Pictures and words go together absurdedly well. Each seems to be somewhat at a loss without the other. As I get into writing I feel compelled to dress it up with photos, and as I get into photos I feel inspired to write up something worthy of that caliber. It's been busy, but enjoyable. I've kinda been using it as an escape from normal life.
I found out the other day just how widespread--and deep--breach of copyright goes with images these days. Spent two hours trying to track down the original artist of a photo I love so I could properly credit it. Though I'm still lookign for that one, in the process I found out how to do that with most images, and I'm slowly now going through my Pinterest boards to repin everything from their original sources. Sometimes having a conscience sucks.
Tumblr has similar issues.
Compounding these problems, Wordpress offers plugins that automatically place a Pinterest or Tumblr feed in your sidebar or wherever else you put it. Which means bloggers may decorate their site with pictures without the photographer's permission. Furthermore, some Pinterest plugins allow the option to remove the description as well. So that's zero credit to the original artist.
I wanted to decorate my blog with Pins. Really, I did. I got so freakin' excited about it. And some aspects of the plugins I feel could be used ethically. But at minimum, the way I feel currently is that if a photo is displayed without permission then it should be credited on that same page (preferably directly beneath the photo) as well as a link back to the original source. For me personally, removing that crosses a line. Though I've read dizzying amounts of info on copyright, the best rule of thumb I keep coming back to is: in what ways would I feel comfortable someone else using my images without my permission? And then I follow those guidelines.
Today was also the first time I watermarked a photo! Not even sure I did it right; I've been learning to use GIMP for photo editing and I just followed a tutorial I dredged up through google. Slightly dated, but I managed to figure it out. Main thing is I didn't want the watermark to intrude on the photo, detracting the beholder from enjoying it. Now that I'm aware of the issues, I'm really glad to see identifiable watermarks, mine or others'. Plus it makes that photo look so damn important.
The majority of my web traffic so far has been from Pinterest, actually.
As I enjoy myself on Pinterest and Tumblr separate from my blog (each with differing restrictions and advantages) I realized the other day that some people might have a favorite social media, and that might be the only place they follow me. As such, I should still try to make sure I get excerpts of my blog posts there. It's been interesting to try this on Pinterest. My attempts thus far are painfully amateur, but then again I've never done graphic design before. All this is a learning curve that will be over with in a month's time.
A picture is worth a thousand words, yet worth twice that if bundled with a goodly passel of verbal artistry. Achieving the latter sounds like my idea of fun.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Meme Woes
I hate memes.
Goodness, I'm going to regret saying that. Let me try again:
Memes are not typically a good fit for my blog.
There we go. Better?
My first experience with memes was from consuming blogs rather than writing them. I'd feel like I'd come to know a blogger and had a great appreciation for their content. But slowly, it would begin to be taken up by a bunch of fake happy excitement about participation in a meme. I say fake happy because I would notice their personality and writing style change. And gradually, their blog would become more meme and less of them, until I couldn't be bothered to read anymore. My favorite author might be there physically, but they've left the building as far as this reader was concerned.
Memes are great as community projects, but I'm seeing two things that are really important: 1) maintaining the individuality of a blog, and 2) ensuring the meme fits well into the blog and the author's style.
When I began blogging at first I wrote off all memes and contented myself with displaying my enthusiasm for the blogging community in other ways, namely by tweets and comments. But two in particular have piqued my interest lately - the Review Roundup and Toy with me Tuesday. Now that I have something akin enough to a review scheduled for publishing, I have the chance to actually consider participating in the Review Roundup. But it requires each person to post an entire list of links on their blog. As I'm subscribed to blogs, I keep getting the same post with the same links from different blogs. It feels spammy to me. It's something I don't want to subject readers to, because I don't like being the reader on the receiving end of it. A button to "click for more" is a lot less intrusive, and I plan to get around to suggesting it to dizzygirl.
The other one, Toy with Me Tuesday, as had my attention since I first heard of it and I've enjoyed people's posts when participating even if some of them do come off as a little corny/forced. I was toying with the idea of participating, but it didn't feel right until I happened to snap a photo on a whim the other day that I realized would be perfect for it. Eagerly, I read up on the guidelines.
Here's the problem: I have a weird personal thing about referring to sex toys as "toys". I'm okay with it in conversation, but on my blog I'd just rather not. It feels like it indicates they're frivolous, as if they aren't currently essential to my sense of wellbeing, as if my doctor didn't recognize a huge improvement in my health when I began using them and told me that I should continue. Maybe if I didn't come from a culture that told me they were superfluous (at best) then I'd be less sensitized to it. Nevertheless, including a button of a picture with "sex toys" spelled out in the sand with said items just doesn't feel right on my blog. Other blogs have a fun, happy-go-lucky atmosphere and that's totally cool and it fits well. But on my blog? Nope.
