The Blog Squad: A Blogger Collaboration - Part IV
We are a group of three book bloggers situated on different continents but brought together by our love for books and a penchant for talking about them. We’ve joined our forces to create a collaborative series of posts about book blogging and we hope you’ll enjoy the discussions.
A MAGICAL WORLD OF WORDS - AmyNikita
BOOKS.BAGS.BURGERS - Uma K
BOOK REVIEWS BY DI - Di Hewlett
Do you need a Twitter and/or Facebook and/or Instagram account if you have a blog?
It’s definitely not a necessity but I can’t deny it helps ; not just with the bog but also with finding wonderful bookish friends from across the world. I have a Twitter and Bookstagram account for my blog and I see that I get a lot of traffic via Twitter and I get to connect with publishers via Instagram.
I do admit that I didn’t create the Twitter account to drive traffic to my blog. I actually created it to take part in wonderful bookish chats and know what’s happening in the bookish world. I didn’t create the bookstagram for a particular reason either except to find wonderful people and look at the amazing pictures. But I did get inspired by the pictures I saw and started taking my own. I daresay that my pictures now are actually pretty beautiful ( #shamelessshowingoff ) And truthfully I’ve made a lot of friends via both social media platforms and met wonderful authors too!
I would definitely recommend both social networking sites if you love books! Even if you don’t have a blog, these are amazing places to find wonderful friends, new books, awesome bookish merch and giveaways!
“Obviously not”, is the easy answer. But I do think having at least a Twitter account helps a LOT. I didn’t have Twitter before I started my blog, and even after a few weeks of having a blog, I was daunted at the thought of creating an account. But it really helps - I’ve gotten a lot of publicity from having a Twitter account, and you also get to meet other bloggers and participate in a lot of giveaways; which has the highlight for me. You’re a lot more “present” in the latest book blitz and news with authors and publishers (depending on who you follow, obviously), and I find that publishers are a lot more likely to send you review copies if you’re actively present on social media. To be honest, I wouldn’t have thought of requesting a book without at least one social media account (excluding the blog, obviously).
I don’t have a bookstagram and I do fine without it, but I know from other bloggers that it also really helps with blog traffic and publicity.
Facebook definitely isn’t essential - I don’t think I get much from my Facebook page - but it’s just another way to advertise your blog and “get out there”. Not essential, but a harmless addition.
I think it comes down to what you want for your blog. If you’re happy with your steady amount of traffic and aren’t requesting a ton of review copies, then not having Twitter or Bookstagram isn’t a big deal. But if you want review copies and lots of exposure, social media is the best way to go. And I’d recommend Twitter out of all the options.
Which blogging platform do you think is the best? Why do you use Blogger?
Now I can’t compare the various platforms considering I’ve only used Blogger. I just picked blogger after a bit of research as I read just about everywhere that Blogger is easier to use. I don’t have much complains with blogger honestly and I enjoy the services. There is so much storage space and it’s so easy to add widgets or gadgets. So far I’ve got nothing to complain and as of now, I have no plans to switch platforms.
I should mention here that I had once upon a time, tried using wix.com and while it’s visually gorgeous and so SO easy to use, the free storage is extremely less. But I think because of all this wix could be a great platform for websites rather than blogs. Author Jessica Khoury explains this wonderfully over here.
I actually started a Wordpress blog before I started a Blogspot one. Well...started is a strong word; I began to set up a Wordpress blog because my aunt suggested it since she uses Wordpress, but then I got all flustered cause it just looked so confusing and big and messy. So I went on Blogger, and found it a LOT easier (Yeah, I still sweated and cried bloody tears, but compared to my first experience of Wordpress it was much easier.)
So I use Blogger because it’s a lot simpler than Wordpress, which is fine for me and my blog at this stage. I know that some people get annoyed at Blogger’s limitations, but it suits me at the present.
What comment system do you prefer to use?
Like Di, I absolutely love the Comment Luv system! I think it’s wonderful that your last post gets added but sadly it’s only for Wordpress. So i use Disqus and I find it pretty awesome. You get proper notifications and the page doesn’t reload everytime someone comments (as it does with the blogger commenting system).
I use the default Blogger Commenting system.
I would switch to Disqus in a flash (IT’S SO CLEAN AND PRETTY AND YOU GET NOTIFS FOR REPLIES), but I’m nervous that I would lose a lot of commenters if I switched. I do love the fact that Disqus notificaties you if someone replies to your comment, and that would be my main incentive to change. I am still in the process of deciding, but for now Blogger works for me :)
To see my answers make sure to visit the other collab posts!
We hope you’ve enjoyed our discussion post! Please talk to us and let us know YOUR answers below. What do you think of our responses? If you have any specific questions you’d like us to address in the future, please let us know in the comments section below. Stay tuned for next week’s questions!
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