Hard to believe that when I started blogging, in 2006, there was almost no emphasis on Twitter. Or, Facebook. Having a blog itself was a leap into the world of communication via technological channels. It was exhilarating.
Now, in 2011, I'm told that one's blog should have a Tweet button. A Facebook "like" button. A link to both services on one's posts.
It makes me feel commercial. It makes me feel that I'm compromising my desire to write about books, and perhaps post a photograph or two, as if I'm in some sort of contest. With the buttons come the question, "Did someone in fact like my post? Does it even matter to me if they did? Or, didn't?"
For what purpose do we blog? Is it for ourselves? Interaction with others? For the most hits or the most tweets or the most likes?
I put the buttons on, as you can see. But, I might very well take them off in a day or two. Really, all that matters to me is that I have a voice. And if you care to listen to it once in awhile, that's fine with me.
Tweet
Now, in 2011, I'm told that one's blog should have a Tweet button. A Facebook "like" button. A link to both services on one's posts.
It makes me feel commercial. It makes me feel that I'm compromising my desire to write about books, and perhaps post a photograph or two, as if I'm in some sort of contest. With the buttons come the question, "Did someone in fact like my post? Does it even matter to me if they did? Or, didn't?"
For what purpose do we blog? Is it for ourselves? Interaction with others? For the most hits or the most tweets or the most likes?
I put the buttons on, as you can see. But, I might very well take them off in a day or two. Really, all that matters to me is that I have a voice. And if you care to listen to it once in awhile, that's fine with me.
Tweet
You know, I agree with you! I put a tweet button on my posts, but mostly for the publicists/publishers who I know like to tweet the reviews on their books...but I don't have a Facebook Like button - Facebook is more a place for me to connect with actual friends...not a place to market my blog. I listen to the marketing stuff, but I have to admit, I don't pay all that much attention to it. I started my blog to share my life and my love of books and I don't want it to feel like a business or competition with other bloggers. I have absolutely resisted the whole lure of putting ads on my blog (I hate them!!!) and have come to the conclusion that I am going to do things how I like to do them, and if I don't have a gazillion followers, so be it! By the way...I liked this post :)
ReplyDeleteIt really has gotten out of hand, in a sense.This post raises all kinds of issues. To what extent are our blogs "social networks"? I am not sure. I do "like" your post and your blog, very much.
ReplyDeleteI send tweets as a convenience, to let a few followers know I've posted a new blog entry.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I don't participate at all in the social media hype. I'm not on Facebook. I'm not listed in Technorati or any of the blog promotion services. I don't have any of the "sharing buttons" on my blog. And I loathe and despise the "Like" button with a deep, pure loathing.
When I read a blog, and want to respond, I'll leave a comment. If someone enjoys - or doesn't enjoy! - something I've written, I hope they will leave a comment.
What's that old saying? A thousand likes is but a single comment in the eyes of the serious blogger? Something like that. ;-)
"I have a voice." Isn't that just about the most famous line currently. Maybe that's why the movie The King's Speech appeals to so many, to the surprise of even the filmmakers.
ReplyDeleteI'm a late-comer to the fads of Twitter and FB, joining just a month ago. However, I have two opposite reactions about them. I absolutely love Twitter. Its mini-blogging convenience allows me to share my thoughts without having to write up a post, which often requires a minimum of 6 hours to complete. As for FB, I found it absolutely against my nature. I'm seriously thinking of closing down my account there.
But blogging has my full attention for four years now. I find it most compatible to my style of thinking and writing. I totally agree with you about the 'commercialized' direction blogging is taking, turning it into some sort of a popularity contest with all these 'likes' and 'followers'. Thanks for voicing your opinion about this phenomenon. You've put down in words what has been on my mind for some time. BTW, should you ever see ads on my blog, they are placed there by Wordpress, against my wish.
This question was raised for me on Friday night, when I met an old friend at a public event. I haven't seen her in months and she asked if I was on facebook. I dont do facebook or any others. I miss out on soo much. Babies are born and grow up and I haven't got a clue - but I dont understand why 'friends' cant sms or email or write a card or phone?? My blog isn't about broadcasting to all - my blog is about me sharing with like minded people who have found me because they liked something I said once. But Im happy with that - I dont need millions of 'friends'. Im not sure yet about Twitter - but that's probably a path I could take - but facebook really scares me.
