Blogging and Facebook

In the past few weeks I have seen a number of comments about Facebook and blogging, with a couple of people abandoning Facebook rather than struggle to keep up with both. Being a slow blogger - in this instance due to real life rather than internet distractions - the links and comments I meant to post at the time have sailed off into the sunset, but even though I am behind the conversation I still want to add my tuppence worth.

When I first started using Facebook it had a definite impact on my blog. I started posting short snippets there rather than longer items here. My poor blog got neglected to the point where earlier this year I wondered what its future would be, if any. I started making more effort to post here, and as I did so, my feelings about Facebook and blogging crystallised, I saw the pros and cons each has for me more clearly, and found myself committed to both.

Facebook is my public face. My Facebook friends are a mix of my nearest and dearest, old friends, neighbours, online friends and real life acquaintances (often people I see quite frequently, but know only on a superficial level). I use real names, and although I do write about my family, I am more careful of their privacy. I don't say anything on Facebook that I wouldn't say to someone I only knew slightly. My updates are mostly day to day trivia mixed with humour. Facebook is quick and easy, and I love the opportunities it gives to keep up with people I might otherwise lose touch with, and to get to know casual acquaintances a little better.

My blog is a very different place. Although it is technically more public - I try to keep my Facebook privacy settings pretty tight - it is also more private thanks to my pseudonyms. Although someone actively searching might be able to link my real name to my blog, and many (most?) of my readers know who I am, I don't advertise it to the casual social circle that I share with on Facebook and people who know me only slightly are not likely to look for it. My blog is where I post more openly about my life and the things that interest me, expecting to be read by sympathetic eyes. Strangers may stumble onto my blog, but unless they like what they see I presume they are not going to come back. Those who visit, return, and comment I think of as friends. I visit their blogs, get to know them, and ... well ... I like my readers, and I feel comfortable sharing here in this public space, more so than in the "private" space of Facebook - and let's face it, there is no such thing as truly private social media! My blog also has a role as my personal diary, the place where I can look back on our family life in words and pictures. (Note to self: must back up blog.)

So I now find myself feeling very positive about both Facebook and blogging. Oh, and in case you are wondering, I have dabbled a bit with Twitter, but found that for me it overlapped too much with Facebook. It may be something I get more involved with in the future, but for now, no.