Best Memes?

[Nicola O.]

Here's the thing. I think memes can be really over done, and personally? I don't like the ones that have no original content. When I hit a new blog, and the first 5 or 10 posts are all nothing but Tuesday Teasers (boring, sorry) and Monday in My Mailbox (when it's just a list of books, with or without the publishers' blurb)... I probably won't be back. I mean, I know they're fun, and they can draw traffic from other memers, but I wonder how good they are at sustaining traffic long term? How much do you *really* like reading other people's memes, or do you just go to their site so they'll come to yours?

The only two that I do on a regular basis are the Thursday Thirteen, which is not a book-blog specific meme, and Weekly Geeks, which is, but doesn't always fit my blog topic, which is romance.

My own opinion? once a week is enough, unless the meme is something that is a prompt for a real post with real content.

What do you guys think? How much is too much? And which ones are your favorites, to write and to read?

[Peter S.]

Hello, Nicola! While I'm not really a big fan of memes, I think it can get quite tiring reading the same stuff in different blogs.

However, I do have an ongoing project in my blog, which I call The Bookshelf Project. I invite people to send in pictures of their bookshelves and I post one sender every week. It's fun reading the comments of people about the reading tastes of the bookshelf owner.

Here's my blog: http://kyusireader.blogspot.com/

[Anysia]

I'm not a big fan of Memes for the reasons you give. I generally don't do them. I was doing one of my own awhile back which was pointing out a book I had discovered through someone else's review but I barely have time to update my blog twice a week now so I don't do that one anymore.

They can create community among bloggers but it's just not my thing as a blogger or reader.

[Mary S (MyBookBuds)]

I have a couple on my site, the favorite being Snippet Sunday. My readers and forum members will submit a "snippet" of the book they're reading and I post it on my blog. I also do a Friday Focus where I share any news or updates from the week. I like them because they have increased readership. With Snippet Sunday, it's a way for my readers to participate and interact too.

Here's my blog: www.mybookbuds.com

[Charlotte Garnatz]

I have a weekly feature that I call "Happy Tuesday" with Tuesday's New Releases that I think *MY* readers might like. (Is that a meme?)

Anyway as a general rule, I may "hit" your blog, but as soon as I see Meme after Meme, I back out and never return.

[unfinishedperson]

I do participate in memes, but now I'm actually only posting once a week on my own theme on Wednesdays called Midweek Review, which works with my main blog, an unfinished person (in an unfinished universe). Within that, I might include other meme-related activities, Weekly Geeks, or The Sunday Salon, to name two of my favorites, if the mood strikes me with a separate post also on Wednesday.

Having five blogs originally (a main blog, a running blog, a book blog, a "spiritual" blog and a random blog), it made it easier this way for me -- at least, for the time being. Now while I have all those blogs, I crosspost so as not to lose the archives or if someone really doesn't care about the other subjects.

However, I'm with you...too many memes can turn me off.