If you’re like me, you can get on the Internet to do one thing–write a blog post or check Facebook, for instance–and surface hours later, wondering where on earth the time went. I thought it might be fun (and dangerous!) to look at where I go when I’m playing on the ‘net, and find out where you spend your time, too.
Social Media
Goodreads. If you love books and you’re not on Goodreads, you’re missing out. Yes, there’s been occasional drama and sturm-und-drang over authors and/or bloggers behaving badly, but I’ve been on the site for three-and-a-half years and never been involved in that even peripherally. I find it useful for checking out reviews of books I might want to read, keeping track of my monstrously long TBR list and my even longer list of books read, and seeing what my various reading friends are up to. Plus, of course, post my reviews! There are useful lists; I can find all the books of a series in order, personalize my shelves, and enter giveaways; and if I fan or friend an author and they’ve linked their blog, I get messages whenever they update their blog. (My Goodreads page)
Tumblr. Ah, Tumblr. Tumblr is a great place for fandoms, photos of cute mammals, and social awareness posts. I got into it because that’s where Robin has her blog, so I was seeing not only what she wrote but what she reblogged. (That’s the thing about Tumblr: you’re supposed to reblog, as long as you keep the original source and comments when you do.) Some wonderful authors hang out on Tumblr: Seanan Mcguire, John Green, Tamora Pierce, Maggie Stiefvater. And there’s a whole bookish subculture known as booklr. I post and reblog book-related quotes, photos of books, libraries, and books in art, and other book-related stuff. (The Bookwyrm’s Hoard tumblr)
Facebook. Between my personal page and my blog page, I can spend way too much time on Facebook. . . but working alone at home, it’s the closest thing I have to a watercooler or a break room. I enjoy keeping up with friends from my past and friends I’ve made through blogging, and following what some of my favorite authors are up to. (The Bookwyrm’s Hoard Facebook page)
Pinterest. I find a lot of great quotes, travel photos, and art on Pinterest. Other people like it for recipes and crafts. I pin lots of stuff about books, from quotes and comics to “books in art” to reviews I’ve written. I also pin fantasy art, geeky stuff, writing tips and inspiration, NaNoWriMo stuff, photos of Great Britain, castles, and gorgeous scenery, and knitting- and tea-related pictures. (The Bookwyrm’s Hoard Pinterest page)
Twitter. I don’t spend a lot of time on Twitter, because I don’t have a smartphone, but I do check in once or twice a day most days, to see what’s new and tweet my latest posts. And it’s great for Twitter parties associated with book launches or reading/blogging challenges. (I tweet at @BookwyrmsHoard)
Graphics Creation
PicMonkey. PicMonkey is an easy-to-use online photo editor that lets you upload photos, crop, resize, and clean them up, then add effects and text. I run most of my own photos through it before posting them anywhere, and use it with free Creative Commons images to make graphics for my blog. Sure, I could use Photoshop if I had it (it’s expensive!) or PaintShop Pro (less expensive), but for basic photo editing, neither is as easy as PicMonkey.
Canva. Canva is specifically designed for graphic design, particularly text and graphics. It has lots of customizable presets, or you can start from scratch. Sometimes I’ll prepare an image in PicMonkey, then pull it into Canva to add text, because Canva’s text tools are a bit better.
Book-related websites
I’m just going to list these, rather than comment on each one individually:
- BookRiot (articles, reviews, lists, other stuff)
- NPR Books (articles, interviews, reviews)
- Publishers Weekly (book news)
- The Guardian‘s book section (articles, interviews, reviews)
- List Challenge’s book section (lists)
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
I fall down the rabbit hole a pretty good bit. I use goodreads and pinterest a lot and facebook as well though I’m trying to get away from that one as I’ve found it ends up just stressing me out. I ended up spending an hour and a half on BBC’s personality quiz section yesterday (I’m Margaret Thatcher, the 3rd Doctor, Jane Tennison, and should be in Ravenclaw if you’re wondering) and there’s another site that gets me periodically that has bookish quizzes.
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library recently posted…Friday Linkups: Lockwood and Co. The Screaming Staircase
Lark_Bookwyrm
Those personality quizzes can be addictive! Pottermore just sorted me into Ravenclaw… annoying, as the previous iteration of it sorted me into Hufflepuff. (Granted, I could fit into either — but I like Hufflepuff better.) Pottermore is another site I could spend way too much time on…
Literary Feline
I use Twitter (although I read more than I participate on the site), and I spend way too much time on Facebook, reading through my feed and in groups. I keep track of what I read on Goodreads. I have a tumblr and Pinterest accounts, but I never use either. They confuse me. Same for Instragram.
Literary Feline recently posted…From the Archives: Favorites From 2006 (The Last Two Reviews From My Pre-Blogging Days)
Lark_Bookwyrm
I haven’t signed up for Instagram because it requires you to sign up via a mobile device, and my basic voice-and-text phone can’t do that. It’s just as well — I can’t keep up with the sites I’m on now! 😉
Lory @ Emerald City Book Review
Facebook and Twitter are my two time-suckers. I resisted Twitter for a long time but now I’m addicted — even though I don’t have a smartphone either. I do use Goodreads a lot as well for keeping track of my books and checking out reviews, but not so much for “friend” activity. Great topic!
Lory @ Emerald City Book Review recently posted…In Brief: Three from the Theatre
Lark_Bookwyrm
If I ever get a smartphone, my Twitter use will probably expand!
Heather @ Random Redheaded Ramblings
Pinterest and Instagram suck me in at the minute. I love them but I am a sucker for a nice picture!!
I do use Goodreads but really just for posting my reviews, the same with Twitter but I do keep an eye on my fave tweeters.
The internet is a total rabbit hole, I love it!!
Heather @ Random Redheaded Ramblings recently posted…BEYOND THE BOOKS – #Winning or my lack off #Winning
Lark_Bookwyrm
I spent a huge amount of time on Pinterest when I first discovered it. Now I’m there less often, but I still pin things fairly regularly, and even find new boards to follow. I use Goodreads extensively, not for social interaction but for posting reviews (after they’ve been on my blog a day or three) and keeping track of what I want to read, might want to read, and have read.
Lianne @ eclectictales.com
Great post! I’ve long since fallen down the rabbit hole of GoodReads and Twitter and never found my way out again (and maybe Instagram too, but I usually do a quick browse and then I’m out of there once I’ve skimmed through everyone’s latest uploads).
I am however debating on whether to keep my blog’s Facebook page around or not…I don’t have time to update it, I don’t know if many readers over there end up on my blog for any stretch of time, not to mention I’m not fond of the recent updates on FB in general (I noticed I can’t really like pages anymore as my page? They go straight to my personal profile, which I don’t want. Or maybe I’m not paying attention lol)
Lianne @ eclectictales.com recently posted…January Updates
Lark_Bookwyrm
I’m not crazy about FB’s changes, either, but I’ve got a fair number of people following over there, so I’m keeping the page for now. I don’t know if any of them click through to my blog posts, though.
Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic
I end up on all kinds of sites on the internet. Usually not so much on social media although every once-in-a-while I go down that rabbit hole. I usually read other people’s blogs and then forget to comment as I go looking for a book or get interrupted by something else. Good post, Lark! I think almost everyone can relate…lol
Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic recently posted…Dreaming Death by J. Kathleen Cheney
Lark_Bookwyrm
Oh, I’ve done that too — read a post, go check the book on Goodreads, see if it’s available at my library, get distracted by another title… I seem to be easily distractable these days.