I’m I was on a 186-day streak . . . meaning I’d posted at least one post per day for 186 days. It’s not my longest effort, but it’s still significant.

Again, a lot of the posts had to do with The Alphabet Challenge. Still, 2020 saw me put up 414 posts . . . which had an average of 7 comments per post (2,809 total comments, although at least half of those are mine since I answer every comment).

I’ll explain the monochrome part in a moment.

First, I want to speak a moment about blogging. I just cleaned up my following list (pared it down quite a lot) and as part of me looking at who I follow, I also took a quick look at my followers.

The majority of my followers are businesses. Entities who don’t actually read anything I put up. Not only that, they will “like” something almost immediately after I post it. Often, they will “like” four or five of my posts in less than a minute.

I can’t tell you how much that annoys me . . . well, OK, I’ll tell you . . . a lot; it annoys me a lot.

You’d think businesses and business owners would have better things to do with their time than come to my blog and “like” a string of four or five posts in the space of a minute. Now, here’s the thing . . . there are times when it may be legitimate. But even then, I’m unsure about the value-added of the “like” button.

There was a brief time, back in 2012, when I switched off both the “likes” and the Comments. Obviously, switching off the Comments was stupid, and I apologized for it (LINK), but even though I turned on the “likes”, I’m still not convinced they are all that useful.

Comments on my “About” page contain a few arguments by bloggers who wanted the option to leave a “like” if they had nothing to say or when they didn’t have the time to comment but wanted me to know they had been here.

Well, that still doesn’t make any sense to me.

You know what’s coming, right?

That’s right, another monochrome offering. “Why?” you ask.

Well, Bob, I’ll tell you. Because of THIS<<link post. It triggered me wanting to put up some monochrome offerings. Mind you, I’m unlikely to ever do street photography, but I like monochrome, and perhaps I should play around with it more often.

Then again, I read THIS<<link post and it makes me want to play with color more. And I read THIS<<link post and it makes me want to play Perspective<<link and Framing<<link. That last link is a bit misleading since it addresses cropping (and post-processing).

Yes, yes, color is very nice . . . but I like playing with monochrome conversions. These photos all have appeared before in colorific splendor . . . in this post, I wanted to see if I could use DxO’s Film Pack to duplicate the looks of various B&W films and still offer up photos that showcase the subject matter. Did I? I don’t know. I mean, I like them.

“Yes, yes, but what about the Blog stuff?“

Well, I’m switching off “likes” again . . . don’t yell at me; hear me out first.

Here are the advantages to you:

1. If you read the blog post and don’t have anything to say, you just move on. One click saved right there!
   
2. If you read the blog post and have something to say, you just leave a comment but don’t have to click “like”. Again, one click saved
3. If you don’t have time to read the blog, you don’t have to feel like you still have to visit the blog and leave me a “like” for my benefit. You can just not read the blog. Right there, I just saved you both time and a click.
4. If I’m ranting against something and you don’t agree with me, you now can leave without feeling you still have to hit “like”. 

Some readers might not think that saving a click is a big deal . . . I had 414 posts last year . . . go ahead and click the mouse 414 times and tell me if you still feel like saving a click a post isn’t a big deal.

Look, I know life is busy, sometimes tough, often dramatic. If you are one of my regular readers and you don’t comment, I’ll still assume that you read my blog posts, and if not, that you might when you have the time. And if not, it means life is demanding your attention and that’s more important than reading my blog.

I’ll further assume that if you have the time and inclination, and have something to say, you will comment. BUT . . . don’t feel like you have to. Sometimes there’s nothing to say.

And, get this . . . If I subscribe to a blog, I’m reading every post . . . but I don’t always comment, and I don’t always leave a “like”. I won’t get mad if you do the same. Meaning, comment when you have something to say. If not, don’t worry about it. I rarely look at “likes” and the notifications clutter up my inbox (I delete them en mass).

I will leave the “like” option on the comments because those are actual interactions and sometimes a “like” is all that’s needed to bookend a conversation.

Obviously, if you feel strongly about any of this, let’s discuss it.

Oh, I almost forgot . . . if you are using the Reader to interact with my posts, it will allow you to “like” my posts (I can’t control the Reader’s behavior) but it won’t show up on the post. However, I will get a notice and I’ll know you didn’t come to my blog.

Sad, I will be. So, if you are using the Reader, it’s probably best you don’t hit “like” because it’ll make me sad.

And that’s no bull . . .

. . . it’s a buffalo or, if you prefer, a bison.

And, look at that! I waited long enough to break my streak!

Gee, just ten minutes earlier and I would have a 187-day blogging streak going. Now I have to go back and correct the beginning of this post.

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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Note: if you are not reading this blog post at DisperserTracks.com, know that it’s copied without permission, and likely is being used by someone with nefarious intentions, like attracting you to a malware-infested website.  Could be they also torture small mammals.

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