Blogging is not Facebook

~ beetleypete

Another article about blogging, with some advice (once again) to new bloggers. I don’t have a Facebook account. I don’t know much about Facebook, but I have seen enough Facebook pages to know that it’s not for me. I am not attacking it though. I have no doubt that it provides much needed contact for many people, as well as the opportunity to promote things like books, or to sell things like the old toys you no longer want. You can join Facebook groups, raise a lot of money, and make people aware of things like injustice, or what you just had for dinner.

I have no wish to be ‘friends’ with someone that my second cousin (twice removed) used to work with, a long time ago. I don’t need to know every time that someone I rarely see has ‘checked in’ to see a film at the cinema, eat a burger, or go for drinks after work. That man/woman I used to work with has asked me to be her Facebook friend. Should I refuse, as I couldn’t stand them at the time? Will my refusal invite criticism? I have no idea, so as I never want to be in such a quandary, and for many other reasons, I have decided never to become a Facebook user.

Bloggers are never tagged in a photo, showing them somewhere they might wish they had never been, doing something they now regret. They may well make good use of Facebook, promoting their blog posts, writing projects, or advertising books or services. But blogging is not Facebook. It is writing, photography, genuine tips and advice, soul-searching, poetry, clearing the mind, and so much more. Political opinion, recipes, young mums dealing with a new baby, expressions of grief, depression, heartache, good relationships, and failed ones too. Education, history, world travel, expanding horizons, sharing reviews of films and books, expounding or pontificating on anything and everything. There is erotica, knitting, crafting, model-making, even farming; all side by side on the blog platforms.

So, welcome to all those new bloggers, some followers, most not. Feel free to continue with your Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, Reddit, Flickr, and so many more other options. Just remember, before you start. Blogging is not Facebook.

(I know, I already said that. It’s worth repeating.)

62 thoughts on “Blogging is not Facebook”

  1. I love this post! I’m new to blogging and I’m really enjoying it. I felt liberated the day I deleted my Facebook account!

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    1. Thanks for the comment, Andrew.
      Actually, I do know quite a lot about Facebook, but only from the experience of others. That involved bullying, the loss of jobs, victimisation and insults; sexual stalking, and the persecution of someone for their sexuality. But as I don’t have an account myself, I thought I wouldn’t mention that, but instead say that ‘I don’t know much about Facebook’.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Those are all deeply upsetting experiences but based on my own daily use of Facebook I can’t envision how any them are inevitable still less properties of the platform. I rely on it for keeping in touch with family and friends and use it as a much more immediate and easy to use ‘blog’ when travelling. I’ve never experienced any unpleasantness, and I use it daily. What I don’t know about is blogging. So far I’m finding WordPress pretty clunky. Hence I’m not about to start comparing the two 😉 Since you clearly do know about blogging I’ve found your posts on that subject useful and informative, thanks for them and best wishes.

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        1. Thanks for the reply, Andrew. I did write this, in the main text.

          “I am not attacking it though. I have no doubt that it provides much needed contact for many people, as well as the opportunity to promote things like books, or to sell things like the old toys you no longer want. You can join Facebook groups, raise a lot of money, and make people aware of things like injustice, or what you just had for dinner.”

          The point of this post was not to condemn Facebook users, rather to ask new bloggers not to use the ‘Facebook approach’ when blogging. But it’s up to them if they want to of course, as my opinion is of little consequence, in the grand scheme of things.

          WordPress is very clunky, when you are trying to get used to it. It is far from intuitive, and I relied heavily on other bloggers to give me tips when I started. (And still do, from time to time) You might like this post.
          https://beetleypete.wordpress.com/2017/04/22/the-blogging-journey/
          Best wishes, Pete.

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  4. Not being on Facebook is like moving your shop from a city high street to a back street in a village! Times have moved on and most of the world is on Facebook. Sadly the Ludites brave attempt at averting change centuries ago is a lesson for today.

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  5. As popular as Facebook is, it’s far too invasive for me. If a viable Facebook alternative existed I would use it. I recently tried to make a Facebook account just to browse the public profile of someone, but it requested a photo and then a photo ID. And given what we know of Facebook’s data mining and cooperation with law enforcement, that’s a big “no thanks,” to put it politely.

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  6. Well written and articulated. Blogging is definitely not Facebook. It is so much more than updating a social platform. To me it is fulfilling and less stressful – you don’t have worry about the effects of not accepting your co-worker’s friend request or not liking their picture. Your blog is your space where you are free to be as creative as you want to be and I like that. Great post!