I emailed Nymphomaniac saying I'd love to participate but requesting that I could just include a link to Toy With Me Tuesday instead of the banner. It'd be completely within her rights to refuse it, but I'm hoping she allows it because it really would be fun to join in a meme that I feel suits both me and my blog.
Maybe I don't hate memes after all--perhaps I'm just hopelessly picky instead. Comforting thought, that.
Goodness, I'm going to regret saying that. Let me try again:
Memes are not typically a good fit for my blog.
There we go. Better?
My first experience with memes was from consuming blogs rather than writing them. I'd feel like I'd come to know a blogger and had a great appreciation for their content. But slowly, it would begin to be taken up by a bunch of fake happy excitement about participation in a meme. I say fake happy because I would notice their personality and writing style change. And gradually, their blog would become more meme and less of them, until I couldn't be bothered to read anymore. My favorite author might be there physically, but they've left the building as far as this reader was concerned.
Memes are great as community projects, but I'm seeing two things that are really important: 1) maintaining the individuality of a blog, and 2) ensuring the meme fits well into the blog and the author's style.
When I began blogging at first I wrote off all memes and contented myself with displaying my enthusiasm for the blogging community in other ways, namely by tweets and comments. But two in particular have piqued my interest lately - the Review Roundup and Toy with me Tuesday. Now that I have something akin enough to a review scheduled for publishing, I have the chance to actually consider participating in the Review Roundup. But it requires each person to post an entire list of links on their blog. As I'm subscribed to blogs, I keep getting the same post with the same links from different blogs. It feels spammy to me. It's something I don't want to subject readers to, because I don't like being the reader on the receiving end of it. A button to "click for more" is a lot less intrusive, and I plan to get around to suggesting it to dizzygirl.
The other one, Toy with Me Tuesday, as had my attention since I first heard of it and I've enjoyed people's posts when participating even if some of them do come off as a little corny/forced. I was toying with the idea of participating, but it didn't feel right until I happened to snap a photo on a whim the other day that I realized would be perfect for it. Eagerly, I read up on the guidelines.
Here's the problem: I have a weird personal thing about referring to sex toys as "toys". I'm okay with it in conversation, but on my blog I'd just rather not. It feels like it indicates they're frivolous, as if they aren't currently essential to my sense of wellbeing, as if my doctor didn't recognize a huge improvement in my health when I began using them and told me that I should continue. Maybe if I didn't come from a culture that told me they were superfluous (at best) then I'd be less sensitized to it. Nevertheless, including a button of a picture with "sex toys" spelled out in the sand with said items just doesn't feel right on my blog. Other blogs have a fun, happy-go-lucky atmosphere and that's totally cool and it fits well. But on my blog? Nope.
I emailed Nymphomaniac saying I'd love to participate but requesting that I could just include a link to Toy With Me Tuesday instead of the banner. It'd be completely within her rights to refuse it, but I'm hoping she allows it because it really would be fun to join in a meme that I feel suits both me and my blog.
Maybe I don't hate memes after all--perhaps I'm just hopelessly picky instead. Comforting thought, that.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Why I'm not Monetizing (yet)
There are a myriad of reasons why I'm not currently monetizing my blog or attempting to get free toys. off the top of my head:
1. I don't feel comfortable requesting favors when I don't have a well-trafficked, fine-tuned website full of original content to present. *I* don't feel good about approaching companies without that. I get where they're coming from and want to make sure that before I'm trying to initiate anything that I am confident I have something of value to offer in a business arrangement.
2. Personal pressure. You wouldn't believe the amount of added pressure I'd put on myself if I was trying to make money off of this. It's related to the above reason, of trying to ensure I'm worthy, but ties a bunch of other personal stuff in as well. I need to learn to be less perfectionist. Increased pressure would mean the quality of my writing takes a plunge.
3. Added complexity. Goodness, I only got my first sex toy less than 6 months ago! I've only just barely learned how to set up a WordPress site and am still in process of trying to make it look nice. I'm taking self-taught crash courses in all the well known social media sites, learning not only the mechanics of how to use them but also paying attention to the culture within them, so I'm not just throwing my blog into their social ring but actually engaging the way it's meant to be engaged with. That part is important to me. I'm networking with other sex bloggers, participating on forums, and so busy just getting a general feel with things all while in real life my sexuality is blossoming literally for the first. Time. Ever. Do I really need to add the added complexity of negotiating earning money or free toys along with all that? No. Didn't think so.
