Good morning friends,
My son just looked over my shoulder and said, “Why would people want to read that?”
Exactly! Smart boy. (I just deleted my first paragraph. It’s gone into the ether. Never to be seen.)
Have you seen some of the kerfuffles happening in the blogosphere lately? Kinda crazy, huh? In a couple years, we’ll look back at this highly emotional time in publishing (because let’s face it, we are emotional people) and think, ‘Wow, no wonder why. Look at all the upheavals happening. The uncertainty! The madness!
And here’s an interesting fact. Did you know that honey never goes bad? That’s straight from the mouth of a 3rd grader in my kitchen. See, this is what happens when I write with my kids around. Thank goodness I’m not writing a story because that factoid could’ve ended up in a story that had nothing to do with honey or bears. Hmm.
One thought does weigh on my heart. Blog fatigue. I’ve seen quite a few people talk about how bored they are or how they aren’t really into social media. Twitter has become nothing more than one big promotional stream.
I’m not bored. And I’m not fatigued. Maybe I’ve only been blogging almost two years and not five? Maybe if writers want to promote their books, I don’t mind? Maybe I’m just not on it enough to feel annoyed? Not sure. What do you think?
Multiple choice question.
Why do you think bloggers are suffering from social media fatigue?
- Too much chocolate, which causes tiredness. (I think.)
- Too much pressure to build platform.
- Too much effort to comment on 100 blogs.
- Too much ranting and slamming and nitpicking going on.
- Too many interviews and promotions.
- Depression that not as many people are writing about vampires.
- Other.
What do you think? And do you have interesting factoid to brighten my day? Do share.
I think blogging is like writing, you have to be dedicated to the craft. It’s time consuming, and if you don’t have the time, then you you should either make time, or you shouldn’t be doing it.
Twitter is another world altogether. I’ve been on it for about two weeks, and I’m still lost. I put off getting on it because I knew I wouldn’t like it, but as with everything else, I finally broke down and tried it. I need to find a schedule for it, as with everything else. But I’d rather blog.
The problem with blogging is for it to be satisfying to me, I have to spend an enormous amount of time making it perfect. I struggle with picking the right words because I don’t want to look silly or have people be mean to me. I am a fragile emotional person, you know.
There…I said it!
Blogging is like speaking your mind to a bunch of strangers at a party and realizing they don’t agree with you.
And if you are a dedicated blogger, you really need to include all of the comments, not just the ones you like. It’s hard work, because as you said, we are emotional people.
Blogging opens you up to criticism.
You can snip this comment, my friend! I did go on a bit.
🙂
Oh this is fascinating. I understand social media fatigue, I really do.
For me, it’s about not being able to read EVERY blog or respond to every Tweet. It’s not having time to respond to comments or even keep up with emails.
But the blog is my baby. I love blogging. LOVE IT. 99% of my posts are complete and utter nonsense, but I have fun writing them. I actually wrote today about all of the guilt I feel about not being able to do EVERYTHING. Many of the comments suggest that I take a step back from social media, but that’s not really an option for me. I love it too much. I just need to let go of all the guilt that goes along with it.
2, 3, 4 and 5. People just get burned out if they do tooooooo much of anything.
The great thing about blogs and twitter is that they continue with or without my interaction. (Well, MY blog doesn’t go on without me, but I have no problem only posting twice a week.) I can jump in to read them sometimes and jump back out. I think moderation is the key.
Shelley
I think some of it stems from the time blogging takes away from our writing. Okay, I just read someone’s post and that’s what he said. But it’s so true.
I haven’t suffered from fatigue yet. I still enjoying blogging and seeing what other people have to say–most of the time. Like Joyce said, writing a post takes time, if you want to do it well. Most days, I can spend an hour or two on a single post (that includes editing it over several days). And then there’s the commenting on blogs. It all takes time. But it’s worth it when you make awesome new writing friends. Besides, blogging has made me a smarter person. 😀
I almost want to say its the vampire depression, but only because that answer made me laugh.
