Social media fails: Litsy & Bloglovin’

Hola.

Today I’m going to talk to you about failure. Of the social media platform variety. Specifically regarding my personal use (or lack thereof) of the platforms Litsy and Bloglovin’ and why I think I failed, or rather, they failed me.

From what I know, both Litsy and Bloglovin’ are successful social media platforms in that they have large, solid user bases, and those who use them really enjoy them and therefore continue to use them. I tried using both in recent months, and neither worked out for me. I know lots of book bloggers use both of these platforms, so I thought it could be interesting to discuss each and get some feedback from ya’ll about your use (or lack thereof) Litsy and/or Bloglovin’.

Bloglovin’

Bloglovin’ I started in January of 2016. I was drawn to the platform for a few reasons. The first was to be able to follow bloggers on platforms other than WordPress and to have everyone on one reader feed. This would allow me to broaden what I read and have a nice, organized way of managing the blogs I follow. The second reason was to increase my own blog’s reach to those who don’t have WordPress or to those who use Bloglovin’ as their main portal. But it failed.

I think I probably gained a follower or two from joining Bloglovin’, and I am keeping my account for those people who do use it as a reader so that my posts are accessible on it. But after using the reader on Bloglovin’ for a few months, I switched back to the WordPress reader. Why? Well, partially for comfort reasons: I’m used to WordPress, and I like the reader interface, so Imma use it. But also because not every blog is accessible through Bloglovin’s feed. If a blogger doesn’t have a Bloglovin’ account, you are able to add their blog to your feed. Or so they say. I had too much trouble adding bloggers to Bloglovin’, and when I came back to WordPress, I realized my Bloglovin’ feed wasn’t showing me all the posts from WordPress. What’s up with that? Did I do something wrong, or is this just the way of the world?

The other reason it failed for me is that I like having everything all in one place. WordPress allows me to have my blog and my reader all on one site, instead of having to switch between the two during blog time. I do really like the interface of Bloglovin’s reader; I like how you can view the person’s actual blog and have the nav bar at the top to page through the other posts on your feed. But ultimately, the kinks I had in following people and the convenience of WordPress with everything in one place beat out Bloglovin’. Which sucks. Cause, in theory, Bloglovin’ is super cool and I’d love to use it. Maybe I’ll give it another try – users, please comment and let me know what I’m doing wrong/how to use it effectively/how you use it. Thanks!

Litsy

Oh, Litsy. Litsy remains a mystery to me. I just don’t get it. My biggest problem with Litsy is that it doesn’t provide me with anything new. This is why it totally and completely failed. I downloaded it in September when it became available on Android, used it a handful of times, and then promptly forgot it existed.

I wrote a post on Listy not too long ago, asking for advice on how to use it and what ya’ll use it for. I got some good responses and felt like it might become a thing. But it didn’t.

I’ve said this before, but Litsy is the love-child of Goodreads and Instagram. I have both a Goodreads and an Instagram and use them on a regular basis. I am not a Bookstagramer, though I do post book pictures from time to time on my Instagram. So when I started Litsy, I guess I just expected it to have some new, unique function, hence why so many people love it. But…it didn’t.

It didn’t offer anything new that wasn’t already available to me on either Goodreads or Instagram. The only redeeming factor I hear about it is that it is a great community-builder. But that’s already something I have. I have community here on BookPress and on Twitter, so like…I’m good.

In conclusion

What have I learned from all this? I think the biggest thing is that it just reconfirmed what I already knew to be true about my use of social media platforms: there are so many social media platforms out there that if their purposes become redundant, they fail. There has to be a distinct and unique function for each one, otherwise why bother? I have lots of social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Goodreads, WordPress. I use each one for a very distinct reason, which is why they work. Bloglovin’ and especially Litsy have too many redundancies. And let’s face it, there just isn’t enough room in our brains and schedules to participate on every platform. If you have a deliberate reason to use a platform, use it, otherwise you’re spreading yourself too thin. Better to be an effective user of a few than an ineffective user of many.

End rant.

Thanks for reading, and please comment below on how you use social media! Any thoughts on Bloglovin’ or Litsy? Or any others?

K thanks bye.