Hello ladies and gentlemen,
Over the past couple of years of blogging, I’ve noticed that social media platforms have gained incredible attention and importance in the promotion of reading. It isn’t just about leaving your thoughts on a book you’ve read for curious minds to wander the virtual world and land upon them. Marketing books has become such a crucial component to a book’s success that every little word, positive or negative, before, during and after publication, is determined by the hype and buzz around it.
Bloggers who fervently participate in sharing their passion for reading, in building the excitement for debut authors or anticipated releases, are invited to partake, whether voluntarily or unconsciously, to opening accounts on various social media platforms and remain connected to real-time news regarding books, authors and events. As they become enchanted by this easy access to information, it becomes nearly impossible for them to detach themselves from these platforms out of fear of missing out on crunchy reveals and privileged information. Some can’t even stop if they wanted to, having made a habit of visiting their feed as often as breathing.
Not only has it become so much easier to get in touch with the people behind the publication of books, from authors to publicists, everyone can also find a little bit of happiness in being able to contribute to the excitement by posting their own photos, thoughts and personal life for the world to live through them vicariously.
But as a blogger, while I am on all these social media platforms, I find it nearly impossible to juggle them all without allocating a lot less time on some of them, while focusing on others. To be able to be active on all of them would have to mean abandoning other things in your lifestyle, from responsibilities to social activities.
What I wanted to share with you guys today are all the social media platforms on which I have an account (sorted by my level of activity on them) as well as what I do on them to ultimately see what you guys think of them and what you prefer as a blogger.
WORDPRESS
I doubt anyone could oppose me on this but WordPress remains my favourite and the most important platform for blogging for me. Your website and your posts are always a reflection of your personality and your mind. It is the ultimate outlet for your writing creativity and the sanctuary for everyone to visit whenever they want. Through my blog, I was able to meet so many different people from all around the world and share a passion for something that is not that easy to share in my everyday life. Over time, it’s through this blog that I was able to make some of the best virtual friends that any introvert could ask for and that alone makes it one of the best platforms that I will always cherish.
One of the hardest-hitting features of WordPress remains the statistical input that you get with it. From the number of views and likes to the number of followers, there are countless bloggers who pay particular attention to this, whether they want to or not but the biggest advice I can give you is to blog for yourself first and let the numbers fluctuate as they want.
GOODREADS
When I first began to blog on WordPress, I also learned about the existence of Goodreads and its countless options that allow readers to archive and track all of their reading in one place. This easy-to-use platform also has a fascinating community but the social features on it aren’t as friendly as other well-known platforms. While some people prefer keeping a library/log of their book collection and their reading on other applications or spreadsheets, this ended up being my first solution and remains the most important one for me today.
On Goodreads, reviews are also showcased thanks to a like-system that essentially allows popular individuals to pump their reviews to the top and promote (or not) certain books. Since the social aspect of this platform is rough, I personally never paid too much attention to getting likes on it since I use Goodreads as a virtual library.
Another platform that I like to scroll through from time to time is Twitter. Allowing everyone to tweet character-limited posts and share (retweet) all kinds of content, this platform seemed like a wonderful place to discover more about the bloggers that I interact with. Over the years, authors and publishers became more and more active on these platforms, allowing everyone to interact with them and share their exclusive content. Of course, with those years, an incredible number of horrible people became omnipresent, turning the place a bit toxic but if you use it at the frequency I do, you only get the time to see the good! 🙂
While I essentially use it to share my posts with my followers and to tag authors/publishers as well, I never could find some kind of consistency on this platform as I always felt like you had to have a certain sense of humour/personality to catch the attention of your followers. I still like to occasionally dip my toe through my feed, although it evolves continuously, making it almost impossible for me to keep up with everyone.