I imagine it’s a combination of a lot of things–pressure, too much to do, balancing social media and life, too many interviews and guest posts and SEO and…
I understand why people get tired–it IS work–and I can’t really talk since I’ve only been blogging since May, but I imagine after a long time it could start to get exhausting.
Till then though, I enjoy maintaining my blog. 🙂
You always have your pulse on what’s going on more than I do, Laura. I hadn’t noticed much sniping and griping, but then, I’ve also been offline editing for the last 2-3 weeks.
And I think that’s important. I love my blog and Twitter, but if I want to keep approaching it fresh, and still know my children’s names, I must take breaks to do other things as well.
I’ll add another interesting fact to your honey thread — did you know that some temples of Artemis were organized like a hive and her priestesses were often referred to as bees?
Laura, every year another round of blog fatigue sets in with a group of bloggers. I’ve been blogging for almost four years, and I see the same complaints over and over. I think the biggest cause of fatigue is simply burnout.
They start strong, get a heady feeling of excitement with all of the interaction, and then it takes over more and more of their day. It’s not too difficult to make a huge splash in blogging for a year, but it gets much tougher to continue a media presence long term.
Plus, I think we all have unrealistic expectations on how long it will take to get published (unless we self-published) and it’s hard to keep working at our blog and Twitter when nothing is happening with our career.
That being said, I LOVE blogging, love Twitter and Facebook, and no matter how crummy I’m feeling, I still show up. It’s worth it!
I just take a step back when I need a break.
And here’s another interesting fact about honey: it’s really nothing more than bee vomit. Put that in your tea and drink it — YUM!! (I think it actually makes it more appealing for my son. 🙂 )
Wow! Awesome comments everyone! I brought my daughter to her ortho appt. or I would’ve responded earlier. I agree that when I’m discouraged, it’s not easy to blog. But I still do it, just not with as much enthusiasm. I guess with everything, even writing, our passion will fade, then come back, fade, then come back…
Blog on peoples!
Great post, Laura! I personally believe that blog fatigue stems for writing boring material, using Twitter and other social media for promotion & spamming and a generally bored attitude. If we aim to have fun, help others out and give of ourselves, it’s a win-win for all…IMYO. 😉
Glad I came upon your anything-BUT-boring blog!
Giggling at some of your choices. I do think the pressure to build platform plays a part. You’re always wondering: am I doing this right? Will this help or hurt me? And to comment on others blogs can be overwhelming because it takes time. But it’s important – do unto others.
A blogging schedule and commitment to being myself has really helped me stay (mostly) upbeat about blogging.
My blogging output ebbs and flows….
Factoid: Some school lunch programs count Ketchup as a vegetable.
#3 and 5.
I’ve had some blog fatigue but not so much that I want to quit. Probably I’ll give myself some blog vacations to write.
I’ve been blogging for about a year and a half and so I probably don’t have the fatigue as bad as others.
I’ve definitely suffered from blog fatigue. I find taking a break helps, but it does take some work to get back to where you were before you left.
I had no idea there was a kerfuffle going on, no one ever invites me.
I think a lot bloggers overreach themsselves at the start and can’t maintain. I say take a week off, nothing much will change.
mood
Number three for me. The effort required in commenting everywhere is what bogs me down. I still blog though, and if people comment on what I write, then yay for me!
For me it’s evenly divided b/w 5 and 6 (hee)!!!
And hold the phone–how was I not already following you?!?! Am now.
Lol, guess we are reading the same websites. As you know since you kindly read my post today :), I think it’s all just a natural cycle. We are all going to go through different stages in our blogging life. I love social networking too much to shut up, but I do feel overwhelmed on a regular basis. And I do miss having the time to visit and comment as much as I used to.
definitely #2 & #3!
how do you do it?
