The world is all a flutter today, as Instagram and Facebook are having major outages and glitches. How are we supposed to procrastinate now?! I imagine everyone’s Screen Time reports will be markedly lower today, ha.
I discovered this problem when I complained to my husband that I couldn’t upload a picture to Instagram. Being an avid reader of the news, he informed me of the fact that it wasn’t just me. And something sprung to mind – blogs are not dead.
Ironically, I saw @katebasti pondering yesterday whether to start a blog or not. In a double serve of irony, I think I’ve linked to her Instagram correctly, but due to the outages, I can’t check! If she had a blog or website, I could link to that 😉
Do I think that everyone and anyone should have a blog? No, I don’t. I know it’s not for everyone, and that’s absolutely ok.
Do blogs and websites never have any issues like Instagram and Facebook? Far from it!
Are blogs and websites are more secure and reliable way to share, communicate, and document your work? Yes.
Think about it for a minute… if there was no way back from the Facebook and Instagram problems today, how would that effect you? For some, you would just shrug it off and move on. For others, perhaps you would spend more time on Pinterest, or even return to Flickr. For many people, especially those who are “in the business”, or working toward it, it would create a hole in your quilty world.
It’s the sharing that we love. Sharing our work, our projects in process, and in their final glory; sharing our thoughts and musings, interacting and communicating, and knowing that we are not alone in our creative journeys. Asking questions and requesting wisdom and guidance in what to do next, or how to do it.
The reason Instagram is so damn popular is because it allows us to do just that so very easily. It takes just a few seconds to upload a picture or a story to share what we are doing, to ask those questions. It’s quick, it’s on our phones, it’s easy.
Blogging takes a bit more time, a bit more focus, and being more proactive. It takes some time to set up your blog in the first place, and to make it a little bit pretty. Blogging requires sitting down for 20-30 minutes to gather the photos and words to create a post, perhaps even longer.
Commenting on blogs also takes more time. It’s not necessarily as quick and easy to do so on a website as on Instagram or a Facebook post. But let me tell you, us bloggers appreciate every single one!
Perhaps “more time” isn’t such a bad thing. Purposefully taking more time to do something like writing and reading blogs is a much more mindful task than scrolling endlessly through an app, occasionally pausing to double tap or read a few words of a caption.
But how to follow blogs like you can follow quilters on Instagram? That, my friend, is why there are blog readers.
A blog reader is a way to have the posts from all the blogs you follow in one spot, that you can access via an app or on your computer. I and many others use Bloglovin (more lifestyle focused), but I know some people prefer Feedly (more newspaper/minimal). You can follow my blog on both – click here to follow on Bloglovin, and, click here to follow on Feedly.
I really enjoy using Bloglovin, as it allows me to read blog posts, comment on the posts in the app (not on the website direcly, but the app post itself), and also save blog posts for later use – whether to share in my newsletter or elsewhere, or to refer back to later on.
Oh, and that picture I was trying to post? A one-week reminder for a quilty meet up at the Adelaide Craft & Quilt Fair next Thursday!
I’ll be there for the morning before heading to a quilting retreat. If you’re a local, meet us at the doors before 10 (doors open at 10), and we’ll catch up and check out the quilts together. I’d love to see you there!
Kathie L says
Blogs are my favorite way to keep up with what people are doing. Please keep blogging.
Alyce says
Oh don’t worry, I have no plans at all to stop anytime soon! It sometimes gets quieter when offline things (AKA my sewing machine!) are super busy, but I always come back home 😉
Shelly says
Yep. Blogs are still where it’s at. I didn’t even think about it until you said it, but because I rely on my blog not my IG or Facebook, the outage didn’t affect me very much. I still love to open up my Bloglovin app every night and scroll through the new posts. I actually prefer it to IG or Facebook. Both of those are so noisy and you miss so much of the people you follow. Thanks for the reminder!
Alyce says
The noise factor is real!
Kaitie says
Looks like it’s time for me to sit down and write! Started my blog/website in January and haven’t updated it since.
Alyce says
Do it, do it, do it!
Fiona Robinson says
I’m with you there… far prefer blogs and feel they are much more personal and communicative… not just a ‘like’ button….
… and a great place to show off as well as being a journal of progress…
Hugz
Alyce says
I like the way that you can tell much more of the story of projects in a blog post than in an Instagram post 🙂
Kay says
A lot of my favourite blogs stop posting in the last couple of years which is very sad. I don’t do Twitter or Instagram and prefer to absorb myself in the content of a blog. I love to read and so this may be why. It is much more inspirational and personal too. x
Alyce says
Gosh, Twitter, I haven’t even looked at that in years! I certainly have my quieter blog seasons, when life and/or work projects take a higher priority, and that’s ok. I can understand why other quilters with older kids have mostly stopped blogging, because it is hard to do it when life is so busy.
elsa hart says
I was thinking about this very thing yesterday. I’d be sad that Instagram was gone (I’m glad it’s not) as I do like connecting with others and ‘showing off’ my craft and other things. I’m glad there are blogs, it’s how I got started quilting and a few other things I’m interested in. Thanks for keeping your blog alive!