ReplyDeleteI so so agree with you!!
ReplyDeleteI do feel the pressure. Of course... I guess all bloggers do in a way these days. But I don't want to go that way. I don't want to commercialize my blog. And I don't want to feel like I'm in some sort of contest. Whether I do have enough readers. Of course I sometimes feel a pinch in my inner me when I see other blogs with loads of readers. I don't do anything special to expose my blog, I cannot be bothered. I love it when my friends and total strangers react of course, but just for the interaction. I love communicating that way. But I blog because I like to write, to play with words. That's how I started years ago. And these days living in a foreign world makes me want to express what I see. Although I'm not the most regular blogger. Sometimes life gets in the way... a lot. Not really good for the commercial side of blogging anyway ;)
I read many many blogs but I do not always comment. Only when I feel like reacting. Interacting. Not because I want to attract more readers (like I know some bloggers do).
Before moving to China I became a member of some expat communities online because I was afraid I would feel alone in a so foreign country. I was afraid that I would feel lonely and homesick. I never became an active member though. So again not really what I should do in a marketing kind of way.
I agree with Wendy about Facebook, it's more a way of connecting with friends than anything else! And me too I have my blog the way I want to (or the way I'm capable of lol) and if not everyone likes it like that so be it.
Thanks for posting this. It's good to know I'm not the only one feeling like this. Sorry for my looooong reaction. I guess you moved me ;)
I'm a bit biased this week, as I love Twitter, nothing to do with my blog, but that book publicists use it, & this week I've won 3 books from 2 different companies. I also use FBOOK but I have an daughter in her 20s (another one) & It's her way of keeping in touch. As for Twitter & my blog, I have recently started posting my blog stuff on it & for the same reasons that I blog to discover new books & individuals like yourself, people who obsess on the written word, yes my Blogs for myself primarily, but it also allowed me to realise I wasn't alone, allowed me to find other Bookfiends, allowed me to meet(virtually) you. Twitters the same, it's full of book people.
ReplyDeleteParrish
Ps, I am following, that's how I found this thought provoking post.
Ps. You can also follow the hops & challenges, plus find out different booksites, likeminded people by checking what your followers follow.
ReplyDeleteIt would be so much easier to "like" a blog post rather than to comment on it, and although you'd still know that a person had read it...I think a comment is nicer. Twitter's very useful but Facebook is so different, and the audience tends to be too.
ReplyDeleteFor me the importance is that blogging is an outlet and a way of interacting with like-minded people. Hits alone don't mean very much unless you're after commercialization.
The facebook like button is quite new, isn't it? Wordpress has its own version of it, but nobody has ever liked my posts :P I do at times press the button when I am extremely touched by something, but I often forget. Mechanisms like that do not show a lot about the real appreciation of readers for your blog. At least, I know I should pay more attention to it and click it more often if things were measured in that way.
ReplyDeleteI am on twitter and FB however: I barely ever post on them, but I do read them.. at times i add a comment on twitter but it's rare, and FB I generally only add photo's to. I like my blog much better and I've been doing it since 2005.
ReplyDeleteI'm relatively new to blogging, but the value that it has for me, as for Charlie, is in an interaction with people with similar interests. {I have dear, lifelong friends who don't read or cook, just as I'm oblivious to the music they listen to.} Twitter adds another dimension to this. You commented on my blog about learning to love the Nook, and we just had a nice 'chat' about ebooks last night (for instance!) But it doesn't bring new people to my blogs, and it doesn't drive traffic either. (I wish Blogger would let me turn off Stats. I'm a little obsessed with it, and since I'm blogging for pleasure I don't need to know.)
ReplyDeleteAs for Facebook, I'm on to keep in touch with friends and far-flung family (my nieces and nephews, for instance), but the commercial aspects of it leave me cold (not interested, not at all) and if they turned it off tomorrow I woulnd't miss it. A blogger I read sent six tweets the other day asking us to friend her on Facebook, and it just made me roll my eyes. What's the social media equivalent?
But to answer your first question, yes! And your blog, and you. :)
I so need to get these little buttons for my own blog.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you're saying about having a voice and about not blogging for commercial reasons. But, we are blogging when we could be keeping a private diary. We must be doing this instead of the other because we want to have readers. Do you have a voice if no one hears you?