Well, I’m certainly suffering from social media exhaustion. Sometimes I allow myself to take a break for a day or two. And there’s no such thing as too much chocolate. 🙂
3, 5, and 7. My 7 is that blogging is like column writing, sermon writing, or any other type of writing that makes you put out content on the same topic on a regular basis. You can start to feel burned out and like you’re scraping the bottom of the well. It’s hard to allow it time to fill.
1. Too much chocolate: Impossible.
2. Too much pressure to build platform: Yes
3. Too much effort to comment on 100 blogs: Sometimes… used to be a bigger deal to me, but I’m burnt out.
4. Too much ranting and slamming and nitpicking going on: Sometimes, though I’ve been so busy with college this semester that I do not have time to really get involved.
5. Too many interviews and promotions: This isn’t burning me out, but I think the volume of interviews and promotions to book reviews on *my* blog–especially about books I think my readers don’t care about now–is burning the readers out.
6. Depression that not as many people are writing about vampires: Lol, no.
7. Other: To expand building a blogger platform–I think it’s incredibly discouraging for bloggers when they put a whole lot of effort into their book reviews/blog posts, only to receive a couple of comments… or none at all.
I’m not sure about others, but for me, I started blogging because I wanted to discuss books. It’s difficult to do so when there’s no discussion in the comments. I think the feeling of people not reading my blog is what discourages me the most–even though I get a lot of daily hits.
That’s good if no one is aware of the fighting going on. I just read a lot of critical posts, filled with negativity. A lot of them are healthy debates but… I think it can drain the fun out of blogging. Thanks everyone!
I’m going to say it’s number two. I think everyone is trying to hard to build their platform and annoying others along the way. How do we fix this? Stop the mass emails, spam, and direct messages telling about your book and just invite us to take a look through teasers about it.
LOL. Your multiple choice question are too funny.
First off, it CAN’T be chocolate. NEVER.
But seriously, I think it’s #2 — too much pressure.
And people comment on 100 blogs? A day? I hope that they spread it out…that’s a LOT of blogs.
I haven’t been reading a lot of kerfuffle, but I don’t really keep up w/blogs outside this little circle.
And that, my friend, I think makes the difference. To me, blogging is about writers supporting writers, learning from each other, and celebrating each others’ successes.
It’s relationship building in a field where you don’t go to an office. You work at home. Alone. In silence. Most of the time.
That’s what I want from blogging, that’s what I get, and I’m not feeling fatigued. I don’t have five billion followers, but I got a good group, and we keep each other going. Yay! Blogging wins. :o) <3
I’d say its a combo of 2,3 and 5.
Have you read Roni loren’s funny “10 stages of the blogger life cycle” – hilarious!!!
I love blogging but i had to cut back to once a week posts and returning comments to balance it with my life. I think I continue to love it (after a year and a half) because I have no need to promote and still a strong need to connect and I’m still in discovery/learning stage (but I’m always in that stage. It’s my nature). Who knows.
what surprises me are the people who say that we’ve all run out of fresh topics to blog about. that’s like saying we’re running out of fresh topics to write novels about!!!
It’s all about putting our own unique spin on the same old, same old topics (and plots).
Well there’s no such thing as too much chocolate. For shame. And yes, the lack of vampires is depressing. But I think maybe some people haven’t found that personal connection yet? IDK. I must think on this.
Interesting.
I think I do feel pressure now that I follow more blogs than ever to visit. And that pressure may take a bit of the fun out of it.
But I do truly enjoy reading so many blogs and I do learn from many as well. So I want to feel okay about visiting certain blogs on a weekly basis even if I miss a few posts here and there.
Right now I’m feeling a combination of disappointment and relief. I don’t know anything about blogging kerfuffles! Probably I’m better off that I don’t.
I think when someone gets tired of social media, they should drop out -at least take a sabbatical, if not a permanent break.
Hmmm…I’m thinking defiantly number 7. Vampires make the world go ’round. I love blogs. There’s an endless stream of fun and wonderful ideas, inspiration, and knowing that we are all here together. It’s great practice space too. Cheers, Jules