4. I don't know retailers well enough to vouch for them. I admire Epiphora in the way she tends to get to know retailers pretty well as she works with them. It's fantastic. And while I go by her recommendation to some extent, if I'm going to recommend places to others I need my own hands-on experience to go by. I don't have enough of that, yet, and it's not the kind of thing you can learn from an evening of research or a few email exchanges. Rather, it's built over time. I don't tend to be patient by nature, but this is one thing I'm not eager to rush, only because the end result will be so much sweeter if it happens naturally.
5. I'm not comfortable with the standard "in exchange for a review" paradigm. I haven't figured it all out yet, but what it really boils down to is that I don't like being under obligation to talk about something. Anything. I don't want my blog to be product-centered; rather I want the focus to be on my life experiences as I journey into sensuality. Along the way I might mention products, I'll probably rave about the stuff I love and make a snide comment or two about the items I hate. Or I might be silent about an item, simply because I have better things to talk about.
Y'know what?? That's freedom to me. If a manufacturer wants me to talk about their toys, then they should take care to make toys worth talking about. If I deem it not worth my time or energy to thoroughly test out and carefully write about, then I want the freedom to drop it and be done with it.
On the flipside, this means that if I really love a toy I just might keep talking about it. By not confining myself to writing formal reviews I give myself the freedom to simply express. And it really doesn't fit in with the current established paradigm between sex bloggers and retailers or manufacturers. I need time to figure out exactly what I am or am not comfortable with and how an alternative system could mutually benefit both parties. In the meantime, I don't expect companies to have a clue what the fuck I'm taking about, because it's not like I do either.
6. Preferential treatment of affiliates might taint my reports of their customer service. I've been on the receiving end of surprisingly poor customer service by a well-known and highly regarded company. Would I have been treated more appropriately if I was an affluent blogger affiliated with them? I think there's a good chance of that. If companies are going to show their true colors around a "nobody" like me, it's beneficial to stay that way as long as possible.
7. Turning professional takes me a step away from the real customer experience. As a newbie to sex toys, there's stuff I really would like to see on other people's blogs because it'd be so helpful to me...and it's just not there. Things like information on what toys they don't use often or have stopped using altogether, and why. Things about how their toy collection grew, and why each new piece was selected. What their most often used sex toys are and why. And all this in an easily absorbed format. That's why I'm beginning to love Pinterest, and and just starting to explore plugins that would better integrate it with my site. To easily see at a glance all the stuff in frequent use and notes on why is super valuable info. Same for stuff no longer in use. Reviews can be simplified to pros and cons very easily here, and it's a cinch for the reader to navigate.
8. Foundations. This draws on #3. Namely, before more complexity is added to the mix, I need to build a solid foundation. That means a solid social presence, a solid familiarity with the websites I'm using, writing habits that maintain my blog without infringing on my life, and stability in my sexuality. It's basic platform to go from, and it takes time to build. I won't be settled with moving forward to "advanced blogger stuff" until all that is in order first. Too much danger of burn-out.
9. Developing my own voice. During this phase in my life I feel like I'm a sapling, easily affected my the pressures of winds that would cause it to grow up all crooked. trying to grow my own voice amidst the pressures of doing this or that for money or traffic will result in something twisty and bent and so not me. Once I've had some time to myself in a nice quiet free environment of not a care in the world as far as blogging is concerned, then I'll be able to hold my own more easily. But in the meantime: my voice is precious, unique, and not receiving a whole lot of affirmation. So just like a sapling, I'm going to give it extra water and protection and wait for it to grow up a bit before taking the stakes out, so to speak.
10. I HAVE A LIFE. Sometimes it doesn't feel that way, but I do. And very few things feel worse to me than to realize I've wasted precious family time or helping a friend in need just because there was blog stuff to do. Maybe if I was making a living off of this, maybe if I had an overwhelming need for blog therapy that day. But just to keep up with things, at this stage? No. As much as I enjoy this, real life comes first. Overcommitment has never worked out well for me in the long run.
1. I don't feel comfortable requesting favors when I don't have a well-trafficked, fine-tuned website full of original content to present. *I* don't feel good about approaching companies without that. I get where they're coming from and want to make sure that before I'm trying to initiate anything that I am confident I have something of value to offer in a business arrangement.
2. Personal pressure. You wouldn't believe the amount of added pressure I'd put on myself if I was trying to make money off of this. It's related to the above reason, of trying to ensure I'm worthy, but ties a bunch of other personal stuff in as well. I need to learn to be less perfectionist. Increased pressure would mean the quality of my writing takes a plunge.
