The question from Let’s Talk Bookish for March 11-17 comes from Nicole @ Thoughts Stained With Ink and is…
Do you ever change/update the content of your blog?
Disclaimer:
These are my personal opinions. I do not expect anyone to agree with anything here, and in fact, I’m certain that many will disagree and/or even hate many of the things I’ve written below. Sorry about that, but you are always welcome to express your own opinions – be they contrary or comparable – in the comments section. So, with that out of the way… let the controversy begin!
What made me think about this topic?
This is the topic that was suggested for this week’s #LetsTalkBookish (hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books and Dani @ Literary Lion), so that was my main inspiration. So… the prompts are:
Do you ever go back and update older content on your blog? For instance, after getting new graphics or going self-hosted? Why or why not? Do you sometimes curate/clear out old posts that you no longer want published, or rewrite/update them? Do you think people should periodically clean up their old content and update/delete things that don’t align with their current positions/beliefs?
My Thoughts…
Do you ever go back and update older content on your blog?
Well, as I mentioned on another discussion post, I almost never change my review rating on a book. However, sometimes when I do my #ThrowbackThursday posts, I like to take a look at the original post to see if it needs any fixing. Also, I’ve joined a whole bunch of new affiliate programs, so I like to make sure that the links are working properly (for example, Barnes & Nobel no longer have a working affiliate program that I know of, and I still haven’t finished deleting all the bad links to their site from my posts).
WordPress Users PLEASE NOTE: If you do revise an older post, you should know that WP won’t re-share it to your social media accounts automatically anymore, except if you have a premium account. You can, of course, re-blog that post, but I’m not sure what good that does! Obviously, you can share the updated posts manually to your social media accounts, if you wish.
Do you sometimes curate/clear out old posts that you no longer want published, or rewrite/update them?
I’ve never cleared out or deleted any old posts, but I have rewritten and updated a few.
Do you think people should periodically clean up their old content and update/delete things that don’t align with their current positions/beliefs?
That’s totally up to them! As I mentioned previously, nothing is written in stone, and it isn’t like writing book reviews is a test where there’s any right or wrong answer. Also, if we re-read a book (something I generally don’t do) we might find that we might not have properly appreciated a book we read when we were younger, or maybe today we might find faults in a book that we didn’t see on first reading. We change throughout life, so we see things differently, and therefore, our opinions change. If a blogger thinks that older content needs revising, or even deleting, then they should be able to do either or both.
There you have it!
So… what about you?
Do you think book reviewers can or should change/update the content on their blogs?
This post is my 5th entry in the 2022 Discussion Challenge, hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight!
The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog 
I’ve occasionally added things to a post that I know people still look at, like my list of Book Blogger Terms and Acronyms. I don’t delete much, but I did at one point go back and delete a bunch of spotlight posts that only included giveaways without a review or other unique content. I don’t post many of those anymore, so it’s not much of an issue, but I did when I was an early blogger. Oh, and I also deleted most of the adult reviews from my blog and negative reviews when I got an agent and my MG book went on submission.
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Yes, that would make your blog more cohesive if you try to stick with certain genres and/or reading age groups. Makes perfect sense.
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I’ve never even thought about changing old posts, in fact, I’ve noticed that videos I linked don’t work any longer and I don’t even bother to remove them. Ha!
My discussion questions centers around books that arrived on the scene in your life at just the right moment. A review of Ordinary Grace with a discussion question
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I tend to just leave my posts alone once they’ve been uploaded unless I find something that just doesn’t work, like broken links or images not showing up or just spelling errors. As for reviews, if I ever decide to rereview a book, I would just make another review explaining why my opinions changed compared to the original review.
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Can or should — interesting question! It’s the blogger’s blog, so they can do whatever feels right to them! Should? Well, only if they want to. I typically don’t go back to older posts, but I will fix broken links if I come across them (for example, video links that are no longer available, broken images, etc). I rarely change the content of an older post unless I find an error, but in general, I haven’t gone back specifically with the intention of sprucing up an old post.
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Neither have I, really. Well, except that one time. I had thought when I started doing my #ThrowbackThursday that I’d spruce up my old posts, but I decided against it. I did do some fixes when I moved from Blogger to here, though.
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I’ve changed things if I’ve noticed typing errors. I don’t actually think I could be bothered to change a post written years ago, because I’d changed my mind or found out new info, though!
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I’ve amended a few posts that had giveaways in them as part of blog tours as they’re now closed but only when across them. I’ve occasionally updated a review to refer to the paperback edition of a book (new cover, etc) but only if a publicist has prompted me and asked me to reshare my review. Sometimes when linking back to a review of a previous book by an author I may correct things I’ve noticed in the original review. I don’t include ratings in my reviews or anywhere on my blog but I can’t even recall an occasion I’ve changed a rating on Goodreads. Slightly off-topic but if I give three stars to a book on Goodreads I make it four stars on Amazon as they treat three stars as a ‘critical’ review and I don’t.
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Interesting about GR vs Amazon and their stars… I didn’t know that. I agree that 3 is a good rating – above average.
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As you know, I’m not primarily a book blogger, but I do review every book I read on Goodreads,. I very occasionally change a star reading, if time has been kind/unkind to a book I’ve reviewed, and occasionally add supplementary thoughts, but hardly ever, if at all, change the content in other ways. My reviews are snapshots, and primarily a record for me.
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That’s the way I feel, for the most part.
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I don’t change my reviews often but there have been a few times when someone else’s review reminds me of something I forgot to mention. And I never delete any posts from my blog. Interesting topic ❤️
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Thanks!
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I have corrected (incorrect information) in two posts–I marked them updated. I updated other and mark that the updated–such as when Clarissa Eden died, I updated that post to include the news and her obit. That’s the only time I touch old content. There is one royal post I’d like to take down but haven’t bothered. Nothing is incorrect. I just can’t stand one of the couple featured any more–could barely do so when I posted it.
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Oh… I think I know who you mean!
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I usually only change my reviews if I notice an error in them. I have of course corrected typos, but there have been a few times when I realized I said something that was incorrect. Then I did some minor rewriting.
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Makes sense…
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I don’t know what anyone “should” do, but I will absolutely change a published post if I find a typo or broken link. I also am a big fan of deleting stuff ~ in fact, last year I began anew in April by deleting everything and reposting only the good stuff!
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Not sure I want to delete any.
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Amazon has replaced their affiliate link software with a new version….so now I wonder if all 4 1/2 years of my links are dead 😩
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Well, you could check them. Lots of work, that, but…
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