We meet again on this 4th day of BBAW. Welcome! Today's question is about connections:
How do you stay connected to the community? Examples: social media, regular commenting, participation in blog events, etc.
Connections, connections, connections - well, I'm not much of a connector in many ways. I know. We're supposed to be big fans of all the social media 'things'. I can't even keep up with all the 'things'. So, here's the scoop - I do have a Facebook page, but it took me forever to actually decide to try that. And it's not connected to this blog, nor will it ever be. I'm on Facebook in my personal life, mostly to loosely keep up with family, old friends, and see pretty vacation pictures. Oh, and grandbabies - most of my old friends now have grandchildren and their pictures are so cute!!
I am not on Twitter or Instagram or Tumblr or whatever else is out there. I know myself pretty well and I just cannot keep up with all that electronic info. It's overwhelming and I would become a nervous wreck. That may make me old, but honestly, I'm from the age group that was amazed by the VCR years ago. Ha! I also decided not to use Goodreads or LibraryThing. Just seemed like more work to me.
I do comment a lot on other blogs. I enjoy it and, if I have something to say, I'll leave a comment. I think that's my way of staying in touch, instead of tweeting. And I respond to the comments on my blog here. If you leave a comment, I'll likely respond - you may never know it, but that's OK too. I do not go back and check for replies after I've commented on a post elsewhere. Too many and I can't remember to do that.
I also participate in a few, a very few blog events. Here's a look at what I joined this last year:
The Estella Society took over R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril this last year from Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. My first time joining in. It's for reading anything mysterious, ghostly, gothic, spooky....you get the idea. I loved it and if it comes up again this fall (September-October), I'll be there..
I did the Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon last April. Not sure if I'll participate again this year, but it was fun. And, no, I didn't come close to 24 hours of reading.
Last March, Trish at Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity hosted 'A Day in the Life'. Just an ordinary day that we could share our ordinariness. I showed a bunch of pictures of me going through my day. It was fun.
I wrote a post for Sheila's 'Playing To Beat The Banned' event last September during Banned Books Week. In it, I told about my feelings concerning 'banning' books and what it was like working in a library during that week. I would definitely participate in that event again. You can find Sheila at Book Journey.
Most weeks, I join in on 'Waiting on Wednesday' hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's a meme that lets us share a book that we're anticipating being published in the future. I love letting people know what new books are coming.
I also usually participate in the weekly event hosted by Diane at Bibliophile By The Sea entitled 'First Chapter - First Paragraph - Tuesday Intros'. We share a little bit from the beginning of a book we're reading or thinking about reading. What's fun for me is looking around and finding a book that has a great hook at the beginning.
That's about it for me. I don't do challenges or not very often. You can see a couple of them in my sidebar that are ongoing right now - The TBR Triple Dog Dare and Gothic Fiction Reading Challenge. If you're interested, just click and find out more. I also did a 'Salem's Lot Read-a-Long last fall that was a lot of fun.
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Hope you enjoyed hearing about my 'connections'. Tomorrow is the last day of BBAW and it's about burnout and how to avoid it. See you there!
I know what you mean...it's sometimes so hard to keep up with all his technology. I do have a Twitter account, but feel really dumb and kind of awkward, OKAY, I feel old when it comes to that stuff. It's very time consuming and you're right--the blog takes enough time. And sadly, I don't comment like I should. I'm a huge reader of my fav's tho.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of us that over a 'certain age' feel like we are playing catch-up on social media. LOL
DeleteYou make a good point about social media, it is easy to get overwhelmed by it all. I have a facebook page where I post infrequently and I have twitter for book stuff but... and here's the big problem - I don't have time to endlessly connect with others - I love commenting on blogs and responding to stuff on twitter but it is very time consuming so choices have to constantly be made.
ReplyDeleteThere you've got it - the time it involves. And each one of us has to decide where our time is going to be spent. Do what's right for us.
