I’ve not been a very good citizen of the blogging and social media world of late! Life has been, let’s just say, very full of late, and about all I’ve been able to do is write posts and get them up, including posting them on some Facebook and Google groups that have been kind enough to welcome me.
What I haven’t done much of is look at, like, and comment on the posts of others. I was reminded of this by a gentle note from one friend who allows me to post on a page he administers. Comments and likes promote posts on news feeds, and all of us like to know that others are looking at what we’ve written–at least I do!
So, I want to apologize to my fellow writers. I know what this takes. I’m going to try to “like” at least one post on any page where I post and find one a day on which I will comment. That sounds pretty minimal, but at least its a start.
At the same time, I want to challenge others who are posting on these same pages. When I do scroll down the pages, it seems that very few are interacting with anyone’s posts. In a number of cases, it just looks like everyone is simply promoting there own book or some other product. Some of these sites have as many as 20,000 members yet it doesn’t appear many are actually interacting. [One interesting exception is on a couple Youngstown pages I post on where people interact extensively.]
I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m getting on my high horse. I’m posting to “promote” my stuff too. I do want people to view and interact with this blog. But I wonder if the Golden Rule applies here as in many places: interact with others posts as you would have them interact with yours.
I confess I struggle with the time this takes. I’m thinking that maybe this means posting in fewer places, perhaps focusing on those where it seems people are interacting, and doing so thoughtfully with each other. Maybe it means paying more attention to the blogs I follow.
I’m curious how those of you who have been at this a while deal with this? I’m obviously still on the learning curve!