Now, you could find me at Blogger and Facebook. I realized very quickly that "friend" means something else entirely in the Facebook world, but that's for another day. About the same time, I thought that my side bar was looking a little cluttered (Less is more even in the virtual world!) and I moved all the blog links to my Google Reader. I found it very nice to see all the new posts all in one place, but then I did miss seeing my friends' creative blogs that way. Only if I clicked through to a post would I get to see the beauty and individuality of those blogs. Soon after, I signed up for Twitter and well, I guess I haven't spent enough time over there to really make it work for me because I found it too "noisy" and distracting. I don't go there much.
Now, you could find me at Blogger, Facebook and Twitter. Do you see where this is going? Everyone started to scatter to different social media. Blogging, although still my favorite way to communicate, took a back seat to the quick update abilities of Facebook and Twitter.
Recently, I decided to clean up my Google Reader. There were a handful of blogs that had been silent for a while, those who have gone defunct entirely and those who seemingly have lost their zeal for the blogging process altogether. It's a little sad when things change. Overall, I've been pleased with Facebook. I've reconnected with old high school friends and even some of my family communicates more because of Facebook. Being on Facebook doesn't make blogging less appealing. I suppose it makes me more choosy about what I blog about. I can write something quick or something with more depth. It's up to me. My blog, even with my HTML limitations, seems to be the place that feels the most like mine. It's my little corner of the Internet.
I still check my favorite blogs every day. There are just fewer of them. Things change and things change quickly. I like my virtual world. Despite being virtual, I've been constantly inspired to live more fully in the real world and I think the world has become more interesting because of social media. That seems like a paradox, but it's true.
Now you can find me here, Facebook, Twitter , Goodreads, Ravelry and now Pinterest.
Thanks to all of my online friends for making the blogosphere such a rich place to be!
What about Google +? Should I join that too?
1 comment:
Wow. I feel like this post could have been written by me. I started my blog for the very same reasons, though I was late to the game as I started blogging in the spring of 2009. I had been reading blogs for a lot longer, but always felt intimidated about starting my own. I use facebook the most for social networking because so many irl friends and family are on there. It's great for keeping up with everyone and sharing pictures with them. I, too, felt that Twitter is too "noisy" and I actually closed my account after having it active for about a year and 500+ followers. I don't miss it at all. I jumped on the Pinterest and Google+ bandwagon and though I like Pinterest (it is highly addictive!) I'm not so into Google+. I'm not thrilled with the privacy settings. It's probably just that I haven't had time to sit and explore it and figure it out. The problem is that I don't see myself taking anymore time away from my family and home obligations to spend the time there to make it work. I've had a ton of folks I don't know (and who don't introduce themselves) adding me to their circles and I don't see a way of stoping this unless I block them. I dislike the word "block"...it seems so harsh.
Mainly I struggle with time management. Sometimes I feel like I go through mini panic attacks with all the online stuff. It all can become just too much, you know? I'm happy to say that right now I have a fairly good system/schedule going with my time online.
Overall I'd say that my online experience has been positive. The friends I have made online, resources discovered, prayers and support that have been given. All blessings. Most days I walk away from the computer inspired to be a better mother, wife, teacher and homemaker. But it's good to find balance and realize that online relationships and inspiration are there to reinforce real life, not overshadow or worse yet, overtake it completely.
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