Lovin' Bloglovin'(or tales of a previously reluctant social media user) - part 1

It's really no secret that I have recently rekindled my love of social media and social networking... Let's face it in the crafting community it's almost a must have accessory as important as paper, scissors and glue and it can lead you to so much inspiration it is almost unimaginable. With an exciting new project starting for me in a couple of months time it is also going to be my way of communicating with the world...

I've become reacquainted with my blog of late (of course you wouldn't be reading this post if I hadn't) but there are other social media outlets under whose spell I have fallen and I thought I'd tell you more about them, why I am in love with them and why as a crafter, lifestyle blogger, vintage style lover, current home renovator and just generally all round nosey bod they are so important to me....

So here is my social media folder on my iPad - I'm sure there is some other fancy name for it but I have no idea what it is so good old fashioned folder will do for me:

As you can see I've fully embraced the social media world... I'll be honest I was a tad bit scared of it and I'm one of those people who is better being shown things.  I'd tried some of these previously and I was bamboozled but I guess the apps have been updated since and to be honest I decided one day (after a recent conversation with someone who had told me after a tough few months health wise I needed to get on and do what was right for me and also that I had only one life - this has partly resulted in the planned project and hence drew me into this world of online communication) it was just time to jump in and get to grips with it all... And it's been a love affair since!!!

So let's run through each of those icons one at a time. Starting with Facebook in the top left corner would probably be the best place.  I have two Facebook apps - "Facebook" is the personal side of my facebooking life. To be honest it's a pretty closed community.  Only Close friends and family make it on to there.  I live far away from many of them so it is the best way I have found to stay in touch. It is also where I follow umpteen other pages covering fashion, lifestyle, baking, home decoration, science, art and crafts and all the many things that interest me. It isn't anything personal if I don't accept someone as a friend there it's just it a personal space for me and sometimes there is a better place for us to chat....  It's my little bit of privacy (after all we all need some right?) 

My other facebooking app is called "pages" and this is where I write my all my crafting chat.

I love to chat to everyone about all things crafty so the likelihood is that many of you reading this will be doing so because we have met through the creative community, you may have been to one of my demos or you've liked this page somewhere along the way.  I have chatted to and met many like minded people here and I love that each and everyone of you have joined me on my artistic journey... I love sharing it with you and I can tell you there is much more to come :0) should you want to follow my crafting Facebook page please just click here.

The final icon on that top line is twitter and you can see my page below:

It would be no exaggeration to say that it was overcoming my irrational fear of twitter that lead me to really embrace social media in all it's forms. Why did I fear it???? Well I think it probably was that whole thing of not knowing how it worked, feeling embarrassed that I may make a fool of myself, feeling like everyone in the world got it but I didn't... All silly really because it is so easy to use.  It is short, concise, easy to use and I love the newsreel format of my twitter feed that allows me easily pick out the twitterings (yes I know the official word is tweet but I prefer twittering - particularly given my own ability to waffle on) that I am most interested in myself... And then share those I think my friends and followers may be interested in just by clicking a button... I guess it's the fast food junkie version of social media. 

So hold on a second.... Rewind just a short way there.... Short, concise, me????? Well it certainly is a skill that is great skill to aquire and I love how I can just add a short headline and then link through to my blog post, Facebook wall or Instagram picture.

But twitter offers so much more.  Since setting myself up I have learnt a new language, how #'s and keywords make it easier to share your messages with like minded people, taken part in my first twitter chat which was a networking meeting with @lemurlinkup focussing on blogging (I'm looking forward to meeting these new virtual friends in real life in October at their blogging event - they were so generous in sharing the guidance and advice to a newbie like me! - so you see twitter really can bring people together), met people I would never otherwise have been in contact with and found myself appreciating just what a quick moving and exciting environment it is.  Thank you Emma Collins and Katy Godbeer for encouraging me take that leap into the unknown.

So that has covered the top line of my folder - in my next post I'll tell you a bit more about the second row... I hope that in writing these posts I might just encourage you to dip your big toe into the vast social media ocean or maybe you'll be inspired as I have been to jump right in and enjoy it in all it's glory just as I have. 

But I'll close with that lonely little icon in the bottom row... That is my blogger app... And this is what I use to write all my blog entries...

If you look closely - you'll see I'm typing this post on it right now!

This is the app that let's me blog on the go... So when I'm out with Mr j enjoying our coffee date and writing a missive whilst he is watching some golf on his iPad (romantic eh?) this is where I am and what I'm looking at, this is where I might start a post after a sudden burst of inspiration on the move then save it to complete later at home and this is what I use on a glorious sunny day to go outside, sit in my garden with a cup of tea and muse on the world in general without having to fire up and drag my laptop outside.... It is the app that let's me say hello from my little blog world and without it I probably wouldn't have returned to blogging and for that I am incredibly grateful.  It is from where I can share my own little part of this planet we inhabit however significant or insignificant it may be and I thank you for joining me here...

Take care 

Lots of love

Becky

Xxx