I only recently realised that a lot of my favourite sewing blogs have Facebook pages. Why? Am I missing out? Should I start one for Crafting a Rainbow? Fill me in, people!
In truth, I’d drifted away from Facebook in the last years, until I became a Curvy Sewing Collective editor – we do all our planning in closed a Facebook group. Once I started spending more time there, I realised that lots of people I’m friends with on Twitter and Instagram are also active on Facebook… and when I became friends with them, Facebook started suggesting I might also want to “like” their blog pages.
(Myself, I only update my status once every month or two, and prefer just to comment on other people’s posts… and because of my profession, I try to keep my Facebook security really tight so students and their parents can’t find me!)
Which brings me to my current conundrum:
- Why do blogs have Facebook pages?
- Are there any readers who would rather follow me on Facebook than on Feedly or Bloglovin’?
What do you think?
Crafting A Rainbow 
I read every one of your posts but I don’t follow you on Feedly or Bloglovin -I have a different RSS feed…um…gatherer, so I wouldn’t use Facebook anyway. My Facebook status is also under tight security and I seldom ‘like’ anyone’s blog there. I am a dedicated lurker on that site
So, in a nutshell, I’m not sure what the fuss is about and I would never promote my blog on Facebook.
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Now I’m curious – what RSS feed do you use?
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I am not a Facebook user, so I acknowledge my opinion may be substantially less valuable than the opinion of someone who is, but I’ve never understood why a blog would have a Facebook page, and wouldn’t join Facebook in order to follow a blog’s page. What kind of content would you post there? There would be no point in duplicating content across platforms–you could just link back to your blog–so you’d be looking to post unique content, but that just makes more work for the blogger that non-users won’t see anyway. Plus, what content would Facebook be better at displaying than a personal site where you can have granular control over appearance, functionality, advertising, etc.? It’s certainly a blogger’s prerogative to have a Facebook page if they want one, but I don’t see a need for it. For myself, I’ll stick to Feedly.
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I think people just have their blog auto-post to Facebook, in case there are people who prefer that forum? That’s what we have for the Curvy Sewing Collective, and people do comment there, though not nearly as many as comment on the blog itself. Sometimes extra discussions pop up, or people tag us in their posts or discussions… but I think I’m with you – it’s extra work and probably not worth it for me!
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I think for reasons of professional ethics and confidentiality it’s better not to create new content for FB or even duplicate blog content on another social media platform. Personally, I enjoy getting a cup of tea and settling in with your newest blog post. When I’m on FB, I get distracted. I know that other people will disagree and prefer the FB platform.
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You know, it’s funny that it wasn’t until I started reading comments on this post that I realised I do auto-post to Twitter every time I post, and I often mention new posts on Instagram… so I guess I can see the appeal of auto-posting to Facebook as well for the sort of casual blog readers or friends/family who might not use a blog reader… but I agree, straight from a blog is the nicest way to read!
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that’s why i use FB- to put up a link & a pic for new blog posts for friends & family that might not wander to the blog. but there are also sewing peeps that connect more through the FB page than other sites. though i don’t use it much, i enjoy those conversations!
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Good point about some sewing peeps preferring Facebook – I’m part of a few crazy-active FB groups that I can never keep up with, including a bramaking group, and the Hot Patterns and Jalie fan groups… I think maybe for people who don’t blog, Facebook plays a bigger role in their community!
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I think that a Facebook page allows people who don’t follow (or who don’t want to follow) to be notified when you post. I only follow 10 blogs, but I often peek at other’s when I have free time, usually through Facebook or Twitter announcements that they have posted.
Secondarily, Facebook creates a nice avenue for non sewing people to learn more about our awesome craft.
Thirdly, Facebook has the opportunity for easy dialogue that blog platforms do not (such as you have to have an account to comment on blogger or wordpress etc etc) so it is inclusive to all people.
However, having said that, I had one when I was blogging frequently and found it to be such a duplicate process that it bordered on redundant and frustrating. Maybe if you have a larger audience ( you probably do! ) it would be more “fun” to upkeep.
MaLora
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Those are all great reasons to connect a blog to Facebook! It really is the most universal social media – everyone and their Grandma is on FB these days! I think it would be a lot of repetition for me too, and I’d worry that people would unfollow just to get away from my posts clogging their news feed! 😛
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they wouldn’t unfollow, they would just not click through your links, which isn’t so bad really. you only really want people who care to look adn interact with your blog. if you do one, do a big shout out so all of us loyal readers can follow along!
