Blog Stalking

My Google Reader is pretty ridiculous...

Like really ridiculous.

Really.

I'm over 200 subscriptions.  I mean, is that normal?!?

The blogs I follow fall into one of three categories or a mixture of teaching, fashion / style, or home decor.  I started getting into blogs a lot more last summer and remembered learning about Google Reader in one of the educational tech classes I took for my Master's.  I think it was around the beginning of fall when I started really getting into following blogs via Google Reader and it's been downhill ever since.

I don't know about the rest of you, but sometimes I run across a post or a pin on Pinterest that leads me to a new blog and I'm then faced with the decision on whether or not to follow that new blog.

Here's how I decide...

I take a look at the last 5 to 10 posts (sometimes more) and see if they are along the lines of my interests.  I also take a look at how frequently they post.  It's not like I spend tons of time doing research, but I scan of the last few posts usually gives me a pretty good idea if they're worth following or not.

I'm naturally drawn to follow blogs that I feel are practical for the person I am, be it as a teacher, decorator, or shopper.  For example, it's one thing if you have great style, but to me, your blog is wayyyy more appealing if you have great style and are budget conscious rather than someone who drops $400 a week on J.Crew new arrivals.  

My teaching blogs are a bit more scattered...  I've found a lot of these via Pinterest and linky parties.  I follow blogs of teachers of pretty much all grade levels (except probably high school).  Of course I'm naturally drawn to third grade blogs, but I've found that even kindergarten teachers have great ideas that I can use and adapt in my own classroom or pass onto friends that teach those grade levels.  

I feel like the home-y blogs I follow are similar in many ways to how I'm drawn to style blogs...  If you have a home that's my style you're a winner, but if you're doing it on a budget you're even better.  I'm totally a practical person and in all honestly I don't really care to look at homes (on blogs or in magazines) that are just spectacular and grand.  I'd rather see a home that looks like one I'd live in or would realistically live in one day.  I get a lot more out of reading posts by people that seem to live in the real world and not Fancy Schmancy Pants Land.  (Oh yes, I just said that.)

Now, here are the best ways and places I've found to discover new blogs:

Pinterest - Need I say more?

Linky Parties - Linkies are great ways to especially find newer blogs that don't yet have many followers.  You're most likely starting with some common ground if you're both participating in the party, so that's a great start.

Monthly "events" - Okay, pretty much the same things as a linky, but bear with me.  Here's an example...  I've never personally participated in Everybody | Everywhere, but I always look through the submissions and typically find at least 3 or 4 new blogs to follow.  "Currently," which is also technically a linky is another regular monthly "event" that connects me with new bloggers.

Find out who your favorite bloggers follow - A lot of bloggers will have buttons to other blogs or a list of the blogs that they follow right there on their pages.  If there's a blogger I really enjoy then I try to find who they are following since that probably means it will be along the same lines.

Clear as mud?  Good.

And now, I want to share a few of my most recent favorite subscriptions...

• The Small Things Blog
• Third Grade Sprinkles
• Fun in Room 4B
• Mini Manor Blog
• Franishh

Happy Sunday!  Hope your weekend has been fabulous!