Blogger changes...

Hello friends,

I recently noticed a drop of several friends all at once.  I spent some time trying to

figure out if I had posted something offensive, or if it was just a coincidence

that 10 people stopped following on the same day.  Anyway....if you are in the same

boat, OR if you follow some of your favorite blogs via yahoo, etc., here

is what I found out:

Apparently, everyone will be required to have a Google account to follow Google (Blogger) blogs. They are using the date of January 11, but several other Blogger friends have reported a large drop in numbers as well.  Please read the message below - it's an easy fix; but will require

that everyone has a google account.

An update on Google Friend Connect

Posted: December 21, 2015

In 2011, we announced the retirement of Google Friend Connect for all non-Blogger sites. We made an exception for Blogger to give readers an easy way to follow blogs using a variety of accounts. Yet over time, we’ve seen that most people sign into Friend Connect with a Google Account. So, in an effort to streamline, in the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes that will eventually require readers to have a Google Account to sign into Friend Connect and follow blogs. 

As part of this plan, starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other Open Id providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.

We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers.

Posted by Michael Goddard, Software Engineer

I am sorry if this causes any of my followers issues; but I hope you will be willing to create a Google account; so that you can continue to follow anyone who has a blog with blogger.  You will need to create a Google account and become a follower again; as they will remove all the followers who do not have Google accounts. I don't know about other blogs, but you can also subscribe to my blog via email, or use Bloglovin', if you do not wish to create a Google account.

I appreciate all of my followers and hope to see all of you still on my followers list next year.  

Thank you for taking time to read this information.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Patti J.