There are also things I don't like about Facebook. I don't like pieces of flair, muppets, lil' green things, etc., etc., etc. Sometimes I think Facebook is almost like stalking someone, and I wonder why people want to tell every tiny detail of their lives to others.
I've been thinking about the reason I started this blog (perhaps I should call it the "excuse I gave myself for spending more time on the computer"). It was to take the place of the journals I tried (rather unsuccessfully) to keep for my children over the years. I decided to replace 4 journals with 1 blog. So, I have been copying my blog into a Word document monthly so that someday my kids can print it out if they choose to.
Now, the problem is that there has been a lot of overlap in the things I'm doing on the computer and the ways I'm recording memories. This summer I took the plunge into digital scrapbooking. Loving it, but it requires more time at the computer. So easy to copy pages, though. However, when I post something on my blog, I usually include pictures, too. It's easy to put "photo albums" on my Facebook page, too. I don't need to do all these things, and there's a lot of overlap in what I'm doing.
So... here's is what I've decided. I will be drastically cutting back on the pictures I put on my blog. I'm taking my blog back to its original purpose, a journal of our daily lives. I may put a copy of a digital scrapbook page that I do on the blog as separate posts. That'll be fast and easy and I won't have to copy that page into the Word document. I'll be able to posts pictures and snippets on my Facebook page pretty quickly.
I'm hoping this will cut back on my computer time. I have four children! I need to get off the computer and on with life. :)
10 comments:
Linda, I also struggle with the whole what to do with pictures and memories issue. Right now, I only have a blog. I don't do Facebook. I want to start digiscrapping, but haven't yet, so I'm here at the blog, doing the best I can.
I will miss photos, so I hope you don't stop completely, but I do understand the need to cut out things while your children are young.
I won't stop posting pics all together. The pictures are my favorite parts of other people's blogs, too. It helps me really "see" their families. However, I think with the digiscrapping, it'll be easy to post an entire page as a separate post. I'm hoping that'll fill the needs of my friends and family who want to see pictures and yet still limit my computer time and make my blog the journal I originally intended for my kids.
I like Facebook to a certain degree but all the 'superpoke' and 'flower' stuff annoy me sometimes even though I know the sender means well, I just don't have the time (as you) to dabble in much more than one line updates.
I started blogging almost three years ago and have printed off all blog posts into separate notebooks. I couldn't get the hang of hand written journaling in notebooks but I love blogging. It works for me.
I also set up a separate 'Daily Photo' page on my main blog for some of my 'photo' entries...or just set up a Flickr account and have the link on your blog...I do that for my professional portfolio.
Okay....time to get Miss Sam up and started on our day.
Well, Danielle. It seems like you've followed pretty much the same road I have reading this issue. :)
It's hard to find a balance. Even just doing a regular blog, occasional smilbox layouts and a project 365 seemed to add too much computer time to my day for some reason.
Linda,
The reasons you state are some of the very reasons why I started getting into digiscrapping last Nov. If I can do a photoalbum page and load that page to my blog it's so much faster than loading a bunch of individual pictures. I was keeping up pretty well until summer started. I still hope to find a weekend or two to catch up the rest of this year with smilebox so that I have ONE year complete (LOL).
So.. that's one part of my blog. The other part is quick little snippets and photos from the day that I can blog so dd who doesn't live here at home anymore can still feel like she's a part of what we're doing. It's hard to catch her up on everything in a few quick phone calls here or there or a txt message now and then. but, if I blog it then she can read it when she has a few minutes even if it's late at night.
Anyway. It is hard to find a balance!
Sigh! It is hard to find a balance! I have 3 digital pages I want to do. I just haven't had time since we've been home from vacation! I am really wanting to start using my Storybook Creator Plus more.
Funny you should post about facebook.
I'm the regional web something or other for PWOC (military women's ministry)....which means I've been trying to learn aspects of internet that I don't know. I just joined facebook to figure out what it is. I joined last night and SIX high school friends have contacted me...this is great - but I'm overwhelmed....I've not even read blogs in 2 weeks and now I have facebook sending me emails saying this and that and I haven't a clue what most of them mean....someone told me that you can have your blog go to facebook. Is that a good idea I wonder? Then I could post in one spot and it would go to both. LOL But I don't see "blogs" on face book but more of myspace type comments.....and I haven't played with it much.
I need to make time to save the family type entries of my blog to word - I just keep hoping there will be a way to easily save and print the blog if I wait long enough. Mike keeps asking how I'm backing it up. LOL
DeEtta,I have my blog going to my Facebook page. I THINK it shows when I make a new post, but I'm not sure because I think what I see if different from what everyone else sees. I also have my "Friends" status updates as a link in Google Reader, so I can read them right there. It doesn't, however, tell me when people my other changes to their Facebook like adding pictures, etc. But I can see that stuff when I go to my Facebook page. I'll send you a Friend request and we'll see if we can figure it out. I don't find it to be time consuming to read people's status updates because: 1) They're usually only a sentence or two and 2) They're all together in my Google Reader as "Linda Meahl's Facebook Friends Status Updates" or something like that. I do have to respond to friend requests, etc. on my Facebook page. And there are a few people who send me all sorts of stupid "Lil' green plants" and "Muppets". I hate that part of Facebook and ignore all those requests. But it just takes 5 seconds to click ignore 5 times. FWIW!
Ah, Linda, my first thought was NO, don't stop posting your pictures! But then I remembered you are blogging for your family first and the rest of us second, lol.
Your sister,
Kristine :)
Post a Comment