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| Max Pixel photo |
Google provides a Followers widget where anyone with a Blogger account can sign up as a follower. The widget also shows who your public followers are.
However, there are other widgets, and other ways to follow.
Following is all that remains today of something called Google Friend Connect, an early basic social layer of Google.
Similarly, the Reading List, which is on your dashboard, is in some ways an echo of Google Reader, a popular (and discontinued) feed reader.
Following and Your Feed
Readers can follow your blog anonymously or publicly.
You can see a list of your public followers on a link from your Stats page, and also from the Followers gadget, if you have installed it.
You can't see your private followers or even know how many of them there are.
Readers can follow from their Reading List pages, or from your Follower's gadget.
Readers who try to follow without being signed in to a Google account are prompted create or sign into an account.
A Slimmer Follow Gadget
 this blog | If you'd like to make this option available to your readers, but not use up so much space, here is how to create a stripped down "follow" gadget. |
- Following is opt-in only. You can block a follower, but you cannot add a new follower.
-
Following is distinct from subscribing by email. Followers are not
automatically added to your subscribers list
at Feedburner.
Learn more: subscribe • feed reader • overview
Isn't it funny how google keeps changing but still seems to be doing the same thing?
ReplyDeleteI actually don't like the Follower gadget, it never seems useful to me but people seems to like it so I keep it on my blog.
Anyway, I changed my follower gadget. Thanks for the idea/tutorial.
Have a lovely day.
Lissa, some journalists have made a career of asking "what the heck is going on with Google?"
DeleteI'm glad the tutorial ("stripped-down follow gadget") was helpful.