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  7. This tickled me, iv never even seen Facebook! Or the others, I don’t get it, I use my blog as a diary almost. People can read it but they don’t have to, it makes no difference to me, its not a popularity contest lol

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    1. Facebook is many things to different people of course. But it is mostly trite. Selfies, where they are, where they are going, what they bought at the shops, and what they had to eat, etc. It doesn’t work for me, but some new bloggers seem to want to transfer that style over to blogging. You own blog has an amusing concept, and works well. It is definitely not ‘Facebook’.
      Best wishes, and thanks for the comment. Pete.

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  8. I wish I’d never started on Facebook back in 2009. Although I’ve gotten to become real life friends with a few people who otherwise shunned me in high school for being a nerd, people’s attention spans are far too short for my interest. They love a selfie or a picture of your lunch because they can leave a one second “Yum” as their response and really have no interest in digesting a two paragraph intro about something that gives insight into my real life. Facebook thrives on drama and stupid quizzes about your supposed past life. Meh. I enjoy the meaty parts, therefore, I prefer WordPress.

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    1. I know many bloggers who make great use of Facebook to promote their writing, and to sell books. But the general use is pretty much as you describe, and not for me at all.
      Thanks very much for your comment.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    2. I actually joined Facebook very late on because my close friends said I was missing all of their posts. So now I’ve got 11 followers on FB and am constantly rejecting family and associates who try to get in. Even still I can’t keep up with what everyone is posting.

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      1. As I said, I have never wanted a Facebook account, though I know many who love using it. (Including my wife)
        Trying to keep up with everyone’s daily antics and re-posting of photos and gifs is not my idea of fun.
        For me, blogging is more ‘grown up’, so preferable.
        Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. I’m tempted to share this on Facebook. Seriously though, I do enjoy Facebook, but there’s nothing like my blog for connecting with people. I’ve met some great people there, whom I consider friends even though we’ve never actually met (present company included) 🙂

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    1. I know it has its place, Nicholas. My wife spends enough time on it, and many bloggers also love it. I just wish more new bloggers would get the idea that it is different to Facebook, and approach blogging in a different way.
      Best wishes as always, Pete.

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  10. I recently moved from Blogger to WordPress, and now I’m finding more quality blogs who really care about the passion in blogging. This is well written and it really expresses my thoughts that I’ve been having lately. Nowadays, I’m seeing more vanity posts instead of those that share just for the authenticity of blogs. It’s a shame.

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    1. Thanks for your much appreciated comment, Abby. I have found the WordPress community to generally be a great bunch of people, wherever they come from. However, there has been a recent trend for new bloggers to pop up from all over, presenting blogs as if they are just fast media platforms like Facebook, and others. This was just my way of trying to steer them in the right direction.
      And many thanks for following my blog, which is also much appreciated.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Maybe, I wasn’t looking hard enough on Blogger, but there wasn’t a sense of community for me there. But I’m slowly finding it here! 😀 I agree with the trend on the new bloggers. Often, I’d get generic comments like: nice post, great pictures, awww thanks for sharing. It almost seemed like I was wasting my time blogging. So I fed them the same thing.

        Anyway, Facebook is definitely something I need to address someday, but not soon. But I am cautious about the dangers >.<

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  13. I don’t do Social Media (except WordPress)….and I definitely don’t do Facebook – my view is: if I want to speak to someone, I’ll do so in the good old fashioned verbal way. If I don’t have the person’s telephone number or other means of contact then I have no need to connect with them.
    “Oh, but you can find people you’ve lost contact with” is what I often get from Facebook users….well, duh…if I lost contact with a person then clearly there was a reason.

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  14. The messenger gives an easy access to every one but I think WordPress is still the best. A lot of people on FB don’t really care about blogs. they prefer their selfies every hour, one the hour..,

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  15. I agree, Facebook will self-destruct, it’s just a fancier MySpace platform, which was nothing. I have a Facebook and a Twitter account, the Twitter account has about 5 tweets on it from me in 8 years. It was just to communicate with users of my websites, if there was a crash of the sites. Facebook users for the most part are a different group, just as Bloggers or Forum users. They each serve a purpose, coming close to mimicking one another yet keeping compartmentalized. They are, in fact, defined by those that use them.

    I feel that there is a chance you might catch the eye of quality readers by using social media, You might attract the attention of someone like me that just has an account to keep up with the kids that have moved out, or away.

    All three platforms have fine people in them. I admit it Seems Facebook is more rife with drama and foolishness. I have no time or patience for that. Bloggers by nature (from what I have noticed over the years) are more mature, sophisticated, and expect more from themselves.