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I guess I tend to think of the Facebook pages as being either more for the big name blogs, the ones who are trying to also promote their business, or the community discussion pages. I don’t use Facebook for my blog, or ever even link to my blog on there. My account on there is mostly used for keeping up with friends who don’t live near me, sharing pictures, and those community discussions. The Stashbusting Sewalong group is my particular favorite, but finding one about sewing for boys was a good find, too!
All that to say, especially with Facebook’s crazy algorithms and how annoyed I get at my feed getting spammed up with random links to articles that I don’t care about but someone I know merely liked, I personally plan to stuck
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Oops, accidentally hit post on the kindle too soon. That last sentence was supposed to say stick to Feedly for blog following. Hazards of one-hand typing, sorry!
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I cannot figure out why FB thinks I want to see the particular mix of things it shows in my feed! Tons of news from my American cousins, none from my Canadian ones… updates on people I knew 15 years ago, and not new friends? So odd. I agree, I’d hate to clog up other people’s feeds – better that people read my blog only if they want!
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I don’t really follow blogs through Facebook, but dry have a page for my blog as I figure some people may like it. My blog automatically adds a post to Facebook with a link to blog posts so it’s no effort for me, and I know some non-crafty friends see my posts through it. I figure it’s low effort to be so there is no harm in having it
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That sounds like a nice low-key setup!
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I hate my Facebook page which is my business and blog. I don’t update it and I should delete it. I don’t really follow people’s blogs on there either. The ones I love are in my blog reader. This is my opinion.
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Yeah, sometimes the duplication gets annoying, when I read a pot in my blog reader, and then it pops up in all my social media too! Once or twice is fine, but it can go a little overboard… You should go revamp your FB page, or delete it! 🙂
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I follow some of the blogs I like on Facebook but rarely read posts via that platform – I usually close Facebook and read the blog via bloglovin anyway! ! So I don’t really see any difference in content so would say if you don’t want to fb then don’t 😊
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That sounds sensible! Good advice.
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I stopped using Twitter when auto-posting started. Such a waste of time to go through all messages about blogposts I already read through Bloglovin! Same goes for Facebook. I have a sleeping FB page, to incidentally look at the pages of fabric suppliers without a blog. I only recently discovered the CSC page and I didn’t get it. I see CSC as a community site where a lot of discussion is going on. Following parallel discussions going on at other social media platforms is very time consuming and can be confusing. As for blogs: I draw the line at Instagram for work in progress and a detailed post about a finished item. Too much cross posting is taking the surprise out of blogs!
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It was sad when Twitter became all reposts, eh? I personally don’t mind one mention of a blog post, I just get annoyed when they mention it for days after. I wonder, does that really drive any more traffic? The CSC FB page was started before I joined, but I can see the point… given that a few people comment there every time, and it’s literally no work for us because it auto-posts! The discussion is definitely livelier on the blog itself though, and I’m glad for that!
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I did make a Facebook page for a while, I wanted to use it to share places that I had found awesome fabrics, or great sewing tools. But in the end I didn’t update it at all so I deleted it. That combined with the fact that I still keep my blog separate from my real life I decided again that I didn’t want the increased risk of it being popped up on a colleagues feed.
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It’s always fun to experiment, right? It’s hard to be motivated to actually update another social media though, if the reward isn’t worth it. And like you, I’m ok with my colleagues knowing I sew, but I’d really prefer they don’t find out that I take 100s of pictures of myself each weekend! 😛
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I have a FB page for my blog but I made it ages ago and never use it specifically. The value for me in my FB page is that if I decide to digitise a pattern, I ask for testers and deal with the patternmaking over there so as not to annoy my other blog followers. My blog automatically shares to it, and I have a small amount of followers that seem to continue to read my blog from my FB page. I’d never follow a blog on FB because I keep my FB very personal and only for family/close friends (people I know in person) anyway. Once upon a time I followed loads of things and people on FB but I don’t use it that way anymore.
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That’s a perfect use for Facebook! We used a closed group to plan February’s LIngerie Month for the Curvy Sewing Collective, and it was ideal for keeping everyone engaged and our conversations private!
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Interesting question! I don’t use Facebook personally because of some of their policies – especially the Real Names thing. I do post links to my blog posts on other social media though as I think it reaches a different audience than RSS feeds. People I know in real life are much more likely to see a post via Twitter than an rss reader.
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I’d agree with that. Blog readers are normal to us, but I don’t think most people know they exist! 😉 Other social media is much more likely to bring in non-sewists!
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I’m not on Facebook, and don’t plan to get into it again. I closed it down in 2006 when it started to take up too much time. So I guess I can’t really answer your question, expect that it annoys me no end when people announce that I should go to their Facebook page to “like it” and/or take part in their giveaway there or similar things. I use Bloglovin for the blogs I follow. No disturbing “noise” there.
