I think a flask used to go in this pocket.
Reading this IFB piece on How Instagram Ruined My Blog – in which the author describes how she essentially migrated all her “good” content over to Instagram, to the detriment of her blog – got me thinking. Because there’s so much talk out there about how the bazillions of social media outlets available nowadays result in the fragmentation of content that could easily be streamlined onto a single platform…but there’s also the reality that each platform really does have its own community, with its own personality, drawbacks, and benefits. And missing out on one can feel like missing out on an opportunity to connect.
The platforms I use: WordPress (the main RG site), Tumblr, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+. That is a lot of platforms. Some have unique content and some are essentially feeds for the main site, but I maintain them all on a pretty much daily basis.
And over time, I’ve noticed myself start to show a couple of these platforms preferential treatment, while a few others have been sidelined into the “responsibility” category; it feels like I “should” be Tweeting sparkling in-the-moment bon mots, but…I like Instagram better. So I just bon mot over on Instagram (sparklingly or no), and feed it to my Twitter.
I get how you’re “supposed” to use these different channels – different platforms should offer different “categories” of content, to keep them distinct – but I’m more interested in tailoring the content on a platform to the community than to some hard-and-fast rules about what I’ve decided in advance that I’ll share in a given space. Instagram, for example, is so much fun for me because I feel like there’s so much interaction; I love people’s comments, I love checking out other people’s photos, I even love searching around with hashtags. Pinterest, in contrast, feels like walking down a street in an unfamiliar (but very pretty) neighborhood throwing postcards at random passers-by. Google+ feels like watching a bunch of people standing at blackboards explaining how to break down SEO terminology. Twitter just feels like standing on a soapbox and shouting in a room filled with other people standing on soapboxes and shouting.
And most significantly, I’ve definitely noticed a shift in how my use of social media (specifically Instagram) has affected my blog content over time, both positively and negatively. I used to blog in a much more offhand, in-the-moment way; the vast majority of posts were quick snapshots and captions, interspersed with more occasional long-form posts…and now pretty much every post I put up is (deliberately) more content-heavy, because I feel like Instagram is where the here’s-what-I’m-up-to-right-now shots go, and I don’t want to be too redundant.
And that’s good in some ways – it definitely pushes me to create more in-depth blog content – but it’s also kind of a shame, mostly because I love those real-life, right-now shots and I want to share them on my main platform…my blog. (I tried to mitigate this with the Daily InstaGlam posts, but again: I try not to do this too often so as to avoid being annoyingly redundant.)
Anyway, this wasn’t really meant to be a Grand Observation About The Current State Of Social Media post; I’m honestly just curious which platforms you like the best. And why. And whether your preferential treatment of some platforms has affected how you use the other ones. Tell me, tell me!
