Social Media is Hard!
This whole social media and blogging thing is hard! Who is with me? I mean I know it's a whole new world to me and i've seen and done a lot in my 48 years but I'm still left scratching my head some days.
I've had a Facebook account for years, i've loved all things DIY and home decor related forever, i'm super organized, blogging was always something in the back of my mind I wanted to attempt but I was always too intimidated to take the plunge. Instagram was a mystery and Snapchat? What the hell?!
In January of this year I decided to take the plunge and created my baby, Our Uncluttered House. First up was a Facebook page and then an Instagram account. I had my favourites I had been following on my personal account so I kinda knew the drill but I had posted all of like 11 pics before, mostly of my dog! (#dogmom....seriously my only hashtag). To say it was (and still is) a learning experience is an understatement. I reached out to a couple of social media and blogging mom Gurus who were willing to take me under their wing so to speak, offer me lots of tips, guidance and help along and I can't thank them enough!
I've been at now for 4 months and here are a few things i've discovered.....
1. People are fickle, you can wake up in the morning and have lost 10-15 followers on Instagram and have no idea why. In the beginning I took it very personally but now I see it for what it is.
2. People are easily offended....so full disclaimer, if you don't like sarcasm and the occasional F-bomb, you probably shouldn't be following me. I try to keep things real, what you see is what you get.
3. Some people don't even like you or your content but like to follow along and tell you how you could do things better or differently. I mean I love a good tip, love constructive criticism, but really people, were you not ever taught "if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all?" If you weren't, consider this your lesson and F-off.
4. I do believe a lot of people are either richer then I ever thought possible, or are putting themselves into tremendous debt to keep up with others in the fantasy world part of Instagram.
5. No one can possibly be as perfect or have as perfect of a house as what we see when we scroll our feed everyday, it's just not possible...is it? I mean i'm a neat freak, a little OCD-ish, but I have messy closets and many days I have a messy, "cluttered' house. For the most part I keep things neat and tidy but we only have our youngest son at home, his bedroom is in the basement, we downsized and got rid of a shit load of crap so it's easy to keep my house clean but even on my cleanest days, it doesn't compare to a lot of the magazine spread worthiness of these photos on IG. Do you guys know what I mean? It really puts a lot of pressure on us newbies in the beginning!
6. You can take and edit some awesome photos with your iPhone, do some research friends, i'm still learning but the Snapped app has been most awesome and it's FREE!! Sure i'd love to have a big fancy camera and know how to use it but it's not in the budget, i'd much sooner tackle a DIY then buy a camera any day.
7. A lot of single men from Russia and Nigeria are very interested in home decor and thrifty DIY's, who knew?
8. Last but not least, i've met some amazing people on this social media/blogging journey, some I am now glad to call my friends. You know who you are. These women support you, build you up, help you along the way. Their advice is invaluable. It's never a competition, no one is better than anyone else. We are all pursuing a dream and we would never be able to keep our dreams alive without each others support.
9. To be continued.....
Somedays I think I should just go back to being the crazy mom who posts tons of dog pics on Facebook and instagram, other days I feel like I could really do something with this dream i'm following and today is one of those days.
I'm signing off for now because I just got a message from a friend with a picture of an old table they were going to take to the dump, asking if I wanted it ...haha....they know me well!
Before I go, let me leave you with this....I can't be the only one with a love/hate relationship with social media can I? Drop me a comment below and share your thoughts!
Michele xo