The creation of my Instagram account had two purposes: 1) I wanted to stay connected with a couple of friends and create an easy source for communication and sharing content between us and 2) I wanted to make use of all those pictures I use in my WordPress posts since I put so much time into creating them that it felt like a waste that I didn’t also showcase them elsewhere. Thus, the creation of my account allowed me to pretty much dump all of my pictures into one place and create a nice portfolio (at least… I think it’s nice…) that could maybe reach people and ultimately get us to partake in some sort of conversation or even lead them to my posts.
As I’ve always thought, being truly active on Instagram is a full-time job. People who are able to set a theme, take original pictures, hop around the community to chat with everyone and to share interactive stories are amazing. I applaud them for all the effort they put into this. I believe Instagram is a social media platform on which marketing is at its best and influencers are all over that business there. If you want to become one, it’s the place to be at.
On my end, it’s never going to be as important as my blog is and I’ll never be able to put as much effort I put into blog posts. It’s really a whole different beast. While it’s nice to cross-publish and stay connected with some bloggers there, I feel like it’s too much work to stay active, be creative and reach real success on it for me.
Similar to Instagram, my Facebook page is also used to dump all my posts on it and allow them to float in that universe, hooking some followers here and then. Compared to WordPress, I always felt like it was harder to get readers to engage with posts and I sometimes felt like it was because of how public it must be to leave a comment on there since your activity then becomes public on your own personal feed. It is however fun when a post is shared by an author to their friends and community, allowing your love for a book to be spread to the world. Then again, it’s harder to tag authors on Facebook since you’re entering their “personal” territory.
TUMBLR
I actually don’t use this platform much at all. In fact, I don’t even know how to make it grow. On Instagram, there’s an option to cross-publish your posts onto this platform and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to simply activate that feature and dump my posts onto it, in case it could reach at least one reader. Although I might have published 100 things on Instagram (which all ended up on Tumblr as well), I only knew success once when Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire) re-posted my post and got a bunch of fans liking my thing. Did it lead to more people visiting my Instagram page and then visiting my WordPress blog post? I have no clue and I prefer not knowing!
So why am I using all these social media platforms when there’s no way I can be active on all of them as much as I’d want to be? It really was just in the intention of staying connected with fellow bloggers and staying up to date with book-related news. I personally think it’s something quite common in our age for everyone to be everywhere and connected at all times and I am one of those unfortunate victims as well. Being part of that multiverse gives this odd sensation that you know everything but sometimes you have to wonder if it’s really that necessary. At the end of the day, WordPress remains the platform on which I dedicate 95% of my energy and where I prefer communicating with everyone. It has been loyal to me so far and I am not about to give up on it anytime soon.
Thank you to all who took the time to read through this humongous post! You really are amazing!
With all that being said, what do you think about the use of all these social media platforms? What do you prefer using and why?
Till next time,
Roars and Echoes 
Lashaan why do you have to post at times when I need to rush out while I want to comment so bad??? LOL That being said I am with you on the “need” to be on social media platforms but I confess that if I had to “do it all again” I’d only be on GR, WP and IG. I am very active on WP, on IG ‘one of my utmost fav aside the blofg as you know that I am before anything else a visual person and drawn to beauty (and repelled by what I consider ugly but tastes and …I digress!)). I have a good number of followers on FB as well and a Twitter account but this is my least favorite to post (I can’t be chatty LOL) even if I find it funny when reading other’s thoughts. I think it puts A LOT of pressure on me though and more and more, try not to feel guilty if I skip a day or two without surfing as it became exhausting with my every day life 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahahah Sophie! I am honoured to hear your thoughts on this and for you to take the time to share it with me although you’re constantly on a rush! 😀 I totally understand that and it’s why I find it amazing that there are people who try to be active on everything and a lot. I do know that some platforms are much more rewarding for people though and IG and Twitter are up there, if you ask me. I do love how active you are on IG though. I actually thought of you when I talked about how some people are really good at it and deserve and applause hahah While I love to critic art (thus, love reading comics), I am not one who can be on the other side of it (be the creator, the artist) and it’s probably why I prefer my theme on IG and WP. I just love consistency in this case. 😛
LikeLike
Love this post! I totally agree that WP is the most important site for me and everything else comes from there. I have been on GR and FB the longest though way before the blog was around. My FB blog page is just a link from WP and doesn’t have many followers but I’m not bothered because Twitter is my social media home these days, even though I have a IG account as well. I love the banter and fun on Twitter and so far have managed to avoid any of the nastiness that goes on. As for Tumblr I looked at it once but couldn’t work it out and so didn’t take any further.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Nicki! I too see it just like you. The only reason I am on the other platforms is so that it might maybe redirect a little bit of people onto the blog because that’s the only stage I’m willing to get up on! 😀 And yes, the banter on Twitter can be so funny. It’s also so simple to scroll through, even if there are features on it that I don’t even use or know how to profit from hahah
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am on blog most days… On other sites the link goes on but I don’t spend time on it. Ig has been neglected due to health reasons the last couple of months as I couldn’t manage all social media. I am hoping to get back to all of it soon
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m with you. The blog is the only one I care the most about. I’d do anything for it. The rest is just a bonus.
