Social(ly Awkward) Bekah

Thanks, everyone, for your grace yesterday, and thank you Maria, for your question! Now I don't have to worry about today's post! (Because I'm not feeling profound yet. It'll show up eventually, I'm sure.)

For those of you who didn't see Maria's comment yesterday, she asked me how I blog. Like do I post in real time or schedule posts ahead or what? And what else do I do on social media?

Well let me start by saying I break all the rules of algorithms and everything else, and at times, even my own rules. :) Also, let me say that what I'm about to say are my thoughts on personal social media. It's a whole different ballgame when you have an online presence for a business. I think the rules matter much more in that realm. When I talk about my social media tactics, I'm just talking about my own personal habits. I'm just an ordinary person, not a business depending on followers.

Let's start with blogging, because it was my debut into the social media world. When I first entered the blogosphere back in 2006, I posted whenever I felt like it. No rhyme or reason. I might go a week between posts, and if I felt newsy, I might post eight times in one day.

In 2011, I decided to give some structure to the blog, so I made the choice to put up a new post every single day. And I have! Even though I am vehemently opposed to scheduled posts on all other forms of social media, I do schedule my blog posts, and I do it that way mostly so the early morning reading crowd can have it waiting for them, even if I'm not awake yet. I know some people really like to read blogs as part of their morning routine, so I want to be ready for them when they're ready to read.

Often, I write just a day ahead, so the news is fresh. Sometimes, if I have lots of ideas, I'll write a whole bunch of posts in one day and schedule them out for days to come. And I always have a half-dozen or so posts that I build on over time (like the Saturday Six or what I learn each month) so I start those and add to them until posting time.

I've also never really pigeonholed myself into a blogging niche. I started blogging when bloggers wrote for the sake of having online friends. Many bloggers I interacted with back in 2006 have either quit blogging or they've become topical blogs focused on paid partnerships, etc. That's never been my goal. If anything, it's my goal not to monetize the blog. I do book reviews and often get the books for free, but that's about as far as I go with that. I enjoy reading, and reviewing helps me support my habit, so it's a win-win. Beyond that, I have no desire to make a business out of this blog. I just want to write and hang out with all of you!

I pay absolutely no attention to all the formulas and algorithms bloggers tend to stress over. I don't care about SEO, I don't pay attention to word counts. I don't worry about having pinnable images. I just write and post for the pure pleasure of doing it and the opportunity to process my thoughts. The fact that you show up to read is a beautiful bonus.

As far as other social media platforms go, I am also on Twitter and I don't really like it. I've never liked Twitter all that much. I was held back by the character limits, and while I'm sure glad they've raised them, I still find them far too restricting for my liking. I do link to the blog and podcast on Twitter, and if I happen to catch a tweet that interests me, I may like or retweet it, but that's about the extent of my relationship with Twitter. I don't do hashtags, either, by the way, on any form of social media. (I do look on Twitter if I need a quick answer to something I think may be trending, but that's the only reason I purposefully seek it out.)

I LOVE Instagram. No surprise there, since I love pictures so much. I spend a lot of time reading through the captions and enjoying the pictures. Fun fact: I have never posted a story on Instagram. They frustrate me. I don't like it that they go away, and I am not always able to use volume when I'm scrolling, so I don't like all the things I can't hear. I just want to read it and move on. I normally post to Instagram about once a day and I do not cross-post to Facebook. I follow many of the same people on both and I don't like reading the same stuff twice, so I try not to make other people read my stuff twice.

To continue my rules rebellion, I don't pay a bit of attention to whatever it is you're supposed to know about "Instagram-worthy" photos. I've gathered there are certain rules you're supposed to follow when choosing your picture, but I just pick whatever I want to share.

The other day, I made an interesting (to me, anyway) observation on Instagram. I follow most of the Duggar and Bates girls, and I'd noticed that nearly all of them are becoming more and more involved with paid partnerships, so even their "family" posts are really ads in not-so-subtle disguise. I noticed on one post, almost every comment was about that. People were tired of the ads and wanted them to go back to posting about real life without ulterior motives. I won't unfollow people over that, but I do skip over the post when I realize it's just an ad. I want the real-life stuff.

And finally, Facebook. I love Facebook and try to keep it well-trained to show me cute stuff and not a bunch of things I don't want to read. I don't post on there as frequently as I used to, because I seem to post more often on Instagram. I love keeping up with people's lives on Facebook.

I had to learn a bunch of things about Facebook algorithms when I worked at the station, and there was a LOT to learn. On a personal level, I don't worry about any of it. I post when I have something to say and don't when I don't. I don't worry about the window of time or stress over how many people see it (or don't).

I think Instagram is the newest form of social media I use...no snapchat or any other such app for me.

Oh! I use Pinterest in place of Google, so I don't worry about who I'm following or who follows me. I just look up whatever I want to find. (And I often forget it's technically social media, so that's why I'm just now mentioning it!)

So that's my socially awkward life. How about you? Are you more rules-conscious than I am?