It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group
The awesome co-hosts for the April 3 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, T. Powell Coltrin, Natalie Aguirre, and Pat Garcia!
This month's question is an interesting one:
How long have you been blogging? (Or on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram?) What do you like about it and how has it changed?
I have been blogging since June 2010, almost 14 years now. Back then, blogging was something most writers did and it seemed like one of the things I needed to do if I was going to become a published author. So I did it. And I visited a lot of other blogs, took part in blog hops, competitions and guest-blogged on other peoples' blogs while inviting other writers to guest here. It was quite the community!
These days, far fewer writers seem to blog and the community of bloggers and people reading blogs seems to have shrunk. I also write for a group blog, and even that very well established blog seems to have a diminishing number of readers. Fewer people comment on posts.
I feel like a lot of the activity that used to happen on blogs is now happening on social media. The problem is, there are so many different channels when it comes to social media, and being across them all is very time consuming.
And the writing is different. On social media you don't have the same real estate you have in a blog post. You can't get in depth on anything. Posts with too much text get scrolled past without being read. You have to have images or even video to be really seen. And you're relying on algorithms to show your posts to the right people.
Plus, I really don't enjoy social media much.
So I'm still here, blogging, probably to a void most of the time. But I don't care. This is my spot where I can write about what I want to write about. If people choose to visit and read what I write, that's great. If they don't, I'll probably still be here, posting my weekly book review, my goals for the week ahead and celebrating each week's small wins.
Do you still blog regularly? Do you still enjoy it?
I never really enjoyed social media either. Blogging is as social as I want to get. I'll always be here in the void with you, I guess.
ReplyDeleteBlogging is my spot too. It makes me sad that more people don't blog and read blogs like they used to. I agree with you that you can say so much more and make deeper friendships through blogging.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about blogging. I'll write about what I feel like writing about whenever I feel like writing about it. And if I don't, I don't. It's usually only about once a month nowadays, where it used to be three posts a week.
ReplyDeleteSocial media has become entirely too much work for me to find it fun anymore.
I prefer blogging even if there are fewer people commenting and visiting. But you have a good point about blasting it across all of social media.
ReplyDeleteYeah, social media and algorithms conform! Ick. But we're writers trying to make a living. So frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI like blogging better too, even is the number of bloggers is decreasing. It's all about the friendships I've made and a safe place to express myself. Wishing you all the best!
ReplyDeleteYour comparison between blogging and social media is exactly right. I enjoy both, though the toxicity of social media is a big downside. Like others, though, I struggle to find time to blog regularly, let alone participate in blog hops. The pace of life just seems to get faster and faster.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Blogging is for long form writing which I love. I struggle with the hiccup nature of social media.
ReplyDeleteI mostly just do IWSG for blogging now. I do miss blog hops and how easy it was to meet others through them and make friendships.
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