I’m sorry to hear about your health though, Shalini. I hope you’re feeling a bit better and will get better soon!
LikeLike
I think the personal issues are overwhelming me. I hope I become okay soon
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved reading this post, Lashaan 😍 I personally struggle a lot with social media, my personal accounts and the ones for my blog ! I used to spend a lot of time on Facebook (without posting anything) but it felt like a waste of time so I stopped 😯 I love Instagram and the idea behind sharing a bunch of pictures but it seems like I’m not the best in doing that 😂 let alone using it to promote something I create, I keep forgetting the existence of Instagram 😂 I love WordPress too and Pinterest 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Caroline! Oh man, I disagree so much with you not being the best at sharing a bunch of pictures on IG. In fact, there is no rule saying that that is how it should be done. Everyone should have their own momentum and that’s what you should be looking for, a momentum. I’m convinced you can totally make use of it more “religiously” and enjoy doing it without feeling guilty for not doing it at times when you’re too busy/forgot. I think the more platforms we have, the more we might struggle to be consistent on all of them. It’s why you should have some kind of “plan” in mind while working your way through those platforms. At the end of the day, the most important rule is to enjoy what you’re doing. There should never be any pressure whatsoever. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha thank you, Lashaan 😽 I totally agree, there souldn’t be any pressure 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Caroline!
People don’t usually think that they are living two lives; one that is real and the other is on social media platform.
I also wrote about it in my latest blog, so lemme know your thoughts on that.
LikeLike
Well, realizing how fractured the social side of blogging is is the first step towards doing something about it. I’ve tried doing the cross-posting to X,Y and Z but in the end, I’ve fallen back on my core of WordPress, Blogger and Librarything. Blogger and Librarything are just backups though with very little interaction.
I prefer to be more focused than to spread myself out thinly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. I only cross-post without doing much more because it barely takes 5 minutes to do it. And that cost, compared to the potential benefits of gaining some sort of traffic seemed good to me. I doubt I’ll increase my activity on all the other platforms except WordPress and Goodreads for now. They are the only essential ones, and WordPress is the only one where I actually discuss with y’all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post, Lashaan😁 WordPress is my #1 platform for sure, with Instagram and Twitter following. Facebook is dead last as I haven’t paid any attention to it for years! And I love Goodreads but I’m not social AT ALL on it. Its purely a tool for keeping track of books.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Tammy! I share your vision as well. It’s a bit sad that Goodreads isn’t so “social” since I see so much potential for it to turn into a real “Facebook for bookworms”.
