What kind of follower are you?

So I'm still fairly new to the blogging world and how all of this works -- the relationships, the etiquette. As you know, I have a Blogger blog. It's been fun blabbing about all the stuff that my world revolves around. I have made some blogger friends - as far as people you've never met can be friends. Maybe it's more like old-fashioned pen pals, but in cyberspace.

I have specific interests that I like to read about - knitting, crafts, sewing, cooking, and anything that makes me laugh. I have bookmarked some of my favorite blogs that I read frequently, which saves them to my Internet browser. As I traveled around reading blogs, I'd see posts where bloggers were trying to reach a certain number of followers through Google Friend Connect. And I realized that I have a "Reading List" of Blogs I Follow through Blogger. So I started clicking the follow button, willy-nilly, on every blog I happened upon. The more the merrier, right?

Except today I went to follow another new blog and was given the message that I have reached the maximum number of blogs I can follow, which is 300. Now just in the past week or two, I have found several new subjects for blogs that I want to follow - scrapbooking and home improvement. But since I have hit my limit, I can't follow any of these new blogs. So I panicked and started, willy-nilly, unfollowing blogs.

Then I received an email from one of the lovely bloggers that I unfollowed today ...

Hey!
Hated to lose you as a follower/friend today. I have been busy and self-focused lately and haven't made it around to everyone's blogs but I do cherish and appreciate each of the friends that I have made through blogging and didn't want to let you disappear without comment. Please let me know if I can do something to invite you back.


And I felt so bad!!! And I emailed and assured her that unfollowing her had nothing to do with her, it's just me. It felt like an uncomfortable break up.


My youngest daughter is also a blogger and we actually had a discussion about the subject of "following" just last week. She said she only follows the few blogs that she will actually read on a consistent basis and she doesn't understand this following everyone frenzy.


And I'm not sure that I do either. So, I'm asking you, my blogging friends. What kind of follower are you ... and why? What do you get out of it? Are you making money blogging and more followers contributes? I would really like to understand the whys and wherefores and the political correctness and etiquette of it all. Looking forward to hearing what you all think!