Listed Tuesday: 9 Reasons I Won't Quit Facebook

Another Tuesday, another list.  I am telling you I think in lists all the time.  I was making a homework assignment for my summer school class and I just kept adding things to it because I wanted the list to grow longer and longer.  I then realized innocent children actually had to complete the work on the list and I deleted half of it.  You're welcome, students who do not even know I have a blog.

As I was thinking about what to post today I wandered my pretty little eyes over to Facebook to check out the haps.  I actually do not like Facebook that much anymore.  I am pretty bored with it if I am being honest with you.  I also long for my junior year when Facebook became a thing.  It was so simple, so fun, so private from my family.  But the moms have found the book and they have changed it forever, and it ain't all bad.

As much as I complain about the book I do not think I will shut it down, like I did to myspace.  Remember myspace?  Gross.

9 Reasons I Won't Quit Facebook

1.  Sometimes my mom's friends post really inspirational things that I need to hear to get me through my day of grading, writing, working out, and dog training.  I just logged on to Facebook and here is the first inspirational thing I found.  It too 3.892 nano seconds to find it.



 

2.  I really want guys I dated that are still on my Facebook to eat their heart out at my grainy selfies from Instagram.  If a Walden filter doesn't scream, "I am so over you!" what does?




3.  I need to know what I believe politically.  I know a lot of you have unfriended or removed your politically active friends from Facebook.  I personally love reading what they post.  I need to know what I do not believe.  I have just taken to believing the opposite of what my politically active friends post on Facebook.  It has actually panned out pretty well and I have a lot of free time to not watch the news now.

4.  I need to be able to delete ugly photos of myself that people tag me in.  If I was not on Facebook 5 ugly photos of me could be out in the world for you to look at.  Just kidding I always take the prettiest pictures this is just something other people have told me they like to use Facebook for.

5. My coworkers remind me when I can wear jeans to work.  They are so nice and will take a photo of a pair of jeans and tag me in it.  It is the little things people.



6. So my mom can have a friend.  Just kidding mom that was so mean!  I love you and I will never put you in a home



 

7. To keep up with BuzzFeed Affairs.  How else would I know what emoji I am or what it is like to turn 30?

8. So all my friends can know what my grandmother looks like.  No joke my grandmother will ask us to take photos of her and then post them on Facebook so our friends know who she is. I get my narcissism from her and my charming quality of having to pee every few hours.



9.  To have another avenue to clog the interwebs with links to this here blog. On that note you should probably like my page here if you haven't already.

Please join me for Listed Tuesday and make sure to check off each item on the list below:
- Write a post about anything you want that includes a list of sorts
- Add the Listed Button to your post
- Come by Erica Jacquline on Tuesdays and add your link
- Read other posts, comment, and make new friends
- Shower, rinse, repeat each week.
- Follow your hosts! 

Erica Jacquline

Bloglovin

So You Want To Start A Blog - Social Media

In case you have not been here for very long here are the other three posts in the series.

Week 1 - Before You Write A Word
Week 2  - Basic Blog Design
Week 3 - Content



 

This week I am going to keep it short and sweet cause occasionally my real life job, the one that supports my blogging addiction, gets really busy and I need to work from home for an evening.

If you are starting a blog or have had a blog for a while here are my tips to make yourself known to the world.  Anyone can start a blog, but it takes a ton of self promotion.  One of the best ways to grow your blog and get readers is to be active on social media.

If you are a secret blogger I guess you should make new social media accounts.  I personally like it when people in my real life know about my blog and talk about it.  I spend so much time blogging that it would seem strange to not be able to have that conversation with people.

With everything social media related there is a fine line between being informative and being annoying.  It takes time to figure out the balance and it might even change from day to day.  My go to for promoting posts is this 4 tweets in a day, 1 Facebook post, 3 Instagram specific posts, and as many pins as I can muster a week.  This is a loose guideline and it changes daily.

Email 
I think that you should make an email for your blog. I used my personal email for my blog and it was just confusing and too much.

Bloglovin'
I personally love bloglovin.  It is by far the site that generates the most traffic to my little blog. One of the strangest things that I have seen is blogs that are looking for followers but do not have a link to bloglovin'.  If you do not have Bloglovin' I am pretty sure you do not care if I follow your blog.

Twitter
Next up is my twitter account.  I think it is probably the most used social media site for the bloggers of the world.  If you are going to give a shout out to someone, it will probably be on Twitter.  If you want to say "Hey I like your blog and if we met in real life we would be best friends #notcreepy"

Pinterest
If you have some extra time I highly recommend you make your images in your post "pinable."  For this series I pin the main image and I have actually generated a lot of traffic from Pinterest once a week.  I am not a graphic designer and I do not have a ton of time to spend making things look Pinterest Perfect, but once our twice a week I take a little extra time to do this one thing to help my blog grow.