LikeLike
I agree with so much of this… I’m on WP every day, and post my reviews to GR, but that’s all I can get to on that site. It’s just so clunky! I also post my fav books to my personal FB page.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely. I wish GR had a better website architecture but unfortunately I think it would mess too much with their system. I never really made much use of my personal FB page myself, since I’ve filtered through my friends a lot over the years, only keeping in touch with a core of them without sharing much with the rest haha
LikeLiked by 1 person
I mostly post on FB so my relatives can easily see pics of my kids, ha!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for this insightful post. I totally agree with “writing for yourself first, then others”. It is liberating to do so because even if one other person likes it then you’re no longer alone per se.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for reading. Absolutely. I see my blog as a journal for myself, a journal that I share with those who are willing to read and appreciate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome. That’s awesome😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Except for Tumbler, I have all the other platforms. Honestly the only one I’m active on is WordPress. Simply because I think this entire community is really warm and incredibly kind. I have never had even a single bad experience here of any kind. I love the interacting with everyone, and I have made some real friends here: present company included of course 😊
I use Goodreads mainly as a way of keeping track of the books I’m reading, have read, and want to read. Twitter is great for posting some fun things, and occasionally when there is a blogging project for a group to talk to everyone involved but I’m honestly not very active there. Instagram I hardly use at all, except for talking to my best friend. Facebook is something I used in the past, but I’m never on there anymore. I have it…but that’s pretty much it.
In other words: WordPress is my go to social media platform 😊 Great post Lashaan!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for your kind words, my good friend. I agree, I think WordPress is the best platform to have genuine conversations with others and that’s what I love about it. Not only does it allow our imagination to be exploited as we wish, it even allows us to interact with one another with so much freedom. I like that you too use IG to communicate with your best friend. It’s also what I do on it and, if I got free time with nothing better to do, to scroll through my feed to see what others have been up to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Social media is exhausting for me. I have no idea how people can keep up with each one. I interact most on wordpress and facebook (in a group). I use twitter and goodreads. I use instagram, but I can’t really use it for communication since I have to use my ipad vs my desktop that I use for everything else.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Tell me about it. It’s why it surprises me to see some people being mega-active on more than 2 platforms. Just my blog alone drains me out so much, I can’t imagine putting as much energy as I put here on any other platforms. And that’s an interesting thing you mentioned there. I too use my desktop computer for everything and anything that relies on my phone is just less enticing for me hahah
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad I’m not the only one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very interesting post Lashaan! I personally struggle a lot with Goodreads as I always forget its existence and it reminds me how slowly I read 😂 I really get what you said about Instagram, I mainly use it to “use” the pictures I take when I travel or see something that I like. 😊 Managing all of these accounts sounds exhausting though! Thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Juliette! Hahah you shouldn’t see Goodreads as a reminder of how slowly you read! It’s there to help you more than just being an obstacle. 😛 And yes, IG is insane. Especially those who have to buy props, create a little corner in their room just for picture-taking and to be super active with the community and all. I feel like success on there means putting it just as much as you’d put on a blog or something hahah Something I just don’t plan on doing. The blog alone is perfect and satisfies all my needs in terms of creativity and sharing! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know, I try to but it’s not that easy hahah 😅 I guess blogging and putting pictures on Instagram can be both very time-consuming but they allow you to be creative in different ways which is also nice, but isn’t “needed” by everyone, which is nice! Keep up with the good work on the blog! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great Post, Lashaan! WordPress, and Goodreads are my favorites. I also have IG, facebook, and twitter account but I’m not that much active on those platforms because it’s very exhausting to manage all of them. My first priority always goes to my blog.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Raven! I totally understand and I agree. There’s just too many of them and we all have to make decisions. The blog remains the best of them all for me and I doubt that will ever change. 😀
LikeLike
Yeah…it’s a full time job…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tell me about it. Someone should pay us just to be active on all of them at the same time or something hahah
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do freelance for a couple accounts after watching three other ones for 5 years…. so I got paid for those ….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! That is pretty cool. 😮
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