I've no commercial illusions. Arianna Huffington may be getting 315 million dollars for her website, but I read a break down of it that said actual blog posts on Huffintonpost.com are worth between 10 and 170 dollars.
My little blog will probably never make me any money. If the little Facebook button can get me a few more regular readers, it's okay by me.
What an interesting question, Bellezza. As a definite part-time blogger (day job and family come first, after all), I sometimes find the addition of communication channels exhausting. I have a Twitter account, but don't spend a lot of time in that "world." My FB account is almost exclusively for old friends, family and colleagues.
ReplyDeleteThat said, since I do love to chat about books, and find out what's going on from those who spend considerably more time on this than I do, I do enjoy following "bookish" people on Twitter. If you're on Twitter, my friend, I'll definitely "Follow." :-)
I agree with your last comment: Really, all that matters to me is that I have a voice. And if you care to listen to it once in awhile, that's fine with me.
ReplyDeleteI don't tweet...I just can't find a reason to. And recently I have had several companies ask to advertise on my blog. It made me rethink why I was blogging and I came up with the same answer you did....so I said no.
But whether you have those buttons or not, I will still be visiting your blog!!! :)
I love your blog, but honestly when I see those buttons, I always ignore them (I have them on my blog as well). I am not a "tweeter", a "stumbler" etc., and really write my blog for me, but I am always thankful when people visit and leave me a comment. I am not looking to be popular, just me being me....LOL
ReplyDeleteNo one has answered what I think is Dolce Bellezza's - has anyone acquired one genuine reader with these buttons?
ReplyDeleteI mean, you can put posts you recommend on Twitter and Facebook without the buttons, yes?
I tweet, but not much. I'm on facebook, mostly with old friends and some bloggers I 'know'. Haven't added the buttons to my blog... now I'm wondering if I should.
ReplyDeleteGood post and good comments, I must say.
ReplyDeleteI've been blogging since mid-2006, where I began two similar blogs: one in Danish and one in English.
In Danish because I am Danish, and because I had had some very good experiences with an online MSN group about books, where I had met some very good friends - most of which I still keep in touch with even though it is almost 10 years ago and even though the group is long gone and even though most were Amercian or Canadian and a few British.
When the whole blogging hoopla began, I was so sure that there had to be a ton of Danish book bloggers out there, but there were only a few (now there are much more).
So I began the other blog in English, and found out that here were many, many, many book bloggers to interact with, and since I read many books in English, I thought why not.
A year after starting the blogs, I got a Facebook account, but like so many others have said here, my FB is for friends and family - also book bloggers that I have befriended of course. But my FB is not for getting new readers to the blog. A sure way to get readers is to visit other blogs and interact there. That gets you readers on your own blog. I don't write so good that I have "random" people finding me because I am just so brilliant that I am read all over the world. And I've never aspired to that at all. I will not have a "Like" button on my blog posts, I will rather find the time to interact with other bloggers through their blogs.
I LOVE to get comments and I LOVE to have readers, but I have never thought of blogging as a way of earning money or be "discovered" by the book establishment (for lack of a better word).
Saying that, I will also have to add, that this will never happen with my English blog, but it would be fun if someone "discovered" my Danish blog. Someone from the Danish book etablishment.
Sorry, this got longwinded.
Amateur reader - yes, you can publicize on Twitter without the buttons. I "tweet" my new posts by simply going to twitter and doing it manually. I suppose the same is true for Facebook.
ReplyDeleteBellezza, another note from the perspective of a writer. All of my blog content is original writing, and I make use of Copyscape and My Free Copyright to try and keep the scrapers at bay. It doesn't help with the programmed ones, but there are tricks, and I do spend some time with each post taking down my work from sites that are making money off it.
When the "like" buttons were introduced on wordpress there was a huge uproar among writers because once someone has "liked" your post, they can then re-post it themselves. Your name stays on it the first time, but if it gets re-posted a second time, it looks as if it belongs to the person posting.
The wordpress gurus think this is a good thing. They also think the "like" button is good because it requires no effort from the reader. They are idiots.
I definitely understand where you're coming from. I have a "tweet" and "facebook" button on my blog but I don't really pay them any mind. I have a blog to talk about books and connect to other readers. It's nice when a publisher considers me for an ARC but it isn't the best thing about blogging. Some bloggers are so commercial that I don't believe anything that comes out of their mouths. I start questioning their motives for blogging after a while. Is it to talk about books or get in good with authors, publishers, and bookstores?
