My regular readers know that I have been experimenting with sharing my thoughts on multiple different outlets or platforms. I started by joining Facebook. Before that I was in a chat group on a site called SpanishDict. I was chatting in English and Spanish with people all over the world who were trying to learn a new language. It was great fun! I was learning Spanish.
Then, in 2009, I got introduced to Facebook. Look how young we were!
Most of the SpanishDict group moved to Fb and I am still friends with some of those people even though I abandoned my study of Spanish when I became a runner. Just not enough time do to everything. When I joined Fb I got swept up in the dark world of anonymous commenting. This was not a good thing and I said things I regret because they did not glory God.
But I was convicted of this irresponsible commenting and in the end, being on Fb was actually good because it made me be more conscious about what I thought and posted. I think Fb has gone downhill since it became Mega, but I still it use it. I don’t post there nearly as much as I used to, but I find it a useful way to correspond with friends and follow their lives.
As for the way I research and write articles now, this is a recent development in my life that was not possible when I was still homeschooling and ultrarunning. Not enough time! I started my WordPress blog for fun when I first started my running journey. Then when the world started changing, my posts changed to more politics and religion. But I have found that on WordPress I do not get the amount of engagement that I would like. I enjoy discussing things and learning from others, not one-way conversations. I tried everything to get more traffic here. I recently decided not to continue paying for the Premium WP features.
The photo below is of a much younger me from an early WP post. I was a brand new runner.
Below you see a much thinner, and injured, version of myself. This was after training for and barely finishing the Chicago marathon. You can read about that here. I had lost a lot of weight thanks to the Paleo diet.
Enter podcasting! I signed up and began putting out podcasts in hopes of getting more engagement. At first my podcast was getting a decent number of plays. Then something happened and it fell down to almost nothing. I didn’t change my style. I think it was either an algorithm thing or related to changes at Anchor when they joined with Spotify. They are still working out the bugs over there. Either way, it’s nice that I have a few dedicated listeners, but I want more interaction, and I think my messages are important.
The next photo is my Anchor podcast profile image. I wish I was still that young and fit!
I have also started posting on Substack, which is similar to WordPress as far as the conversations between readers. I think Substack may put the hurt on WP. Major authors are posting there and getting paid in the form of subscriptions. The articles can be read via email or on the website. https://pkadams.substack.com/
So NOW, I am being brave and showing my face on YouTube. Yes, I had already posted a few videos there, but not podcasts. I just recently put out an actual podcast episode on YT. And I am pleasantly surprised that I am seeing a much higher engagement rate. One thing I didn’t like about podcasting was the lack of ability to comment easily on an episode. I still have a ways to go to improve my video ‘look’. And I am also working on learning about ‘delivery’. If I can focus long enough, I am going to read a textbook on public speaking.
So dear blogging friends, that’s my story. While our world is changing fast, one thing remains true. Which is that I am getting older, but I will keep learning and sharing the truth until I no longer can.
I am enjoying trying out the different platforms. If you want to see the video, here it is. As you can see, I now have brown hair with gray roots and lots of wrinkles. 🙂 Maybe I should change my profile pic.
Blue Skies and Green Pastures 
Your experience is similar to mine, although I got much more engagement on WP than FB. I will add that Covid changed both for me; friends I thought were friends in both places became very polarized and offended.
Image is very important. As Professor Brown says in “Back to the Future,” “No wonder your President is an actor…” then he adds something about, with TV, it’s now all about appearances.
I don’t think Facebook is the right place for people who enjoy reading and writing . 😁
It lingers on, though… and I thought maybe it was since people re-posted others’ writing.
I think Zuckerberg messed up by letting fact checkers out so many people in FB jail. He also ran off many his base user, the boomers. But I think it lingers on because it has other uses such as finding and sharing your Event , sharing photos, and especially, Groups. But when I share an article that I found, hardly anyone clicks on it. I think people are mostly scrolling, not reading . Check this out. https://time.com/12933/what-you-think-you-know-about-the-web-is-wrong/
I’ve known many of the things outlined in the article, yet have still had to write to that outdated algorithm because it’s what the search engines have been trained to favor.
Exactly 😕
That’s courageous of you to do Youtube. I also commend you for trying Substack. I do subscribe to two Substack writers.
It’s kinda fun being part of something new. Which ones do you follow? Do you recommend them ?
Glenn Greenwald (my son gave me a subscription) and Techno Fog. Greenwald is supposed to be a socialist, but he seems more common sense. Techno Fog is a conservative investigative reporter.
There are so many platforms available to writers and non- professionals that it must be difficult to choose. Maybe one platform is better for one form of communication than another. I find conversations, like Mike Rowe’s “The Way I Heard It” easy to follow and very enjoyable. But, the written word, well done, may be best for more subtlety or nuance. You’ll figure it out.
What I find disappointing is the tendency of some bloggers, in an attempt to monetize their blogs, is to write when they have little to say or even resort to cut and pasting news articles into their blogs just to have multiple posts per day. Your more thoughtful approach is appreciated. We are, I think, heading into even more dark times. Thoughtful, God centered thinking will be critical.
Congratulations, my friend. that was very brave of you an I am so pod of you
I applaud you for reaching out to those other platforms
Thanks, I enjoy it.
I like podcasts. They don’t require your full attention and you can do something else while listening.
I like especially listening to podcastt while walking outdoors. That’s why I download them on my smart phone or download them on my laptop and transfer them to my dumb phone. This is very useful because there can be places where there’s no stable internet connection, especially in the forrests.
Unfortunately I cannot download from platforms like spotify or at least I cannot download without registering to the platforms.
Many years ago I’discovered podparadise. They have thousands of podcasts and you can download tepisodes without any kind of registration.
Whenever there is a podcast I want to listen to on a regular basis I check if I can find it on podparadise.
I’ve found your podcast too. :).
You may want to share the link.. Could be very useful to guys like me.
https://www.podparadise.com/Podcast/1556847914
Thanks for sharing how you do it without giving away your personal data. I know that is important to many people. I’ve pretty much given up on the fight for privacy. But I applaud those who are still fighting !
P.S.
What I miss is a feature that allows me to post comments on an episode.
Maybe it is possible to embed the player within a regular blog post?
That would be cool because then one could comment the usual way.
I have done that quite a few times . I think I still have podcasts listed on my menu . I recently reverted my site back to two years ago and lost some of my edits .
This is so cool to read! I definitely experiment with different platforms.
Awesome!
Good for you trying different platforms.
I know something like 60% of websites are built on WP. Even if it’s just 20% that would be a huge number of sites.
I’m confounded enough by WP, the thought of learning a new platform seems daunting.
I don’t listen to podcasts and I’m not sure I’d be any good at it. I can talk but not sure I have enough to say to fill a 30 or 60 minute segment.
And as far as video? Seems like too much work. You have to look okay and your background can’t be baskets of un-ironed shirts and piles of books.
Blogging does get a little stale at times, so maybe a new challenge would energize my creativity. Have you found that to be the case with you?
I enjoy learning new things on the computer. I never had the time before to do this stuff , but I do now . Substack is very simple . I think it’s easier than WordPress.
https://www.fiverr.com/share/ZWk5ma