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My drug of choice is writing––writing, art, reading, inspiration, books, creativity, process, craft, blogging, grammar, linguistics, and did I mention writing?

Sunday, December 15, 2013

A Command Decision

So there's going to be a slight change in things around Writing About Writing--at least in regards to Facebook.

For about the past year I've been trying to bolster our numbers here at Writing About Writing in any one of a dozen ways, and one of the things that I've discovered is that while I greatly enjoy doing the "plot arcs" with guest bloggers and ongoing shenanigans, those posts don't do particularly well when shared on social media.  They tend to be something that only those following the blog pretty closely really like.

Facebook is a strange beast.  Writing About Writing's Facebook page now has over 3000 followers, and has the greatest potential of all the social media I use.  (Stumbleupon is fabulous, but has a glass ceiling unless there something is just going viral.)  However, Facebook is also where I'm constantly trying to do jazz hands to keep the page interesting and entertaining and not just a cross post of blog stuff.  Almost every waking hour I'm posting some macro, meme, comic, pun, riddle, or writer's quote.  That's probably why I have three thousand people (instead of just three) who might click a link to an interesting article.

But who probably won't click to find out that Cedric and The SciGuy have found dozens of missing articles in the wake of the computer attack by the Mystery Guest Blogger--which I think is hilarious and love writing about.

The catch is that since I am only posting a couple of links to Writing About Writing each day on Facebook (amidst a gush of other content to keep the place compelling) each post feels like it really needs to "count." Posting plot arc articles on media where there isn't a dedicated following is basically just ensuring that a "slot" that I could be using for something much more popular is being wasted.

I've noticed in the last few months that I've often forgone a "plot arc" post for something else just because I knew the former wouldn't do well on Facebook.  But I kind of miss them, and I sort of feel like they've been a real part of the flavor here.

So I'm not going to share them on FB anymore.  I will just be sharing the more popular articles that drum up views.

What this means if you're on Facebook:

1- You won't get every update.  If you want to get every last W.A.W. update, you will have to subscribe, follow the blog through Google/Blogger, sign up for e-mail notifications, subscribe to an RSS feed, or follow Writing About Writing (or me) on G+.

2- I may cycle through the "reruns" a little faster on Facebook. Days I write a plot arc post would end up being "double rerun" days.  I have two years of writing and growing, and it takes MONTHS to cycle through the whole batch of reruns and go back to the beginning, but it will happen faster.

What this means if you're on G+:

1- You may have a slightly higher rate of days with three posts.

Hopefully this little tweak means more plot arc and more page views.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Chris!

    I do love your blog, but if I may: the layout looks very cluttered, and it makes it difficult to focus on the content. Perhaps this is something worth looking at? Also, on my 1200x800 screen, I have to sideways scroll to get to properly access the right-hand column.

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