This was originally part of my overly long Finishing my Furlough discussion post, and it got practically no comments or reactions, so I thought I would make it into a separate discussion topic, which is:
What do you think about all the different bookish social media platforms?
Disclaimer:
These are my personal opinions. I do not expect anyone to agree with anything here, and in fact, I’m certain that many will disagree and/or even hate many of the things I’ve written below. Sorry about that, but you are always welcome to express your own opinions – be they contrary or comparable.
With that out of the way…
As computer literate as I like to believe I am, I’m afraid I’m not totally as social media literate as I probably could be. Here are my opinions of the social media outlets I use/love/hate/don’t care about!
- I still don’t really “get” Instagram, but I’m still using it, sort of, and probably unsuccessfully (any tips would be appreciated).
- Pinterest is okay, but annoying sometimes, especially when they change their interface every five minutes, or suggest I follow a bunch of boards that lead to illegal sites that give away pirated PDFs of newly released books (and I can’t report them for stealing intellectual property because that property isn’t mine). So, I don’t visit the site much, but I do pin my book reviews. I do that using the…
- Tailwind app to (manually) share those pins with other boards, and the five “tribes” to which I’m subscribed. Since I’m on nearly 50 shared boards, that makes re-pinning my pins easier. However, I don’t like it enough to pay for it, so it is manual re-pinning for me!
- Twitter isn’t as frustrating as I thought it was, but I’m still too paranoid to get behind on new tweets to keep the home page open for too long. Of course, that means I miss TONS of stuff, I’m sure. Even so… I now have over 1000 followers there, so… that’s something, right?
- I’m wondering if I should delete my Tumblr account; I almost never look at it, and I’m not sure what good it does.
- I’m still sharing my posts on LinkedIn because… well, why not (it doesn’t cost me anything, even if no one ever looks at my posts). However, I almost never look at my account anymore (I’m about to retire. I’m not looking for a new job, and that’s what this site is best for, if you ask me.)
I hate Bloglovin’ even more than I did before (which is why there’s no link here to my profile there), especially since (as you can see from these three screenshots, here) practically ALL of my followers are now just to porn sites. Plus, you can’t delete your account there for love or money! Don’t use it people, please don’t use it, I BEG of you! Furthermore, I will NOT follow anyone using their site anymore, so even if you continue to use it yourself, I do hope you have another way for me to follow your blog.- Strangely enough, with my Facebook page for this blog, while I’ve continued to post links to my reviews and articles here, I’ve actually reduced the amount of sharing of those posts on other pages and groups. This is probably because I’ve been more active here, and I don’t want to spam all the pages and groups I’m on there. (Okay, so I started cutting down after FB released this blog from a six-month jail sentence, but now I’m doing even less sharing from there.)
- Goodreads is very useful to keep track of my reviews and reading. Sometimes the groups are interesting as well, so I’m going to keep on using it.
- Medium – if they were willing to pay their contributors, even pennies, I might be willing to buy a subscription so I could read more than five articles there a month, but no one wants to read book reviews there, and I don’t see much there that’s worth paying for. I think I’ll just let it slide.
- Patrion – I had ONE subscriber there and now I think she’s gone. I don’t understand this platform at all. And now they’re talking about sales tax – what’s that about? Forget it… I have disabled my account because… see, Medium above.
- YouTube – no, I do not have an account. Why? I hate the way I look in pictures, I think I have a very ugly speaking voice, and I get terribly tongue-tied on camera. So no, I will not be doing video reviews, nor will I be starting a Vlog on YouTube! Sorry! (Although I might watch yours.)
There are a few others I signed on to, like Flipboard, Mix, MeWe, and something called Instapaper, but it seems to me they’re more a waste of time and I don’t see much advantage to any of them. I haven’t updated these sites in a while now, and I’ll probably just drop them altogether eventually.
(PS: For all you WP people out here who are dreading the switchover to the new editor? Guess what? It is after June 1, and I’m still using the old one. How? I just copy an older post made using the old editor and VOILA !)
So… what about you?
What bookish social media do you use?
Are there sites I haven’t mentioned that you might recommend?
Which ones do you love?
Which ones do you hate?
Which ones are you indifferent to?
This post is my 11th entry in the 2020 Discussion Challenge, hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight!
The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog 
Well, considering that I have a whole series of posts titled “Tales of a Social Media Failure,” I’m sure you can figure out where I stand on this. Half of the social media apps you mentioned here I haven’t even heard of. LOL!
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I started on Instagram (or Bookstagram because I do have two separate accounts–one for books and a personal one) several years before I was blogging, but I’ve found I’m not on it as much as I used to be. The blog takes up more time. I do miss it. I enjoy following authors and publishers, hearing about new books, and sharing my love of books with other book lovers. Plus, I’m visual; I like to SEE the books. I do have accounts on various other platforms, but it comes down to time for me. I’d rather be reading than scrolling. 😉 Great discussion!
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What bookish social media do you use?
My blog posts are automatically posted on Tumblr. I also use Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
Are there sites I haven’t mentioned that you might recommend?
Not sure if it is really a ‘social media’ site, but I highly recommend Goodreads.
Which ones do you love?
The one I’ve had the most success with is Twitter.
Which ones do you hate?
Don’t HATE any, but I do find that to do any of them justice they are just too time-consuming.
