Lol, I'm working so hard on not swearing in my lj now I know my dad reads it... But it doesn't put me off other blogs at all, unless I think it's done purely to shock. A lot of people swear *shrugs* I don't think it makes them unpleasant people necessarily.

You missed the option of:
It is already so low, it couldn't get any lower. *grin*

Sadly, I've unfriended some people because of excessive posting. Long rambling posts, several times a day, never behind a cut.

I also have to admit that I'm not too interested in reading about political views, so I generally scroll over any political post.

My main answer will be: it depends. Foul language doesn't bother me much if at all. I try not to use it too much in my own writing, but that's from the point of view that I always assume that at some point my mom or dad might read what I write, and I know neither of them approve of foul language. (My father has been known to use heck, because hell is too strong a word and he saves it for when it's important.)

I don't mind politics, but if the politics is only a way of bashing people, it will turn me off. Depending on the situation it might just mean I skip those posts. But in one case, for an author that I grew up admiring greatly, after running across post after post after post of nothing but Obama bashing, I had enough and unfriended him. Not because his politics were different from mine, but because there wasn't anything else there. I get that people have a right to differing opinions, but there's a difference between an occasional potshot or snarky comment and relentless bashing. I'd have found a blog with nothing but Bush bashing equally boring, and would probably have just as likely done the same thing.

I'm no good at taking surveys because I always go yes-but. Take foul language. It can be quite a dramatic way to emphasize a point, but not if every other word in a sentence is a four-letter one and it's not 'free'.

I've kept people on my friends-list even though I disagreed with their politics--and I've removed people whose politics I agreed with, because they were obnoxious and/or self-righteous about it.

I find it hard to quantify what causes me to check out on a blog because so much is a matter of tone. There are people who write about topics I am interested in, and yet I find something about their style off-putting. Self-congratulation annoys me tremendously, I guess I can state that. But it's my interpretation of the tone, so what puts me off may not bother someone else.

Swearing in and of itself doesn't bother me in the slightest, although again, the underlying tone can drive me away.

My own LJ is pretty much strictly a place to rant, so if I'm ever published I may have to think about that. However, I figure I'll drive off that bridge when and if I come to it!

I know I have been guilty of using the F word numerous times, but I'm right with you on the C word. It's just obnoxious swearing. And as far as politics go, I'm as inclined to unfriend someone who bashes the President as I am someone who constantly praises him. Come on, folks, I get enough political shilling from the nightly news.

The worst posts, I think, are the ones where the person is talking about where to buy their book, how great their book is, book book book. It's as cloying as someone who just got a new boyfriend/girlfriend/baby and won't shut up about it. Yes, promote your works, but the best promotion, after a point, is having someone else go on and on about your work. After that, it's just vanity.

I don't like excessive foul language, but I didn't mark that down because I don't mind a *little* foul language, and I can put up with more than a little if the person is saying interesting things.

I wouldn't say that my opinion of bloggers who don't respond (much) to comments goes down, but I definitely highly appreciate bloggers who do respond. If I've chosen to read a blog, I'll probably keep reading it even if the blogger never responds to my comments--but I'll probably stop leaving comments, and I'll feel less involved.

I've only unfriended people for three reasons. In one case, it was because of a general tone of negativity that I found was bringing me down. In another, it was because the blogger called me stupid when I made a remark that the blogger took to be critical (though I hadn't intended it that way). In a couple of other cases, it was because the bloggers posted many, many times a day, and I felt I was drowning in their posts. I guess I've dropped a couple of blogs, too, where the blogger never friended back and I lost interest in reading.

i hate unfriending people because i feel guilty!
on a writing front, if they're a fellow writer, then i would keep them around, even if all they did was promote, even tho i wouldn't care less about that promotion.
but if they were just a person person, and all they did was boast and talk about themselves, well i'd want to unfriend them (but guilt wouldf set in)

Just a point re the swearing. I have no objection to strong language if it's appropriate in the context, but I would be likely to stop reading someone whose LJ or blog was peppered with gratuitous swear words.

For the writing journal, professionalism is my watchword. Would you want your potential agent, publisher, or editor reading what you've written? If the answer is no, you probably shouldn't write it.

Catherine

I voted for alot of things that would lower my opinion, but I've never had any of it noticeably happen on any of the friends I follow. I apparently have good taste in friends.

It would have to happen repeatedly for me to cross someone off my list, though, because I have a high tolerance for idiocy and poor manners;)

Jenn

Interesting poll.

There is one writer on my flist who I find at times intensely irritating due to a weird passive-aggressive style of blogging (regular "oh, my writing is terrible, I'm so rubbish!" posts inevitably receiving dozens of supportive "you're really great and we love you" comments from fans/friends, and equally regular "look at the nifty thing I did in my writing today, I'm so awesome!" posts, inevitably receiving dozens of supportive "you're really great and we love you!" comments from fans/friends). I continue to read because the writer in question IS very talented and successful and I can learn from peple without agreeing with their style (and to some extent I can understand the style - it IS the writer's fate to veer between thinking they are great and thinking they are worthless. I suspect it is more the hagiographic commenters, in fact, than the blogger itself that is the source of my irritation - and even that may be rooted in jealousy as I don't have hagiographic fans...).