Social Media Platforms that I Use

Let’s talk about Social Media platforms! Thank you to Renee @ Renne’s Bookcase for this topic! I never really thought about discussing this topic because I am actually not active on all the popular platforms! However, I have tried a few of them!

But let’s talk about which ones I use on a daily basis – or at least, regularly. This means that I am active on that platform and I actually enjoy using it.

I’ve been using WordPress since 2008 and I have always been using it! I’ve been blogging since the early 2000s (non-bookish) and I was using Blogger. When I started using WordPress and managed my blog myself, I did not look back.

I started I Heart Romance & YA in 2012 and I have enjoyed the interactions and friends I made through this blog! I mean, I am still blogging in 2019! While I have times when I don’t blog as much, I still enjoy blogging and sharing my thoughts.

The other social media platform I use is Goodreads! If you are a reader, I’m sure you are very familiar with this platform. I started using GR around the time I started I Heart Romance & YA but I have been using the platform since 2010.

I mainly use GR for tracking the books that I am reading, how many times I read the book (this was the best thing GR ever invented, yo!), and if the book is part of a series and the suggested books! I have followed a few people on GR, but I don’t really keep track of all the status updates there. I also don’t participate in the groups (initially I did) and I comment on reviews very rarely. In fact, I don’t really get a lot of interaction on my GR page.

I think one of my favorite social media platforms is Instagram because mixes graphics with your reviews and book recommendations! I am a very graphic person and I love the fact that everyone is showcasing their creativity on their own feeds and sharing books that they love!

In fact, this is my favorite platform for interacting and commenting! I actually found my peeps on this platform! In the last year or so, I stumbled upon this amazing romance community on IG and I can’t believe how amazing that community is! I got a lot of recs and made a lot of friends!

If you aren’t on IG, this is a great time to join and share your book recommendations. I follow the #romancetakeover and #romancestagram hashtag for all the romance recs!

Social Media Platforms that I Hardly Use

Now, let’s talk about the platforms that I hardly use! I’ve used a few of these platforms at one time but I’m currently not active on there.

The other social media platform that I use mostly for lurking and getting romance-related news is Twitter. While I don’t tweet or interact a lot on this platform, this is where I get a lot of author, book, or romance-related news (read drama). I regularly check and lurk on Twitter, but I don’t interact there a lot. I know a lot of people love to tweet, I just couldn’t get the hang of it. I tried to be active there at one point, but I just couldn’t keep up!

However, all my posts on my other social media accounts post to Twitter!

I have a Facebook account which I use mostly to keep in contact with my family and friends. I hardly post any bookish-related things there, but this blog does have its own Facebook page.

Unfortunately, I am not active on there but have both my blog and bookstagram account post there. I don’t interact with other readers on that page.

The one thing that I use Facebook for regularly is Facebook groups! I am a member of a few author and romance groups there and I am fairly active there. This is an awesome way to get to know the authors or get other recs, but I am also not very active and typically lurk around the groups I joined.

Did you know that I used to have a YouTube channel? In 2018, I started a Youtube channel and discovered early on that it was so hard to do! I mean, it takes a lot of time! As you know, English is not my first language and it’s hard for me to freestyle and ad-lib as much as I want to, so I have to write all the things I want to say and then ad-lib. Plus, I had to edit all the videos, and add the photos or book covers on the side when I am talking about that book – too much work! Also, I had to dress up and at least put on mascara so I don’t look pale on YT!

You can still see a few of the videos that I have and tell me what you think! I was really encouraged by the comments and the community was very welcoming when I started on YT, but it was just too much time to set up, prep, and upload.

I also noticed that there are a lot more YA booktube channels as compared to romance booktube channels, so my YT channel was supposed to be a romance-only channel.

Unfortunately, juggling real life, bookstagram and blogging was too much for me to add on a Youtube channel. I still love doing short videos though, so I post a few on Instagram.

Which social media platforms do you use?

Where are you most active?

Do you have any bookish discussion suggestions? Please submit them here!