you are right! I should be paying more attention to WordPress. I agree that Goodreads is more like a digital library than to make friends. It is not friendly at all! I added you to my SM but the link in tumblr does not work 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed! I find WordPress is far more rewarding for my brain than any of the other platforms. Goodreads is just excellent to create my virtual library, maybe someday it’ll get a huge revamp/update that will make it even better than Facebook though. Oh, that’s odd. I’m the last person you could ask to figure out how to add people on there though. My name there is lashaan.b though. But don’t worry if you can’t add me there hahah I’m barely active there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nobody is active on tumblr hence being worth $3m only Haha yeah, can you imagine that being like… revamp to be actually a readers social media??? :3
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly hahah 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post, Lashaan! This is actually something I’ve been putting more thought into recently. I use WordPress and Goodreads the most myself, followed by Instagram and Pinterest. I have my posts cross post automatically to Facebook and Twitter but honestly don’t spend much time on those platforms otherwise. There’s only so much time in a day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Nicole! I think it’s just so convenient that we can cross-publish with no hassle but if we actually wanted to grow on those secondary platforms… I think it’s just too much work. Blog all the day! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
That IS a lot of platforms to juggle! I try to keep it simple with WP, GR and IG. I think anything more than that I would end up abandoning at least half of them anyway.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Totally agree. I just cross-publish onto some of the other platforms but I’ll probably never be able to do more than that. The blog will always get most if not all of my time. 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad to find I am not alone in puzzling over the worth of many social (slash marketing) sites! Although my WordPress posts flick an image to my Facebook page and my Twitter account, from FaceBook however flicked posts to Twitter only show a URL. And it seems no one follows a bare link to the blog. I closed my GoodReads account, and still have an InstaGram account – which to me is only like having a scrapbook of internet articles I’ve liked and might refer to again.
I think I’ll be simplifying…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always wondered about what it would take for people to actually CLICK on those URLs too… I feel like you have to be some kind of social superstar to get that kind of reaction from people and to reach that level?… We’d probably have to sell a kidney or something! 😛 I definitely think the blog is the most important of them all. 1 or 2 additional platforms just to stay in the loop. Otherwise, I think it’s just impossible to PROPERLY juggle that many platforms hahah
LikeLike
Great post, L. 😀 I am not very social media friendly I suppose. I am barely active on GR and FB. I use auto-post features so that I don’t have to check it regularly 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Rekha! I too mostly use the auto-post feature because of how simple it is. Otherwise, I feel like we’d have to work our social genes too much… Especially when I barely have any of those! 😛
LikeLike
Awww I loved this Lashaan!! I totally feel you about having a social media hierarchy and using a sliding scale to determine how much time is spent on that platform. I feel like I love Instagram but its also the first I kick when my time is squeezed because it is time consuming. And honestly it seems to be most people’s goal to follow 2 people and have 2.2K followers. I enjoy twitter but like you enjoy avoiding the drama too. I’m always a little shocked when something blows up on there. But more power to those who really use the heck out of their platforms.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahahah I love how scientific you made it sound! But I’m 20000% with you and your thoughts on Instagram. I feel like it’s a very cruel and mean world, where everyone only have eyes on numbers. Sure, it might be the platform that has the most INFLUENCE on everyone, it still drains too much of me to make me want to invest too much into it. I’ll gladly stick to just sharing my stuff and interacting with those who feel compelled to interact with me! 😀
LikeLike
Great post. I have a couple social media accounts, of course, but only really pay attention to a few. I love IG so I’m on that, but I don’t have time to set a theme and stage stuff to take great photos all the time. Also my account reflects my interests and my interests are diverse, so I don’t focus on just one thing and I’m too lazy and have too little time to create different accounts for different interests. I have FB but it’s not public. I do have a FB page for my blog, but I often forget about it lol! I have a Twitter for my blog but only use it to share posts. Twitter is overwhelming and frankly I don’t like it so I’m hardly there. I do like WordPress for blogging. When it comes to social media, I think it’s best to keep it simple and stressfree (if you don’t care about getting many followers).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! People who successfuly theme their stuff and have a gazillion props and an expensive camera to create fabulous pictures on IG are AMAZING but there’s no way I could ever get into that lifestyle. Hahahah I swear, Facebook has to be the most useless one for book bloggers. It’s hard to get people to engage to posts, unless they already know you and your content. And yes, we should only focus on being happy with the platforms we want to be on.
