add blogs or people to follow. How do we follow our favorites?
Posted by: Christi Williams | August 09, 2009 at 03:33 PM