3. Added complexity. Goodness, I only got my first sex toy less than 6 months ago! I've only just barely learned how to set up a WordPress site and am still in process of trying to make it look nice. I'm taking self-taught crash courses in all the well known social media sites, learning not only the mechanics of how to use them but also paying attention to the culture within them, so I'm not just throwing my blog into their social ring but actually engaging the way it's meant to be engaged with. That part is important to me. I'm networking with other sex bloggers, participating on forums, and so busy just getting a general feel with things all while in real life my sexuality is blossoming literally for the first. Time. Ever. Do I really need to add the added complexity of negotiating earning money or free toys along with all that? No. Didn't think so.
4. I don't know retailers well enough to vouch for them. I admire Epiphora in the way she tends to get to know retailers pretty well as she works with them. It's fantastic. And while I go by her recommendation to some extent, if I'm going to recommend places to others I need my own hands-on experience to go by. I don't have enough of that, yet, and it's not the kind of thing you can learn from an evening of research or a few email exchanges. Rather, it's built over time. I don't tend to be patient by nature, but this is one thing I'm not eager to rush, only because the end result will be so much sweeter if it happens naturally.
5. I'm not comfortable with the standard "in exchange for a review" paradigm. I haven't figured it all out yet, but what it really boils down to is that I don't like being under obligation to talk about something. Anything. I don't want my blog to be product-centered; rather I want the focus to be on my life experiences as I journey into sensuality. Along the way I might mention products, I'll probably rave about the stuff I love and make a snide comment or two about the items I hate. Or I might be silent about an item, simply because I have better things to talk about.
Y'know what?? That's freedom to me. If a manufacturer wants me to talk about their toys, then they should take care to make toys worth talking about. If I deem it not worth my time or energy to thoroughly test out and carefully write about, then I want the freedom to drop it and be done with it.
On the flipside, this means that if I really love a toy I just might keep talking about it. By not confining myself to writing formal reviews I give myself the freedom to simply express. And it really doesn't fit in with the current established paradigm between sex bloggers and retailers or manufacturers. I need time to figure out exactly what I am or am not comfortable with and how an alternative system could mutually benefit both parties. In the meantime, I don't expect companies to have a clue what the fuck I'm taking about, because it's not like I do either.
6. Preferential treatment of affiliates might taint my reports of their customer service. I've been on the receiving end of surprisingly poor customer service by a well-known and highly regarded company. Would I have been treated more appropriately if I was an affluent blogger affiliated with them? I think there's a good chance of that. If companies are going to show their true colors around a "nobody" like me, it's beneficial to stay that way as long as possible.
7. Turning professional takes me a step away from the real customer experience. As a newbie to sex toys, there's stuff I really would like to see on other people's blogs because it'd be so helpful to me...and it's just not there. Things like information on what toys they don't use often or have stopped using altogether, and why. Things about how their toy collection grew, and why each new piece was selected. What their most often used sex toys are and why. And all this in an easily absorbed format. That's why I'm beginning to love Pinterest, and and just starting to explore plugins that would better integrate it with my site. To easily see at a glance all the stuff in frequent use and notes on why is super valuable info. Same for stuff no longer in use. Reviews can be simplified to pros and cons very easily here, and it's a cinch for the reader to navigate.
8. Foundations. This draws on #3. Namely, before more complexity is added to the mix, I need to build a solid foundation. That means a solid social presence, a solid familiarity with the websites I'm using, writing habits that maintain my blog without infringing on my life, and stability in my sexuality. It's basic platform to go from, and it takes time to build. I won't be settled with moving forward to "advanced blogger stuff" until all that is in order first. Too much danger of burn-out.
9. Developing my own voice. During this phase in my life I feel like I'm a sapling, easily affected my the pressures of winds that would cause it to grow up all crooked. trying to grow my own voice amidst the pressures of doing this or that for money or traffic will result in something twisty and bent and so not me. Once I've had some time to myself in a nice quiet free environment of not a care in the world as far as blogging is concerned, then I'll be able to hold my own more easily. But in the meantime: my voice is precious, unique, and not receiving a whole lot of affirmation. So just like a sapling, I'm going to give it extra water and protection and wait for it to grow up a bit before taking the stakes out, so to speak.
10. I HAVE A LIFE. Sometimes it doesn't feel that way, but I do. And very few things feel worse to me than to realize I've wasted precious family time or helping a friend in need just because there was blog stuff to do. Maybe if I was making a living off of this, maybe if I had an overwhelming need for blog therapy that day. But just to keep up with things, at this stage? No. As much as I enjoy this, real life comes first. Overcommitment has never worked out well for me in the long run.
The blog is finally here
The idea of my starting a blog about blogging began as a joke with one of my friends until I found myself ranting their ears off. Since the first of my rants has been blogs blogging about blogging when it's not the focus of the blog, the only solution to the problem was obvious:
I needed a blog about blogging.
So here it is.
Note to self: have at it.
I needed a blog about blogging.
So here it is.
Note to self: have at it.
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