Armchair BEA 2015 – Social Media

Design credit goes to Nina of Nina Reads

Design credit goes to Nina of Nina Reads

The next topic of discussion for today’s Armchair BEA deals with social media. “How do you use social media to expand your blogging/writing horizons?  Social Media is all about networking and connections, and utilizing today’s technology to the fullest.  Make sure you mention your own social media pages. Do you have another blog, maybe a Tumblr? Have a Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook? Or maybe there’s an underrated social media program that you like.”

ClipArt

Ah, social media, that wonderful collection of websites which make up the backbone of work and means of keeping in touch with family, friends, and the latest news. I spend more time on social media these days than ever before for work purposes than I do my own personal enjoyment though. And if given a choice between spending my free time on social media or reading a book, watching a movie, playing a video game, or something else entirely, I’d rather not be online at all. It just doesn’t appeal to me as much as it once did.

But since I’m being encouraged to share my social media pages, allow me to direct your attention to the upper right portion of the blog and the three buttons found above my review policy. These will lead you to my RSS feed, the What the Cat Read Twitter account, and the What the Cat Read Facebook page. Feel free to show the felines some love if you are so inclined, though I do want to mention that I don’t use these accounts nearly as often as I probably should. However, I do link my posts to both sites, so if you prefer to follow blogs via Twitter or Facebook, give them a like. Likewise, if you look in the left hand column on the blog I have links to subscribe via email, Blogluvin’, NetworkBlogs, and Linky. And What the Cat Read even has its own Pinterest account.

To be honest, all of these different means of social media came about because either they seemed like a good idea at the time or everyone else had one, so it was probably wise to start one as well. In the case of Pinterest though, I started that one because I use it a lot when looking for possible tasty cooking recipes. As the years have gone by however, I’ve begun to not jump on every new method of social media out there. I just don’t have the time to keep up with them all, especially since part of my work involves handling social media accounts for various authors and publicity work, and I’ve discovered it is rather challenging to maintain some of them when you do not have the proper software to handle the apps. I’m looking at you Instagram. There’s one social media site I can’t use because my phone is what most folks would call a dinosaur.

Yet while I may be becoming old school with my forms of social media, I still greatly enjoy hanging out on Facebook and seeing my friends and family’s posts. And I’ll occasionally lurk around on Twitter to see what discussions or events are taking place in the book loving community. I’m reaching an age though where I’d much prefer to stick to the systems that I know rather than try to learn the ins and outs of the newest social media craze. I will however learn them for work.

Despite my growing aversion to newer forms of social media, I do have to thank it at the same time because without it, I wouldn’t have the jobs that I have today in publishing. It’s thanks to Twitter that I was able to find my position as an editor with Month 9 Books and my former publicity job at Entangled Publishing. And all of them make my job at Barclay Publicity easier. So I can’t really say anything too bad about social media in the end.

How do you use social media today? Do you have any sites that might be worth checking out? Have you, like me, become a bit overwhelmed by all the different types of social media out there nowadays? Feel free to share your thoughts and observations in the comments below. =^.^=

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Posted on May 28, 2015, in General. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.

  1. Seems like most bloggers these days are on some type of social media, and it’s fun to meet new friends this way. Like you, I’m not on many of the newer ones, and in my case, I just don’t think I could keep up with it all. (lol) Great post! Hugs..www.intheknowwithro.blogspot.com

    • There is something to be said for the usefulness of social media. But I do find myself at times missing the days when the only way you could connect with people was by picking up the phone and calling them or sending them a letter via snail mail. Now it seems like there is a new site every other month that people are flocking too. It’s overwhelming, but it’s become the norm, so what can you do? You know what I mean?

  2. I am a little old school too in my preferred social media platforms. I just recently caved and added G+. I tried Instagram and it was just not for me.
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