LikeLike
As a bookblogger, I too try to promote books on several social media platforms. (though a few less than you) It takes a HUGE chuck of time away from my reading and reviewing. That being said, it is almost essential to post on multiple social media in this digital age. I’d love to find a way around it, but can’t think of anything.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally agree. As book bloggers, we really don’t have much of a choice to being active on a couple of platforms simultaneously. I mean, even blog hopping is one activity that takes so much away from our reading time but ultimately helps us pick our friends and pick the books we want to read! 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you’re still hanging out on here – me too! A lot of the advice out there is to focus on one or two social media channels and do those well rather than to stretch yourself too thin.
I’m TERRIBLE at social media, particularly with regards to my blog. I get self conscious about pushing it at my IRL people, so that’s part of it. The other part is laziness, haha! I have to deal with a lot of social media in my job so on my own time it’s really the last thing I feel like spending time on – but I really should. That I don’t really link it up with my socials is one of the (many) reasons my blog doesn’t get a ton of interaction.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d probably always stay on this blog. It really is an extension of my life and I have hard time imagining any platform replacing it for me hahah
Ah, it must indeed be a bit of a burden to be on social media so much, considering that your job has you right in it too. I think it’s still possible to get tons of interaction on the blog without being on all the other platforms. It would probably demand that you invest 2000% of your time running around all kinds of blog and interacting with all kinds of people… but… who has time for THAT much online interaction after all hahah
LikeLike
I had no idea people used Tumblr 😉 Well if you do that you should also use Pinterest and Bloglovin’ perhaps ;-). I have my hands full enough with WordPress and Twitter. I think most of what’s happening in blogland is on Twitter for me, although I’m really not good at finding the right gif or joking. I do have FB and IG too but that’s just on the side, the one is to post some cartoons or funny things, the other for bookish pics. Interesting post Lashaan!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me neither hahaha It was there, among the options, to cross-publish on IG and I thought: “Why not?” 😛 I just have no clue how it works though so it’s just there… taking in all the things I publish on IG hahah
I too think Twitter is where most bloggers are at and the best side-kick to WordPress! 😛 Thanks for dropping by, Inge! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post!
I don’t see how anyone can give their attention equally to all these platforms and how anyone even has the time to use them to their full potential.
Mainly I use WordPress, followed by Twitter, followed by Instagram.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I agree. It just seems impossible. Unless it’s honestly all you do in your life, or have multiple people running through the same “identity”… Oh man, that sounds messed up… This could be the premise of some sort of book! 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s an interesting thought… A bit scary.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post and discussion topic! Twitter still scares me but I force myself to engage because it drives traffic to my blog. I have found the best “community” through Instagram via Bookstagram…..great opportunities for genuine encouragement, inspiration, and support. I use Goodreads to log all my reading and reviews…interaction with other readers/reviewers there is cumbersome. I pin to Pinterest and am starting to see increased traffic to my blog after joining a few niche boards…but it’s taken a year to see consistent results. I have a FB Page connected with my blog but I experience limited engagement there and not too much traffic. I think it’s important to dabble in most of the platforms because of connecting with different groups of readers…however….using these platforms takes a great deal of time away from creating content! Need to watch the balance! I find it rewarding and enjoyable to interact with the WordPress community of bloggers! I just gave you a follow after finding this link on Nicki’s Secret Library Book Blog! (Reading Ladies)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Carol! I too admit that I like how Twitter works in our favour when it comes to gaining some sort of traffic. No other platforms does that for my blog. I tried to forge a path into that bookstagram community but always felt like I couldn’t fit too well into it because of my comics/SFF tastes and the fact that I barely read any YA too. I am curious about the utility of Pinterest though! My girlfriend has it and your testimonial now makes me wonder if there’s a way to make good use of it without spending too much of time figuring it all out hahah I do think that the blog remains the most pertinent and interesting platform for book blogging and that anything else should be based on the person’s personality and how much time and energy they have to spend on those platforms. I’m quite glad to meet you and look forward to hearing from you again! Will be dropping by your blog soon too. