When To Like, When To Follow?

Being the somewhat socially inept person that I am, I wonder a lot about the etiquette and rules for things. I have stumbled into awkward social situations in the past usually due to a lack of knowledge. So, with my mind set to avoiding such problems I’ve been pondering blog etiquette lately. Specifically, WordPress blog etiquette. The main questions I have involve liking and following.

When someone likes a post of mine here I get an e-mail in which WordPress suggests that maybe I’ll like their blog as much as they liked mine. I see an implied nudge towards liking the other bloggers posts in return. The e-mail will even list off several posts for you to click on just from the e-mail. The etiquette in this case seems to be a like begets a like. But what if the blog is about a subject I hold no interest in? Maybe a curling blog loves one of my poems, but I doubt I could see myself loving curling anytime soon.

I mean I’m sure I could find something on a blog of that type worth liking, but it would be a forced thing. (Side note, I hold no ill towards any curling blogs out there. Stay the course.) Is there a polite way to bow out in such an instance? I’d much rather be genuine and like only things I really enjoy. Otherwise, whats the purpose of liking a post? It just becomes a ping pong paddle linking bloggers for no reason. But if I don’t return a like, am I committing a break in etiquette? Is there an older refined lady somewhere making a ‘tsk’ sound when she notices my failure to reciprocate?

Things like that are always in my head when I visit this site and check my latest likes. I have a similar problem with follows. WordPress once again implies a need to visit the other blogger and follow them in the e-mail. The results of a bad follow however are even more distressing. Not only would I fail to be genuine but I would be submitting myself to a slew of curling posts whenever I visited my reader. Sifting through pages of curling stats and player lineups just to find the poetry and writing buried within.

I of course don’t think everyone who likes me or follows me expects the return. I just wonder if there is a set of unspoken rules I may be breaking by not giving these things more consideration. I don’t want to alienate those who actually enjoy my ramblings or vice versa by failing to observe proper etiquette. Sadly, it seems like an unknowable thing. Short of asking every time I get a like or follow, I’m unlikely to be able to nail down an appropriate response. So in that case I’ll just continue to try be as honest as possible in my use of those features

Perhaps there is a well defined consensus here I’m missing, I’d love to hear about if that’s the case.