Which ones are you indifferent to?
Tumblr. Although all of my blog posts go there, I’m never been made aware of any feedback or notifications. Does anyone actually look at Tumblr? Do I have to adjust my settings? Ugh….
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Well, as long as you don’t use Bloglovin’ then that’s fine!
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I enjoy the instant gratification of Instagram although the likes and comments haven’t turned into many site visits but someday 🙂 Twitter is easy but zowie, so many rabbit holes to tumble down. It’s a great way to keep up with/interact with authors and publishers. I just started dipping my toe in the Pinterest waters – not much interaction so far so I’m not sure if I’ll continue with it. Thanks for sharing your experience with other sites/platforms!
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Pinterest has been really helpful when I actually put in the time to do it. I use Canva to make nice pins/graphics. I have my own book blogger board & follow and use 2 more book blogger boards.
Even now when I’m not actively doing much on there, I’m still getting good traffic from when I was using Pinterest well.
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Cool! I don’t get a whole lot of traffic from there, but I do get a bit. Strangely enough, most of the traffic from Pinterest seems to come from pins that were repined to other boards before I moved over to this WP site, so they’re all to my old blog, and have to click again to get to my new blog!
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I like Instagram but I’m not very good at it! My favorite it Twitter because I love chatting with authors and publishers and other bloggers. I never understood Pinterest, and only use Youtube for my English accent training, nothing bookish! x
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The best thing about Instagram… I started following Rachel Joyce, and through there I got her to do my little Countdown Questions interview, and then she sent me the uncorrected proof copy of her upcoming novel – she even signed it for me! On twitter I’ve gotten a few authors to do interviews for my blog, as well, but nothing that good!
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Brilliant!
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I haven’t even heard of some of these social media sites. I couldn’t keep up with them all. I love Twitter for sharing and finding out about book stuff and use Facebook to a certain extent but rarely share my reviews in groups. They are on my page and that’s it. I do have an Instagram account and will share bookpost photos there but just as likely to post photos of sunsets or nice views 😊
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I’ve got an old theme and the old wp editor format still, I have no wish to change either.
I’m just getting used to new twitter, I didn’t like new twitter when it first came out and I got it reverted back, but now they’ve removed the option – sigh! Once I post my daily book review tweet, I check a few tweets on the home page, but I mainly keep my twitter on notifications unless I’m sharing other posts. This keeps all the rubbish away from my eyes.
I’m new to instagram and am enjoying it so far, I’m told that the idea is to inspire others with your content. I’m experimenting, but as I read so many of my books as e-books, creating a picture needs a level of creativity. I’m trying to take part in monthly bookish photo challenges, this has helped me and there are loads choose from. It helped that I found a way to ‘do instagram’ from my PC. I find it so much easier, there are a few limitations and I have it on my ipad to cover those times.
Navigating all the anger on social media is one of the trickiest parts I find.
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Yes I also “do” Instagram from my PC. As for the anger out there… I hear you!
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I use only WordPress and Twitter for promo. Sell barely anything ever but it’s fine. I write bc I can’t stop. I’m on Tumblr & Pinterest but don’t have time to deal with them. FB is horrible as always. LinkedIn is for my real life lol
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Oh! That’s why I haven’t been forced to use the new editor! I always copy an old post or a template as a starting point! I guess when I make a fresh template I may need to use the new editor…or I can just tweak the old template! I think I did hear that there is an option within the new editor to use the old one…at least for a while! Blogging is hard enough work without having to learn new tricks!
I’m not the best on social media….but I try to have a presence across major platforms. For Twitter I live by checking notifications, my posts are automatically tweeted when I publish and occasionally I retweet them, and I’m in one retweet group. But I rarely ever create original tweets just to chat! Instagram is ok…I’m a part of 4 engagement groups which helps…and I’ve created somewhat of a community. What I do NOT like there is all the politics and thought policing and public callouts….so much drama. I always automatically share my IG posts to twitter. I’m on Pinterest and have joined a few boards. I pin manually. Just recently I’ve seen an increased number of click throughs from Pinterest which is encouraging! I do have a FB page connected to my blog. I get minimal interaction there. I use goodreads a lot but conversation there is cumbersome…I belong to some groups but hardly ever participate in them. However, I do interact with reviewers who show up in my feed. I think it’s important to keep up a presence on multiple platforms because each one reaches different groups of people. But it’s certainly time consuming.
I prefer WP reader to follow blogs and have started to not follow blogs who do not have that option. Sites that do not use WordPress very often have compatibility issues when commenting.
Solidarity on never using YouTube! 😱😂😂😂
Great discussion post Davida!
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Thanks! By the way, using the old posts as templates is working for now, although I have been asked once or twice if I want to switch and I’m still allowed to say no thank you. Let’s see how long that lasts!
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I’m sure we’ll be the last holdouts! 😂😂
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Actually, I think we’re in lots of very good company!
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Maybe WP knows how many of us are reluctant and will give us more time.
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Hope springs eternal!
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I use Facebook all the time. I’m on Linked In, but don’t use it much. And I’m on various fora for specific subjects, mainly to do with books. I don’t know people cope with being on Twitter, Instagram and everything else as well – it’d take me all day to keep up with them all!
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Yeah… I kinda use Twitter and Instagram for a bit and then close them down!
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