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| Remove those darn animations if you want me to read it! |
I've been looking through some blogs, and it's probably just my bad luck, but several blogs in a row had one of the most additions ever.
Animations.
I'm not talking about some discreet snow animation, or something else equally discreet and non-disruptive. I'm talking about very visible animations, such as big snowflakes falling over posts and making them difficult to read, or about those annoying Tweety wittwe biwds. You know, the Twitter bird which is supposed to make you follow the blog owner through Twitter. On some blogs, the darn blue bird was flying over posts, making them difficult to read. On some others, it was flying on the side, still annoying and distracting.
If I come to a blog to look at cute animations, then I expect some cute animations. But if I come to a blog to read it, and the blog owner made it difficult to read with obtrusive animations, well, guess what, I won't be straining my eyes to read it, nor will I be following.
So, if, by some chance, you want me to read your blog, do me some courtesy of making it possible for me to read without a bunch of distractions.
Thank you.
Rant over.
19 comments:
So far I haven't come across those animations, but that doesn't stop me from complaining or adding my 2 cents worth.
A dark background on a blog is a major inconvenience, IMHO. Give me black or blue printing on a white or beige background, thank you very much. Make it easy for me to read what you have to say...and yeah, what Ivana says...no annoying animations!
I'm with you on the animations (I've occasionally used a moving .gif, or a YouTube video, but they stay in place.)
I have sometimes e-mailed blog owners and said, "I was following you on Twitter, but that damn bird blocking the text I'm trying to read makes me want to stop following and/or reading your blog.
I've also let bloggers know I won't follow them because their unreadable links in yellow or other challenging texts hurts my eyes too much, regardless of how good the content might be. (One blog I came across last year had white text on fire engine red background - I couldn't click away fast enough!)
If they put animation on the page, at least have some music playing in the background :)
http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
Anne, I'm afraid I'm one of those guilty of black background (actually, dark gray) with white letters, on my other blog. People don't seem to complain about it, though.
Beverly, I'm with you on the yellow or other eye-hurting text.
Man of la Book, isn't that what YouTube is for? :)
Busy blogs make me want to run away. There are times that too much is just too much, and not even just animations. I decided that rather than clutter up my sidebar with a bunch of things, I just made a whole new page for outside links away from my blog.
Yay, a hobbit on my blog!
I try not to clutter my sidebar too much, so I made a few separate pages.
Hi Trev, thanks for dropping by!
Amen! I agree 100% I can't stand blogs that are cluttered up with a bunch of crap I don't care about. A couple discrete ads are OK, but sidebars jam full of them just makes my eyes bleed.
I saw you on bookblogs, and now I'm a follower. If you get a chance, please check out my blog as well. Great to have met you!
readabookonce.blogspot.com
Nice review! Keep up the good job!
P.S. A new follower from Book Blogs. I'd love, if you could follow me back at http://vidya-booksaremagic.blogspot.com/
Ha! I completely agree! It's so annoying to visit a blog and it be totally unreadable due to the lack of taste. Sadly, a lot of those bloggers actally have insighful posts, too; however, no one will take the time to visit a second time because of the distracting layout.
Hi. My name is Gabby, and I found your blog through Bookblogs. When you get a moment, I invite you to visit my author site, www.gabbynesiba.com.
Thanks and Happy Blogging!
Hello, Jonathan, thanks for dropping by. I'll check out your blog as soon as I can!
Vidya, thanks for the comment, I'll check out your blog!
Nice to meet you, Gabby, I'll see your site in a minute!
I, too, hate blogs that are way too busy, although my side bars are a bit cluttered. I think I need to figure out how to get space between the items.
I most hate dark backgrounds with medium dark print. Or Black with red print. And I hate the posts which spill over onto the dark area of the side bars.
I haven't found much in the way of animation on the blogs I have viewed, though having seen it elsewhere I can understand the distraction.
BTW, I am a new follower and if you get a chance drop by my blog and let me know what you think about the side bars!
http://abookadayreviews.blogspot.com/
Dropped by, commented, joined. :)
Ivana, I'm with you on this one. I find them too distracting. If you want your readers to concentrate on your writing, I say keep them off your blog.
Hear hear! My blogs don't have animations because
1 They annoy me too
2 I'm a teknothikit and have no idea how to incorporate them even if I did like them!
http://purehaiku.blogspot.com/
http://dragonscaleleggings.blogspot.com/
Love your site and am following you!
Bella, glad you're with me!
Freya, adding those pesky animations is usually just a copy-and-paste work, like adding another widget to your blog. Glad you won't be adding them, though -- and you got another follower!
haha. I couldnt have said it any better!
Aye, I have come across such blogs. I would try my best to read past the distractions but if it's too much and gives me a headache, I'd usually click away, too. There are so many books out there to read ~ our vision is precious to us.
Yla, thanks!
Claudine, I agree, our vision is indeed way to precious to waste on a headache-causing blog.
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