Alyce says
Blogs taught me how to quilt! So they always have a soft spot in my heart, and remind me of the importance to share what I know too.
Bernie says
Great post Alyce. Yours was one of the first blogs I began reading, way back when. It was an inspiration to me and some of your posts were so helpful to me as I started my own blog. I love it and love reading posts. Sometimes I get sidetracked and don’t read as much but like you, I come back to it.
Yesterday IG was so frustrating. I do think it has its place but the interaction with blogging and reading posts is more informative and a better use of my time (in my opinion).
Alyce says
That’s so kind, thank you Bernie! Very special to hear that.
Christine says
Oh gosh! I made a promise to myself I’d bring my blog back this year! So I certainly agree! (I blogged for twelve years on a different site…mostly about family.) I’m trying to get into the habit again because I’ve found that if I don’t document it, I don’t remember it! And even though I don’t often comment… I read every post you write! Keep it up!
Alyce says
Thank you so much, Christine, that’s lovely to hear!
Carla says
I didn’t notice the Facebook/Instagram shutdown, other than on the news! I do not check social media as often as many – I need my sleep and work time.
I still write my blog. I have slowed down (because of the need for sleep and work), but I haven’t given up on it, even though each post takes much, much longer than 20–30 minutes.
Alyce says
Ha, yeah, 20-30 minutes is probably on the lower end of the spectrum 😉
Terri in BC says
I rely on my blog to document my own work (like a journal) and I like the more personal touch I get by reading others blogs. I need to step my game up a bit, as I haven’t had the heart to write lately. Thank you for keeping your blog – I do read but don’t always comment.
Alyce says
Thank you for taking the time to comment on this post 🙂 Yes, exactly, blogs are a much better way to fully document projects!
Carole @ From My Carolina Home says
I like to blog as well, it gives me more space to fully express thoughts and pictures into a coherent article. Maybe I just like to write. I don’t even own a smartphone, and I spend maybe 15 minutes a month on FB. Pinterest is a rabbit hole I just don’t go down anymore. I really prefer the interaction with fellow bloggers. And I enjoy the conversations with readers!!
Alyce says
As an introvert, I like the ability to sit and write my thoughts rather than trying to find words on the fly, haha!
Christy Burcham says
I enjoy reading your posts via Feedly! I’m a big fan of blogs over social media-I always feel like I’ve accomplished something after a blog-reading session, while social media always leaves me feeling like I’ve wasted my time scrolling. Using Feedly lets me quickly browse which posts I want to dive into.
Alyce says
Yes, exactly! Blog posts allow you to sit and ponder and read and enjoy for a few minutes, rather than just a few seconds.
Lucy | Charm About You says
Totally agree!!! It’s way easier to reference projects and find what you’re looking for too. I love blogging and never stopped! Great post Alyce! 😗😀
Alyce says
Thanks, Lucy! IG posts go by in such a flash, you can’t rely on them to be an easily-traced-back record of your work.
Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation says
Yes, yes, YES!! I love blogging and have no intention of scaling back on it. I do post on IG, but it is a struggle because I really like being able to share my thoughts on my projects in more detail, and I like to be able to read more complete stories about the process for others’ projects. Blogging will always come first for me.
🙂 Kelly
Alyce says
I’m grateful for your frequency of blogging! You are certainly amongst the few I follow that post with such consistency. Thank you!
Frédérique says
I love blogs, and Bloglovin’! IG and other social networks are great, but nothing like a blog post to explain, show better, and even share!
Alyce says
Yes, exactly! I view IG as more of a way to show off one little part of a bigger picture, and to chat a bit with fellow quilters, but blogs are where the meat can be found.
Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts says
Blogs and email are the only guaranteed way to stay in contact with your readers, for sure. FB and IG and fast and fun, but you are hostage to their algorithms and whims and advertising policies. I much prefer the long-form type of content myself. I love sitting down to my Feedly feed with a cuppa and reading all my favourite blogs. I remember when I would see 3 posts a week from my faves (remember those crazy days back in the early ’10s?) Now it’s usually one post a fortnight…but I won’t complain as I do prefer quality over quantity. Viva la blog!! 🙂
Alyce says
Oh man, the heyday of blogging, when Google Reader provided me with ample reading while feeding my babies!
Rachel Hauser says
Yay blogs! I’m so glad I’ve used blogging to document my creativity. With FB and IG what you make gets buried and the stories/text are impossible to search and find. With blogging I can do a quick search and find whatever I’m looking for in moments. For me IG feels more like a distraction than anything else, shrug.
Alyce says
I tend to agree!