DeleteI totally understand what you mean, Kay. Although I've accounts to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and a few others, I rarely post except for updates of my bookish thoughts and a few pics occasionally if the mood calls for it. They can be overwhelming but I'll still check out my friends posts and yes, "Like" them. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I 'like' a few things on Facebook - not all that many though. The whole reordering of what you see in your feed confuses me at times.
DeleteI've never used Tumblr, but I do have accounts with Twitter and Pinterest, although I never look at them anymore. I use Facebook, but I've cut way back on who I follow and can easily catch-up in a few minutes at the end of the day. I love Instagram and, again, it's easy to check out the day's posts while I'm cooking dinner or on a break at work. That said, I'm trying to spend more time reading a book rather than something on my computer, but I do love to follow my favorite blogs and "chat" with my fellow book-lovers via comments. I always check the "Notify me" box so I can see the follow-up comments and may even respond to a reply. It's like the old days of those book forums we used to be on before blogging came along.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Trish is planning to host another Day in the Life event this year. I missed out last year, but think it would be fun to participate if she does it again. I loved seeing everyone's photos!
Yes, I remember the book forums. And I do hit notify a lot of the time. But some blogs don't have that feature and so I can't be 'notified' (shhh...like yours...LOL). Anyway, I just don't want people to think I'm ignoring their response to my comment. Most of the time, it's not a big deal. As to Trish's 'Day' thing - not sure. New baby may make that too much this year.
DeleteHuh. I had no idea my blog was missing that "Notify me" option. Do you have any idea where it is in my settings so I can make the fix? I looked, but I don't see any option to change.
DeleteHmm, I just looked at my blog and it does show a spot to click "Notify me." Do you not see it?
DeleteNow I do. I promise I didn't see it before. Nor on Nan's and I see it on hers too. Maybe I'm going crazy! LOL
DeleteI just went and look at one of your posts through Bloglovin, which what I use and it's not there. So, it's obviously something in the way they show your posts. Sorry about that. Never mind - as Roseanne Rosannadanna would say....
DeleteMystery solved. I usually click over to the actual blog from Bloglovin, simply because I like to check out everyone's header & sidebar. :)
DeleteI agree that some of e new technologies have only complicated things more and we have lost some great tools, too. Wordpress used to tell me when anyone linked to my blog or maybe it was a google reader feature? But now I am never alerted.and I was devastated when Reader was eliminated - I just couldn't be bothered to create and learn Feedly or whatever attempted to replace it.
ReplyDeleteBut I am addicted to goodreads and use it to track every thought I have while reading. I use the voice feature - super easy. And Twitter makes readalongs very fun. But, yea. I miss the old days of only blogging being the book place? Oh well. �� You really do a LOT with your blog and it seems to me you are doing great! Happy BBAW! And thanks for visiting my little corner.
I like your little corner, Care. And I miss google reader too. I was so sad when it went away. I use Bloglovin, but I've never liked it as well.
DeleteOh man! I agree with all the technology getting away from us. I have a Facebook and like you, it's mainly for family. I have an Instagram, though I don't post much. I just got a Twitter account, mainly because my sister insisted lol. It's been good for BBAW though! And another sister just had me sign up for Snapchat and I have NO IDEA how to use it! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kristina! So nice to know I'm not the only one that is confused with all the ways to connect. LOL
DeleteI don't use social media like I used to - it can be such a time suck, I had to back away.
ReplyDeleteYes, Kathy, that's what I was afraid of. Plus I type a lot faster on a keyboard than with my thumbs. ;-)
DeleteI can't keep up either. I have a personal Facebook page and a blog-related one, but I don't post much on either. Same with Twitter. And GR and Instagram and ...
ReplyDeleteWell, you have excuses Miss Susan as you have the kiddos, but it's still nice to know that I'm not alone. ;-)
DeleteThanks for all the comments you leave on my blog posts. I look forward to them and truly appreciate them. I do reply to them, so I'm sorry you don't get to see those replies.
ReplyDeleteKeep doing what you're doing. I enjoy your blog and get lots of great book suggestions from you.
