This is a question for other bloggers. I’m not sure what the etiquette is regarding social media and blog promotion.
Earlier today, I posted to my blog. As is my custom, I posted a link to the post on Twitter and to my Facebook profile. One of my friends then complained that I was spamming.
That gave me pause, because there are lots of people who post things I don’t want to see. I don’t report them, I just block their posts.
But it also made me stop and think: I have more than 400 Facebook friends, and of course they aren’t all interested in my blog. Am I spamming them? Am I violating social media etiquette by posting a link to my blog on my profile?
Facebook is an important social media tool and I plan to keep using it – both for myself and for my blog. But I want to be sure I’m using it correctly.
Can anybody help?
No way! It’s a nice reminder to read your blog, which, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I love. Keep the reminders coming!
Thank you, Anna. I’m glad you like it! Now, if I could just blog a little bit more this week, there’d be more for you to read.
Posting a link to your blog on Facebook—on YOUR Facebook wall—isn’t spamming any more than posting anything on your wall.
Anyone who uses Twitter has a choice about whether to follow you or not.
I share my blog on FB all the time and realized recently that I probably ought to tweet about it (except I just can’t get the hang of the whole Twitter thing). People hit the link or they don’t.
Thank you Hilts. You’re right. When we post our links, we are posting them to our own walls. So I guess I won’t be changing my strategy.
Woah… Someone said that?
No… You aren’t spamming. Spamming is when you send unwanted stuff directly to a person. If you’re sending your blog posts to his INBOX unsolicited then yes…..
But, if he wants to be part of a social network, then he needs to be prepared for what he will see on that network. He has NO control over that. You think I don’ t see a lot of wedding pics or baby pics from people i went to HS with. Of course I do. I don’t ask them to stop sending it.
You keep posting your blog.
And when he wants your autograph after you’re a worldfamous best seller… sign it “spammer”.
Keep posting AJ.
I should mention that is possible – even likely – that this Facebook friend of mine was joking.
But this is something that’s been bothering me for a while. Not all the bloggers I know choose to post links to FB, so I’ve been wondering if there is a more savvy way of sharing links through FB.
This person’s comment struck that nerve.
Thank you, by the way, for posting this comment. It does make me feel better about not being a spammer!
I think that guy was being a jerk. You have the right to promote your blog wherever. If he doesn’t like it, he can take the 2 minutes to adjust his settings, in my opinion.
I think “jerk” might be a little strong. It’s likely that this person was joking, but it’s hard to tell on the Internet.
But I do think you’re right about the fact that bloggers have the right to promote their blogs on social media.
The reason I ask here is that bloggers all seem to have different social media philosophies. Some don’t use Facebook at all. Others create Facebook groups solely for their blog readers, or Facebook fan pages for their blogs, while some just import their blogs right into their Facebook notes. So I don’t know what the best method is. I know that some readers look for my link on FB, rather than subscribing, so I don’t want to lose them, but I don’t want the other 300-whatever friends to feel like I’m pushing my blog in their faces.
Account settings are there for a reason. If you aren’t interested in someone’s Twitter posts, “unfollow” them or wait ten minutes and there post will have been replaced by something else. I’m not trying to be dismissive of this individual, but social media is, by nature, going to err on the side of publicizing more stuff rather than less. If someone feels like they’re getting too much information, it’s their responsibility to alter their account before they run to the spam police.
This is a definition of spam from webopedia – http://www.webopedia.com/term/s/spam.html – and I don’t think posting a link to something you wrote elsewhere qualifies as spam. There is nothing commercial about it. It’s your interest and facebook and twitter are all about sharing what you think is cool, interesting, gross, weird, or what-have-you with your friends whether they’re interested or not. I mean, when was the last time you really cared about those stupid facebook games your friends are playing?
First off, I should mention that is possible – even likely – that this Facebook friend of mine was joking. But since the words “report” and “spam” were used, I’m taking the comment seriously.
I agree that the burden of altering privacy settings is on the shoulders of the person getting the information. There are lots of people whose games, photos and updates I no longer see.
But this FB friend’s hit on something that’s been bothering me for a while. Not all the bloggers I know choose to post links to FB, so I’ve been wondering if there is a more savvy way of sharing links through FB or if sharing daily links is considered obnoxious in the way that typing in caps is considered to be obnoxious.