    Blogging is the the best in my opinion.

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    1. You can at least use Facebook and Twitter to promote your blog, Ron. But I agree that blogging is for grown-ups! Thanks for your well-considered opinion, it is appreciated.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  16. I am ‘on’ twitter, but never tweet and don’t check it for weeks, I’m a ghost there 😊 Facebook I have tailored bit by bit to only show me family stuff, I rarely post unless its photos of the grandkids which my family love to see, but I do link my WordPress to a dedicated photography page on there which only has my posts on it and doesn’t get hit with ads or anyone else’s posts. The messenger part is just fab when you have a close friend on another country, and you can also video call through it for no cost. I love the blogosphere best, so much diversity and discourse that the others do not have. Each to his own and some to all! 😊

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    1. Julie uses the video calling with her kids, and the messenger facility too. As I said, I am not attacking it, just noticed that some new bloggers are treating their blogs a lot like Facebook. As we know, blogging is a very different animal, and I often wonder if Facebook missed the blogging boat. They could have included a blog facility, and ruled the world! 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  17. On average, I’m on Facebook for two weeks, and then deactivate the account for two months. Then rinse and repeat. Been doing so for about five years. I pimp a few post, check out how poison the top down news feed has become,and then letting a small number of people know I’m still kicking; away again.

    I enjoy Twitter but use it less and less, more and more. Here, my blog posts often goes private, or I request search engines to disregard my postings.

    I have problems with top down feeds. I don’t have a solution, it just pisses me off that so much back catalog of fine content from so many is treated so cavalierly.

    And if that reeks of Ludditism, well I wish to be so lucky. It’s just that I often think that many a engineer designing social platform systems apprentice in Vegas where there learned the art of making all addictive in only the right now. Not the right way.

    Regards,
    Doug

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  18. Hear, hear! I do have a Facebook account so I can see more family and friend photos that otherwise I would miss. But, it definitely is not blogging. Besides seeing family photos, I just want to write about things that I feel are important.

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  20. Pete, Chris Almoada and I will be using Facebook to promote our songwriting collaboration. So the format will serve our purpose. The Facebook page for the Rockabilly songs (we’ll create separate Facebook pages for other musical genres) has been created and finalized, but will remain unpublished until I can fix my computer’s sound problem. It’s impossible to write customized lyrics for clients without being able to listen to the melodies that Chris sends me by way of .mp3 files.

    I currently have a “Lyrics by LividEmerald” Facebook page. For those people who shun Facebook, I also put the lyrics on my blog. We have a good many songs for which I wrote lyrics before my computer lost sound, but these are songs whose musical arrangement will be left up to the client so that he/she can personalize how the melodies are performed and recorded. I won’t include the Rockabilly lyrics on my “Lyrics by LividEmerald” page or on my WordPress blog until after the joint Facebook page finally goes live.

    The only other social media in which I’m involved is Twitter. I used to ridicule those who spent time tweeting, and had no interest in joining Twitter. But then I decided to use the format to promote my lyrics and my books. I’m very slowly building a following (still very modest at just over 600). So far, it really hasn’t been worth the effort, but maybe in time Twitter will make a difference.

    Although I’m blurring the lines between Facebook,Twitter, and WordPress with respect to my creative endeavors, I do agree that these social platforms normally serve different purposes. As for my own personal enjoyment, I favor the blogging format. The only ones I follow religiously are yours, Laura’s, and Eddy’s, but I’m beginning to check on others now as well (mainly ones published by some of your more faithful followers).

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    1. Obviously I can recommend many fellow bloggers unreservedly, David. As for Facebook, I am sure that its promotional uses are many, once you have a big enough group going. It is just all the inane stuff that wears me down. Good luck with the new songs.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  23. Well damn said! I have no use for FB and would never and have never had an account…..my blog is my blog like it or not. I do not need visitors if they have to come thru FB……good post my friend….have a good day….chuq

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      1. I want all the readers I can get…my point was that followers on FB show up on blog as followers….most of my followers come from the blog and a few from Twitter….I just do not get it either…..chuq

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  24. I think I once said that blogging is like an inteligent Facbook, because you have to take time to do it, it is considered and thoughtful (although I admit to some rash comments in the past!)
    Anyone can share a picture, its pretty much built into your phone and computer now, but whilst I am a Facebook user, I use it as a tool for promotion of other things, and communication -messenger is a very good application-. I often cringe when I see what some people post, although I have to admit it provides five minutes entertainment every now and again, but as you say it’s hardly the same as blogging.
    Long live the blog, FB’s days are numbered, as are it’s users!

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