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Lashaan! Pinterest probably took me the longest to figure out and gain any traction. (Your girlfriend should be a good resource) Everyone suggests using Tailwind for automatic scheduling but I’m not certain I want to spend the money and pinning 40 or 50 times in a day (which I guess is what it takes) comes across as spamming to me. I found some communities/boards to join and that helped me gain some traction. Everyone says Pinterest generates the most traffic to a blog but I’m not there yet and I probably will never get there if I don’t “play the game.” All these platforms take time away from my reading! But i need to generate traffic so that people are reading my reviews! Nice to meet you too! Happy blogging! 👍🙌
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is really fascinating. So many strategies and tools at our disposal just to grow our social media platforms. I guess it really does all come down to what we want in the end. Thanks for sharing that with me! 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
OMG, I love this blog topic! I’m very curious as to how much time other bloggers devote to their writing, pictures and publicity as it can become very time-consuming (and it’s not like I’m earning money from it!). My main blogging platform is WordPress, but Goodreads is a close second. I read a lot of different genres besides graphic novels, which is the focus of mine & Kathleen’s blog, so GR lets me share book reviews on other books I read. I tweet out every blog post I write in addition to my book reviews on GR. I do have an Instagram account, but it is not related to books (although I do have my blog link on it)- instead, it is all about nature, another passion of mine. I occasionally link my blog posts or a Goodreads review on my personal Facebook account for my family and friends to read, but not too often, as its a bit too geeky for many of them 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I knooooow, right? If I was paid for the amount of time I put into all these platforms, I’d never complain about money, ever! I do wonder how much time and energy they invest in it too. I like how you use your IG account too, since the day we followed each other. I honestly think I’d have probably made it very “nature/architecture” related if I didn’t decide to make it a bookstagram hahah Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, I totally understand you and your geekiness! I too avoid it with my friends/family/coworkers. I never feel like they’d ever “understand” my passion. I’m okay with them just “acknowledging” it hahah
LikeLiked by 1 person
And that is exactly why I joined WordPress…I needed an outlet for my geekiness, as my IRL friends just don’t understand the finer points of graphic novels or Star Trek 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
So many platforms, so little time! I use WordPress on a daily basis, as well as Twitter (even though I should cut back on this one!) I suck at taking pictures but enjoy sharing a few things on Instagram. Facebook is linked to my blog so my pages gets updates, but I don’t like it much. We need more than 24 hours in a day to squeeze everything in!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I do see you often on Twitter and IG too hahah And I enjoy your enthusiasm on Twitter in particular. 😛 And yes, we definitely more than 24 hours. Especially so we can read all the books we want to read! 😮
LikeLike
I hate WordPress. Just kidding. I just wanted to disagree with something. Of course, I agree that blogging here is the greatest platform. I find it to be most beneficial. I’m aware of the fact that many people use GR and love it, but to me, it’s yet another account I need to make and another username/ password I have to remember. I never kept track of what I read, but recently, I’ve discovered that I can do that on my local library’s site, which I already use for putting books on hold, etc. Twitter… it just goes by too fast. It’s annoying, but I am trying to get on that train slowly. So far, my WP posts are published there and another unrelated post once a week. I created a Fb account, but again, could not put up with the spam in groups.
What distinguishes blogging from other social media is: the turnaround time (I don’t want my wall/ reader to be spammed every second) and the substance (I can write posts longer than a sentence and some people will read it). And I think WP is more personable. The connections you build here are stronger and real-er.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha it would’ve been a curious conversation to hear someone say that WordPress wasn’t a gem. 😛 I like your concerns about # of accounts to manage/remember. It’s a huge issue in our society today, especially when it comes to fraudulent behaviours and cybercrimes; yep, I had to sneak in some thoughts straight from my field of study/job. 😀 And it’s pretty cool that your local library has that set up for you guys. That definitely helps avoid having to use things like Goodreads.