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I”m always so happy when people do giveaways with no expectations! on the other hand, I’m sympathetic that if it’s connected to their business, those clicks and likes can translate into actual income for them. One of many reasons I’m grateful that my hobby is not my living!
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I can see the value of FB for those who use social media and blogging to promote a business. If you’re not on FB for confidentiality and professional reasons, you definitely don’t want to start linking your blog to a FB account. I sometimes share my blog posts to FB, but my FB account isn’t searchable and strangers can’t add me as a friend.
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I think you are right – FB makes sense for people who are earning money from their sewing, through sponsers, deals etc… or if they are trying to get good stats to start earning income! For little fish like me, it hardly seems worth it, especially since I like to stay private!
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I made my blog a facebook page primarily for the family and friends who wanted to follow along (but weren’t comfortable with other blog feed tools) without spamming the ones who didn’t care on my personal page.
In the last month or so, I decided to try experimenting using it as a ‘behind-the-scenes’ kinda page, sharing upcoming project inspirations, articles I’ve read and enjoyed ect. We shall see if people care at all (or are even able to see it with FB’s arbitrary page algorithms)
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That’s a neat idea! I hope your new plan works out well!
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Oh hey, lurker here…
Just wanted to point out what I think is the biggest reason not to cross-post to Facebook, protecting your IP.
While you technically still ‘own’ the copyright to anything you post, you are giving them a transferrable, royalty-free, sub-licensable right to any and all of your content. If someone else has shared it, or they’ve already sold it, this would continue even if you deleted your account. (Twitter is even worse, BTW.)
I would think your photos in particular you would want to control. Food for thought anyway!
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I find facebook really overwhelming these days. I did start using it more when a bunch of my internet friends and I friended each other – my feed got much smarter and more interesting! I’m already part of some (non sewing related) groups on fb and I just can’t keep up, something about the format feels really hostile to me. Plus, I get overwhelmed when there are too many notifications, and I tend to read a lot of stuff on my phone which makes ongoing conversations annoying to participate in, in terms of typing etc.
I think the casual conversation is the thing that facebook has over blogging etc, if that has a value to you. Mind you, you seem to have a pretty good commetariat here. I find that people comment less on blogs these days – I know I do, because I’m reading on my phone! So perhaps people might comment more on fb. I do try to make the effort to click over and comment – I read my blogs in inoreader, which is an rss reader. I registered by blog on bloglovin but I admit to not really exploring it much. My internet life is already FULL – I have an active google group of feminist friends, and I have facebook and instagram (which I signed up for purely for crafty things and expended to other friends so I think of it as ‘facebook for the people I actually want to talk to’ but then my old boss followed me on insta so… that was weird!) and blogs. And snapchat. And pinterest.
I do try to limit new things because I value the connections that the internet brings me and if I cram it with too much STUFF then I don’t spend the time on the actual connection! I am very very quiet on facebook these days because I find the algorithms weird, the format hostile, and I have a very diverse friend group, not all of whom know about my blog – not that I blog anything scandalous! It just feels personal in a way. Which sounds weird now I think about it! I just have almost no boundaries when I talk about sewing stuff, and body stuff, and all that kind of thing, whereas I am a pretty private person irl. My partner is a teacher, too, so neither of us is very vocal on there.
This is all my own personal use stuff – it seems I am turning into a crotchety old grump! Humph, facebook, HUMPH! I guess I would ask, what do you think you would get out of a fb for your blog that you don’t already have? Is facebook the best way to do that? It’s a took like anything else. It may well have a value to you, but it doesn’t intrinsically have to.
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My knitting blog is still in its fledgling stages, and I’m finding that I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. Most of the people who read my posts do so because they follow the Facebook link, which means it’s certainly bringing people to my content. On the other hand, that seems to be the ONLY way people are finding me, and they’re looking at pictures and titles rather than reading the whole post. I’m not sure how to reach a larger audience than just the blog page’s followers and my friends list. So, it’s definitely a tool, but I worry that it’s more of a crutch than anything else.
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Honestly I prefer to keep FB and the blog separated. I mainly use FB to help other people to find their lost birds and not a lot more. I’m connected in FB to my colleagues and boss and I’d rather keep my sewing adventures far from them.
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I’ve found over the years that there are large groups of people who don’t really use the internet except through Facebook – people who are not at all internet-y, who joined Facebook because of the social aspect, and who would never think to use a blog reader or anything like that. From what I’ve seen, Facebook is for the casual blog reader, not for the people who already follow you. If you’re actively trying to build your readership, that’s probably one way to do it. But it’s probably just repetitive for your dedicated readers (I’m surmising).
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