Catherine, I do get your replies. I think you use Discus? Somehow I get those. It's the people (mostly on blogger I think) that don't have a way to check 'notify me', so I can't get responses unless they email directly. I love your blog!
DeleteHahahaha, not being on Twitter or whatever else doesn't make you old. Social media is one of those things that you really have to have time for, or it's not worth it -- like you don't get anything out of it if you don't have the time to put energy INTO it. And it's super legit to decide that this or that venue isn't the right one for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this post!!
No, I guess it doesn't make me old, but I do think people my age have had to spend a lot of time just trying to understand social media....and how to type with our thumbs. LOL
DeleteNot being 'up' with social media doesn't make you old. Haha! I see why you would feel that / get that impression from others though - social media seems like a very young and cool thing. I'm young '24', but by no means cool. Haha! I've never really been one for social media platforms, although I do have a twitter account linked to my blog. I don't really communicate there though, only share my posts. Twitter is good for connecting with authors though I've found.
ReplyDeleteSocial media is such a time commit - I'm the same as you, Kay, commenting is how I stay connected. I think it's important to stay true to ourselves and connect how we feel most comfortable.
Reading With Jade
I agree about the time commit. We all have to figure out where we want to put those precious minutes we have to connect. Thanks for your nice words! I don't feel old now. LOL
DeleteKay I have only been on Facebook for a little over a year, HA, and it is to promote my yoga business, 10% personal and 10% books but that is just my review from Goodreads which automatically posts for me so that is easy. I do not have twitter, instagram, and other and I'm 40, I think it is technology overdrive, it makes us feel like we are multi tasking but it is more like a time waster. I use LibraryThing like my book journal with notes, I only post reviews on my blog, LT, Goodreads and amazon.
ReplyDeleteI try to stay connected by commenting, you are amazing at this. I know longer do challenges and readalongs have never interested me.
I'm seeing that I'm not the only one who doesn't use all the new toys. That makes me happy. :-)
DeleteYes, it can all get too time-consuming if we're not careful! I don't use Facebook at all and I'm very selfish on Twitter - I tweet my posts but I really don't read other people's tweets very often. I put my reviews on Goodreads but don't join in with groups there much. Most of my chit-chat happens on the blogosphere - I love that even though sometimes it eats into precious reading time. And I like to join in with the occasional challenge so long as it's a fairly relaxed ones - too many rules and I run a mile!
ReplyDeleteYes, even the commenting and blog reading does take up reading time. Which is why when I get a little weary of it all, I take breaks. It's good for me. More on that tomorrow.
DeleteI agree, offering good posts and commenting on other peoples' is the heart of the relationship here.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, I really hate it when my FB friends comment on my link to the blog, instead of going to the blog to comment. It's ephemeral there, while part of the conversation on the blog itself.
Yes, I can see how that would be frustrating. So many times, the comments end up in really interesting discussions.
DeleteI used to be on social media a lot more than I am now, but probably once life settles down for me I'll be back - since I work from home, social media is kind of like the office water cooler for me. As long as I don't use it to procrastinate, that is! I like commenting on blogs too - I think I've missed doing that more than the social media stuff!
ReplyDeleteBelle, I think your analogy to the office water cooler is a good one. You'll be back to a more regular schedule before long I imagine. I've missed you though. :-)
DeleteWow! It seems like you do a lot of connecting even without all the other social media things! I often leave tabs open to check back for replies to my comments, but I agree it is a pain when the blog you comment on is using a different platform than you are.
ReplyDeleteYes, I like to hit 'notify' or whatever, especially if I think the person is going to answer a question or whatnot. But, sometimes that's not available. This week has been a bit of an overload in that respect, but this is a special week.
DeleteAgree! ;)
DeleteHow have you found some of these "events"? Is it because you are following several other bloggers? Some look interesting to me that you have mentioned but I haven't come across those on my own. Not looking in the right place perhaps...