ReplyDeleteI 'like' you and the blog, button or no...who needs a button anyway?
ReplyDeleteI like everything you write and I hate all the things everyone else thinks we should add to our blogs. In fact, I'm finding that I'm getting really rebellious about all that crap everyone else is adding. I don't want to link to Amazon or Book Depository. I'm no longer bothering to talk on Twitter. I think it might be about time for a couple months of not blogging to see if it's even something I want to do anymore, at all.
ReplyDeleteDon't mind me, I'm really fatigued and kinda bitchy. LOL I'll probably change my tune, tomorrow. Or, maybe not . . .
Good discussion. All these new communication buttons are not for me. I read your blog with alerts from Reader, enjoy it and comment now and again. I'm pleased when you do the same and sometimes comment. I blog to record and share. If anyone wants to read what I have to say then that's fine. My blog has evolved into a general one - the other way around for you, I think - and I'm content to communicate regularly with a few friends. I haven't time for extra communication technology, but realise everyone is blogging for different reasons and choices are a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI use twitter for blogging and facebook for friends although there is a bit of both on facebook as I've become friends with a number of bloggers. I still feel uncomfortable putting my posts up on facebook (I removed them) although I do have my blog url on there. Maybe it's just a question of getting used to it...
ReplyDeleteI love what you write! I may not always comment, but I read each and every one of your posts. As far as the social media buttons, you won't see me adding them to my blog. I'm still using the original blogger format and have to add all my extras with what little HTML knowledge I possess. I doubt I could figure out how to add those little buttons! :)
ReplyDeleteI hear ya. I've been blogging for nearly 6 years now (this month), and so much has changed. Sometimes I find it fun and exhilarating to be connected to so many other book lovers, and sometimes I just want the buttons to go away.
ReplyDeleteEnd of the day: we do it for ourselves.
I like those buttons. I think it's an easy and great way for others to share your posts if they wish. Twitter and Facebook have changed the way in which information is shared... I mean, people could be copy and pasting your link into their twitter stream or facebook feed anyway, but the button makes it easier and encourages them to do so.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day, I like my blog super uncluttered. But that's just me being private and OC. I opted to not have search engines crawl through my blog even, so I only get new readers by links from other bloggers, which is a good thing for me because while my blog is public, I don't like to be in the spotlight very much. Like you, I blog for me mostly. I would keep a handwritten journal but then it would take up much more time as I type a lot faster and able to edit mistakes online, plus I get to "redecorate" the blog every so often, which is the funnest thing (I know, for both of us, ha ha). I also like communication with other bloggers but the genuine kind, the readership that we have at the moment. I would hate for my blog to be read so widely if most of them were not genuinely interested. So in this mindset, I still haven't succumbed to Twitter. My Facebook has been there prior to blogging, which is a way for me to connect with my family and friends on the other side of the world, so it's totally separate from my blogging. I normally just check Facebook when I have messages or when some family member or close friend posts pictures of a wedding or event that they want me to see, that sort of thing. Still, your blog is a gem, button or no. :)
ReplyDeleteAs you can see, friends, the buttons didn't work for me. As I predicted, two days later they're gone. For good.
ReplyDeleteI meant to add one more thing to the bottom of the post. When I said that all that matters is I have a voice, that wasn't exactly true. It is true, but it's also true that you have a voice, and we share listening to each others'.
I don't have a Facebook or Twitter button and don't know if I want them. I know there is a "like" button, but I think that's a wordpress thing because I didn't put it there!
ReplyDeleteI think it's just a matter of preference. I hardly ever use Twitter, and I play games and talk to my friends on FB.
While I do appreciate that publicists offer to send me books, I blog because I want to keep track of what I'm reading, share my love of the written word, and connect to people who love books as much as I do. Believe me, I have plenty of books on my shelf that if I never received another review copy, I'd still have plenty to blog about.
I'm totally glad to see your post! I started my blog for fun too, so I'm really disappointed by all these rules. I can understand where they come from, and will appreciate it if they are vague guidelines, but when someone says you SHOULD have this if you are a book blogger or you SHOULD do that because it will make things easier for everyone (mostly they are speaking about themselves), I get royally irked!
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