Facebook
I guess people still use Facebook.  I might have a different take on Facebook than other people, but I sometimes feel like it is a waste of time.  I will say that when I first started blogging Facebook was my favorite way to promote my blog. I would post it on my personal Facebook page and my mom and family would read a few of my posts.  After a few months I started a blog page and only people who follow that page can see my posts.  Create one if you want to, update it with your posts, and move on.

Instagram 
I think Instagram is my favorite form of social media.  I love that I have a more personal connection with some followers and I can see what they are up to.  I do not think it brings people directly to my blog, because you can not put links in your photo captions.  I really love Instagram though and I think it helps readers get a more complete picture elf you as a person.

Google+
So I do not really get Google+ but I will use it.  I post all my posts on Google+ because I think it helps them get higher in search engines when you google.  It makes sense right, Google+, Google same thing man!

So what do you think?  Is there any social media that I missed that you would recommend to a blogger? What is your recommendation for self promotion across social media.

A Few Reasons I Want to Break Up With Facebook But Never Will

Sometimes I want to cancel my Facebook account and never look back. I mean it can be such a pit of all the worst things in the world.  I am not talking about political rants (those suck) or even stalking exes to see if they are fat yet.  I am only referring to seeing those things that people post that just make you cringe.  The most cringe worthy moments in my life always come from my former students. 
Facebook and teaching can be a wonderful combination.  For example I was able to share this gem of a haiku with all my friends because of "The Book" 

I really hate birds which made this poem the most beautiful one I have even heard.

 I know that teachers being friends with their students is a crazy idea and I agree.  I work at a small private school and for like a year I didn't mind if they were on my Facebook under restricted.  However, I could still see their rants, pictures, and unkind status about my friends and me.  I went on a binge and deleted any current student.  I also have become extremely picky about who I add upon graduation.  I know the big reason teachers and administrators do not add kids on Facebook is because they want privacy and a level of respect that you lose if kids see everything on your page.  Personally, I have been working with teens since I was in college and started using Facebook.  I have nothing to hide on there.  The reason I have made my Facebook-student rules stricter are because I just don't want to see some of the junk that they feel the need to share. 
Yesterday I was reminded of this as I hid several former students from my newsfeed, sorry if you  randomly found this blog.  It got me thinking about all the reasons I never wanted to see when I went to Facebook to see my friends cute new engagement photos.  Things I never wanted to see on Facebook
Pictures of you shirtless with targets drawn on your nipples Yes this happened.  The kid was in my English class and I never want to know what any of those yahoos look like without a shirt.  I threw up a little in my mouth when I saw this.  That bottle(s) of booze you "pounded" before you were 21Where are your brains?  Who posts a picture of their terrible decisions that you are making as a 19 year old?  It makes me sad because I know you are worth so much more than the party life you are chasing after.    Photos of you and your girlfriend/ boyfriend kissing in bed - actually you and your girlfriend/ boyfriend kissing. Period. TEENAGE LOVE IS DISGUSTING!  I actually wrote a post about this here.  I just don't want to see it.  The truth is you don't know what love is, you don't know what you are doing, and when I see your pictures promoting your promescuity it breaks my heart.  You may not understand that you are shaping your life in a way that can cause extreme pain.  The funny gay porn you post when you hack your friend's FacebookWhy?  I just don't get it or want to see it.   Your terrible grammar!  I taught you ENGLISH for crying out loud.  I know you are capable of so much more.  Stop looking like an uneducated bug.  Your rants about the homework you were assigned in high school, how happy you are to be gone, or how much you hated one of my coworkers friendsSave the drama for your mama!  I remember you being sweet and kind and when you go off like this it makes me want to write the college I recommended you to and let them know how you are presenting yourself to the world and revoke my recommendation.    All these things being true there are a few times where I just love having former students as my Facebook friends. 
Reasons Why I love the Book  Sweet emails from students on a random Tuesday afternoon I just got one this week that said,"I just miss you so much!" Photos from when they were in school with sweet captions 

"I miss high school.  Why did I want to leave so badly?"

When they post nerdy ecards or gifs on my wall related to something they learned.One time a girl posted this gem on my Facebook and it totally made my day. 

You remembered something I taught you and related it to your life!

The occassional post that asks a question related to something I taught them  "Ms. T can you remind me of the history of theater?" Or even when they write a haiku that and post it on my wall.

Clearly I am influencing the future generation of leaders for the better.

  When a previous student will write something on your wall that looks a little like this: 

I miss this kid!