ReplyDeleteGayle, you have no idea how many blogs that I check in on. Yes, I do follow a bunch of them. And some of them have been around for a long time and I've been aware of them because of that. Several bloggers have become friends and so I kept up with them even when I did have a blog. I don't have a blogroll on this blog, but I did on my previous one. Decided not to worry about it here. I use Bloglovin and subscribe to a bunch of feeds there. You can click through to each host's blog and likely find out more about the events.
DeleteBlog events are such a great way to connect! I mean, hello, BBAW? The most fun!
ReplyDeleteIt has been a fun week to check out other blogs!
DeleteI know what you mean about social media. It sometimes feels like keeping a lot of balls in the air at the same time. I have to admit, though, that I really like Instagram. I always enjoy your comments on my blog and others, too!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter loves Instagram. And thanks - I enjoy commenting! :-)
DeleteBlog events are suuuuch a good way to connect with others! Kudos to you for ditching the social media. I just deleted facebook off my phone. We'll see how long that lasts though haha
ReplyDeleteHa! I've thought about deleting it, but I'd probably just add it back on in a day or two.
DeleteTwitter gives me a headache and tumblr just makes me sad so no worries there! I need to do less social media - especially facebook - but it's hard! I had forgotten about A Day in the Life! We need to make Trish do that again. It was fun.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if she's doing 'A Day' again. With a new baby, might be too much this year.
DeleteI can tell you and I are a lot alike. I'm trying twitter but I always feel I can't keep up! I'm on Facebook a lot but it's not at all related to my book blogging life. My favorite thing is visiting other blogs and commenting, but don't always have time to see all I want to see.
ReplyDeleteYes, some weeks are better than others on that score. Obviously, this week is a major comment week. Who knows what next week will be like? LOL
DeleteI'm with you, Kay! I don't use Facebook anymore-- I rarely did anyway so I don't miss it-- and I don't use twitter after 2 hacks in one year, and the only social media I do use besides my blog is GR as a way to keep track of what I've read. I assume, from your nostalgic posts about looking back, that you keep a notebook of what you've read in the past.
ReplyDeleteI do know that reading your blog usually gives me great ideas for books to read... and that you leave comments on my blog and reply to folks' comments on your blog. That is what I consider good connecting!
I do use a notebook and have for years. I also have a spreadsheet, well, I had a spreadsheet. I'm redoing it. That's enough for me.
DeleteI like my personal Facebook account, but that's about it. (I need it to feed my Candy Crush habit, lol.) It's a good was to stay connected to family, friends, and some of my book blog buddies. It is a big time-suck though!
ReplyDeleteI like Candy Crush too, but I don't do through my Facebook page. Yes, I've found that Facebook is really time consuming and so many things are uninteresting to me.
DeleteI added a bunch of social media accounts, but feel overwhelmed by it all. I like GoodReads for keeping track of what I want to read. Memes' are a great way to connect with others, but that takes a lot of time. I follow some of my favorite blogs on Bloglovin'. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's hard to decide exactly which of the many options works for each of us. And you are welcome. :-)
DeleteHa! If I wasn't on social media, I would have tons of time to comment on blogs. :) But I love certain social media sites too much to give them up. :P I have a personal Facebook account which I don't link to my blog either. But I also have a Facebook page for my blog and that's where I share bookish stuff.
ReplyDeleteI think we all have to find our favorite spot and then just enjoy it. :-)
DeleteI definitely struggle with keeping up on social media. I go there once in a while and that's it. It's hard. I try to focus more on the blog and the books and knitting. And it works for me - I don't feel bad about not being active on other sites - I don't think I can manage the time for all that.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing about your knitting and your books and especially your little girlie. :-)
DeleteSocial media is tough. I try to take breaks from Facebook because it's so time consuming. I joined Instagram this year as a personal pic a day goal for me and it's been less work than I thought it would be. Mainly because I don't follow many people, I think. You are the best commenter!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy commenting. And my Facebook involvement has been practically nil this year - which is fine with me.
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