It's a Lonely World!

Having what I've now come to call blogging-buddies is such a fantastic thing, and through them the whole blogging experience is even better! You have people: to discuss your favourite books with(or if you're a beauty blogger you're favourite nail-polish brand) and freak-out over the trailers of new book adaptations with; that understand how hard it can be to get the right balance between blogging and school-work; who you can laugh with, and share your lives with in many ways as, no one else is up at 1am except your nocturnal blogging friends; and most of all, have the same hobbies as you! If you don't have a group of people around you, it can be a lonely world. When I look back to my first months of blogging, I can now see how much things have changed now there are people I tweet constantly! Here are some top tips to get involved in the craziness:

 

 

Use Social Networking Sites!

 

 

 

Not only will this help you gain a larger blog following but it will also allow people to find you much more easily! Twitter to me is one of the most important sites to join, and actually the only social-media site(excluding Goodreads) that I have for my blog! Find some of your favourite bloggers' Twitter accounts and just tweet them a short message saying how much you like their blog and how you have your own, and through that you can simply earn a friend! Get involved in different conversations you see, don't be afraid to say 'Hello' as we don't bite(Apart from Hawwa - of course) and be yourself! Once you have a few Twitter followers, you will soon see how their own will notice conversations and that will lead straight to more regular conversations with more people!
 

Comment on other blogs!

 

 

This is a must-do for new bloggers, and people who have been blogging for years! I love reading comments left on my posts and they always seem to make my day so, make sure to return that favour! When someone leaves a comment on your own post, make sure to go right back to their blog and tell them you appreciate it! I think one of the nicest things to come home to is seeing that you're new found friends like what you post and also, you're able to share ideas which really helps when you have a mind-block!

 

Personally, I find it really hard to go up to someone new and start a conversation. Being thrown into a room of strangers is my worst nightmare - and one I've had to face a fair few times lately! The great thing is, the blogging community is much easier to talk too than the 'instantly-judge' classmates who seem to only remember all the embarrassing things that have happened to you. Blogging buddies - you instantly have something you love to talk about!

 

Always Reply!

 

 

This is something I've always done, and will always do! I'm also so grateful to people who take the time to read and follow my blog so, I make sure to answer any questions they leave or just say "Thank you" for the comment. If someone sends me a tweet, I want to reply and just like that, you've started a conversation and could end up having an endless one for hours! Just by doing this, I've gotten to know the people I'm chatting with on Twitter at this very moment(as I'm going between writing this and Tweeting).
 

Be Patient!

 

 

If you've been following this blog for a while you'll probably know that to build up my own following it did take a while. For many people, it's a slow-process and it took me a while to realise I'm not going to wake up in the morning, log-on and have hundreds of new people wanting to speak to me, and comments to reply too. Although, when you finally get to the point where you realise there are people supporting you and you find yourself laughing on Twitter over jokes your friends have made, it's worth it.
 

Get Involved!

 

 

 

I wish I had done this sooner but, it took me a while to realise there was a big blogging community - and suddenly I was a part of this! To find people you can talk to in this 'world' and having the confidence to do it are two completely different things! Join in with chats on Twitter such as Lucy's brilliant #ukyachat who just trended 2nd in the UK tonight! Things like this are great to find other bloggers and share about your favourite books and you'll quickly find fellow fans. Admittedly, I wish I'd known to do this when I first started as being present is the best thing you can be!

 

Don't be Too Serious

 

 

Remember, your chatting to people the same age as you and just want to have fun. Don't worry about not being seen as 'professional' and be yourself! Make jokes, over-use CAPS LOCK and make sure to put your semi-colons and brackets to good use! I found constantly tweeting links wasn't really letting me experience the blogosphere I know today so, start having fun! These are the people who won't judge you and instead, share the love of books that fellow classmates will find 'nerdy' and 'geeky'. But, never be mean to other bloggers! Constructive criticism is fine but don't post something that will be seen as offensive!

I hope all my above tips will help! I wish I could have told myself a year ago to get some more social networking sites and to stop worrying about having too many and forgetting the passwords! How do you socialise in the blogosphere?

Apologies for any awful formatting!

There is so much bookish-news floating around at the moment - post coming on everything tomorrow! Including the fact I've spent most of the week freaking-out over John Green tweets!