And I totally agree with you on turnaround time and substance. No other platform does it as well as WordPress. Everything else is just an add-on to it. At least for me it is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I actually don’t use a lot of social media! I have my blog and bookstagram. That’s it. I HAVE the others (some) but I don’t regularly use them. I more check them for news or other updates lol. So for me, the balance is easy. However, if I did actively use ALL of them, then oh gosh, I’d be swamped! I think that’s the key, just pick the ones you really enjoy using and say F it to the rest of them
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally agree. I think some people have realized that quickly and just focus on 2-3 platforms, including their blog, just to remain sane. It is a bit unfortunate that it’s not humanly possible to be crazy active on all 3 platforms, however. The amount of work IG requires alone is insane to my eyes hahaha Thanks for reading, Molly! 😀
LikeLike
My blog is the most important to me, too. Goodreads is also my second favorite place. Goodreads is pretty important to me because I rarely review on my blog, and I use it for reviewing and linking the reviews in my Tell Me Tuesday posts. I get so few views on blog reviews that it’s a waste of my time to draft them. 📚
Twitter can be super negative, with the mobs and angry authors. It has also become a place for many bloggers to complain about their mental health and illnesses/disabilities; which is okay if it’s not every day, but I follow them mostly for books and I wish sometimes they would start a separate personal account for their complaining. Ha ha. After I found IG I was thinking about abandoning Twitter, but my blog analytics say I get a lot of traffic from Twitter, so I’ve stuck it out, but I spend way less time there than I used to. 🐦
I love Instagram! It’s so upbeat and inspiring! Again, though, I wish bloggers would start separate personal accounts because I don’t really care to see photos of their Starbucks cup, new nail polish, and a gazillion selfies. 😅 I have a separate account for my music and personal stuff. I’m the same as you with Facebook I post there and just leave it because people very rarely comment. I do have two really active Harry Potter based pages on Facebook, though. ⚡
I sent you a friend request on Goodreads. 👍✨
LikeLiked by 1 person
Waaah! I do love the logic behind prioritizing Goodreads for your reviews. You might be the first person who took action on the fact that reviews are so often so low with reactions/comments.
Hahahahaha I soooo agree about mental health over on Twitter. It really is filled with people mentioning their issues and some tweet about the most random and uninteresting things too. And I can totally totally see how Twitter works better for traffic. I think IG not allowing links in posts just makes it harder for bloggers.
And I agree about IG and the personal side of some accounts. People who share stories of their 5 min lunch break and what not. It’s why I barely post about myself on any platform. If anything, I always thought that people who did have a slightly stronger narcisistic side to them that needs attention more than anything. Yes, sure, they might be confident in their lifestyle/body but you can also be confident and not flash everything to everyone. 😀
Your HP content is quite interesting; I’m not surprised that’s working out pretty well! 😀
I accepted your friend request! 😉 Thank you for reading and sharing!!!! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
brilliant round up of all these platforms! Personally, I like and use WP the most too. I find GR super useful for archiving and tracking books. And yeah I like scrolling through twitter, particularly for funny tweets, but I agree there’s a lot of toxicity on there too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I completely agree with you and have a similar priority going on too. IG is just there to do what Goodreads does for books, but with pictures for me. 😀 And yes.. Twitter has its ups and downs but the good is always fun on that platform! 😀
LikeLike
I have nowhere near as many social medias as you do! I mostly just juggle between WP and Goodreads… I don’t own Twitter, tried maintaining a bookstagram but failed after a few months. It’s amazing that you are able to do all these 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
I mean, I have all of these but I don’t use them all at their maximum potential. WordPress, Goodreads and Twitter remain the most important for me. And I can’t blame you for Bookstagram. It’s a wild and time-consuming world! 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Impressed by your blog🤩
People don’t usually think that they are living two lives; one that is real and the other is on social media.
I also wrote about it in my latest blog, so lemme know your thoughts on that.
LikeLike