A year ago, when I was posting every day, I never ran out of things to say. Now that I'm only posting three times a week, I frequently find myself scratching around, scratching my head. Today I realised why.
Social media is eating my blog.
I'm popping up Facebook status updates willy nilly - and using up some stellar ideas that, 12 months ago, I would have written as a blog post.
I'm on Google+, throwing out my thoughts into a very good writing community.
I'm pinning... okay, actually, let's face it, I'm not pinning often and pinning never ate anyone's brain.
I've started a newsletter, and I'm putting things aside in my mind for that.
I'm talking about anything and everything in SMaC Talk, my (almost) weekly podcast with Kerri Sackville and Valerie Khoo (and thanks for all the terrific feedback on that, by the way).
And I'm saving up some of my thinking power for actual work - feature articles, corporate work, books and novels.
All of which leaves me with just a small portion for my poor old blog.
Today, unthinkingly, I engaged my fingers on the keyboard before my brain got into gear and I wasted a perfectly good opportunity to lament the popularity of Mr6's name by using it up in a status update. The conversation is terrific - but it's not here, in the Fibro, where I so like to have a cup of tea with everyone.
Ah well. Look at me here. Writing a blog post.
A tasty little blog post.
Is social media eating your blog, too? Or are you better at meal-planning than I am?
That's a tricky one, deciding what goes where! I think you could still use facebook statuses as fuel for blog posts if you feel there's room to expand on them. Let's hear more about Mr 6's name and those trendy baby name lists!
ReplyDeleteI hear you! But then I feel like I'm flogging yesterday's news if I link to the post the following day...
DeleteThat's a tricky one, deciding what goes where! I think you could still use facebook statuses as fuel for blog posts if you feel there's room to expand on them. Let's hear more about Mr 6's name and those trendy baby name lists!
ReplyDeleteI tend to find that social media gives me ideas for posts. I'll see something, or come across a cool link and go to tweet about it but realise I have much more to say than 140 characters!
ReplyDeleteThere is that factor...
DeleteYes! And I am trying to stick to restricted social media diet because of it.
ReplyDeleteI tend to burn blog post ideas and photos on Instagram mostly.
Micro-blogging, isn't that the catch phrase?
It's stilll blogging, I guess.
Like Jodi, I also glean plenty of ideas from SM too, so it cuts both ways.
I hear you!
DeleteI could be writing a newsletter but decided against doing them as then I really wouldn't have time to blog post. I am almost on social media overload but just managing to stay afloat by biting off little chunks at a time. Great Post about not posting ;-)
ReplyDelete*bows* Thank you. I'm glad you saw what I did there... :-)
DeleteYes! I wrote a similar post this week, lamenting the way Twitter and Instagram are stealing all my potential posts for my blog. And I think that post may have been the first since Feb. I'm actually in two minds as to which is the better (easier for me) way to go.
ReplyDeleteI guess it depends on what your goals are. I couldn't imagine giving up the Fibro. Too much time, energy, love and happiness invested here.
DeleteIt can, be mainly my fb page is empty. I have nothing to say there other than to flog my blog and that isn't great for engaging long term.
ReplyDeleteI only Pin for fun and twitter has been so different lately. Swings and roundabouts really
Yes indeedy. :-)
DeleteI feel like I only have a certain amount of words for each day...like an allowance and I have to weigh up where to use them. Then, there is the actual space I need to write. All in all I am taking slow blogging to the extreme at the moment!
ReplyDeleteSince the beginning of the year I've been blogging less and micro-blogging more. There is an instant gratification factor in SM & the conversation that arises that I (as a very small blogger) don't always get from my blog. I sometimes weigh up how much mileage I'll get out of a one liner versus a whole post & because I'm inherently lazy, the one liner usually wins :P Great post xx
ReplyDeleteThe post otherwise known as "Dude, where's my blog?"...? So that's what I've been doing. Snacking between meals! Thanks for pointing this out, it's food for thought (see what I did there?) and I might just have to start being more selective in my willy-nilly sharing. Sometimes it takes another writer to point it out succinctly, which is something I rarely (if ever) am. How I have survived at all in short FB statuses and <140 characters, I will never know. But I seem to prefer those now to fleshing out proper ideas and it's made me somewhat lazy on the structural writing front.
ReplyDeleteA really interesting, relevant post. As a social media novice (and a little daunted), I find everyone always appears so assured and clever, and it was refreshing to read that even aficiondos like you experience some doubts. However, you've turned these doubts into an eloquent blog! Have been contemplating blogging myself but think I'd buckle under the pressure of having to say something witty and entertaining on a regular basis! I do agree with Nee Say about the instant gratification factor in "micro-blogging"...when someone engages with my tweet, it gives me a thrill (does that sound pathetic??)
ReplyDeleteSocial media probably eats my time to blog!
ReplyDeleteI spend too much time looking at FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram and all of a sudden the baby is awake again and there was 2 hours of blog time I will never get back :(
BTW - LOVE SMaC Talk!
I've noticed myself doing that, too. Sometimes I just don't have the time or inclination to write a whole blog post, but I'm sure that if I made an effort, I could turn one of those status updates into a post.
ReplyDeleteSocial media is eating my blog. I start to blog something only to realize that I've already shared it via FB, Twitter, and Instagram. I need to share smaller snippets, and point them towards my blog for the full story.
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... Facebook is its own medium, isn't it? You could almost just use it to communicate, almost as a blog. I don't, haven't been putting anything up much, am definitely very conflicted about Facebook the noooo. One month I might let go of all the social media and just blog, blog, blog and I think I might like that a lot better.
ReplyDeleteCome back! Don't let it eat you up! I really enjoy your posts and try to only focus on this one avenue... otherwise I could imagine it doing the same to me!
ReplyDelete