Bad Apples? Social Media and the No Niche Me

Food For Thought | Bad Apples | Agent Mystery Case

Food For Thought | Bad Apples | Agent Mystery Case

 

An apple a day apparently keeps the doctor away but apples aren’t all good. If reports are to believed they are one of the top 9 choking foods for infants but this doesn’t mean we need to be neurotic when it comes to apples, we just need to chop them into bite size pieces or cook until mushy before serving to infants.

 

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away…. what does a rotten apple do?

 

Apples are packed with vitamins, antioxidants and more, making them one of the top ranking fruits for your health but I’m sure we’ve all bitten into an apple or two that didn’t quite taste as good as it looked on the outside and was in fact rotten to the core.

 

Should one or two bad apples, turn you off eating the fruit altogether? 

 

In terms of blogging I think I’ve been guilty of letting a couple of bad apples ruin things for me lately. I’ve been too focussed and distracted by the negatives, which has me losing sight of the positives and the benefits. It’s left a bad taste in my mouth and quite frankly almost turned me off blogging altogether but a few bad apples shouldn’t ruin things completely. Should it?

 

Rather than highlight and bring even more focus to the negatives, I’m moving on up this week with a new and hopefully improved direction. In the process, I’m giving you more than a bit of food for thought this Worth Casing Wednesday.

 

Are there any aspects of blogging you are struggling with or that have left a bad taste in your mouth?

 

 

Moving on Up

 

Moving on or Moving on up? A new social media direction

 

Lately I’ve been finding it difficult to reconcile my desire for creativity and originality with the restraints society places on me and still strive to be an efficient and productive person. There are some online aspects that just don’t sit right with me or my values.

 

I almost feel like I need to hide my real personality in order to live up to other people’s expectations of me, especially as I get ready to launch the next phase in my online business. For the most part, I try and keep my online persona as real as possible but I have no real control over just how you perceive me or what you take away from the snippets I share online.

 

I do have certain blogging lines I try not to cross and I often wonder if it really is possible or advisable to have a blog that verges on the personal and keeping it a little too real, if you have or are trying to establish an online business in a professional sense. You tell me?

 

I love having a no niche blog, it means I can blog where inspiration (and occasionally sponsored content) takes me but the downside is that not everything I post is for everyone. Which is fine here on the blog because you only need to read what appeals and you can skip the rest. You can come and go as you please.

 

If you aren’t into blog link parties, then you just don’t visit on Wednesday for my Worth Casing Wednesday linkup, if you are not keen on the personal side you might want to skip Mondays where I tend to confess all manner of things as part of I must confess.

 

Over in Facebook town, it’s a completely different story. It means most days I’m ticking people off, which really does impact your reach on that platform. The people that are following the page for the food review side of things are no doubt rolling their eyes and running in the opposite direction when I post about style or my latest bargain buy. Same goes for the fashion side of things (using that term fairly loosely because I’m never going to be a fashion blogger) but no doubt if you are here for the style you aren’t going to want to hear about food or blogging or anything else I might feel like throwing your way.

 

Rather than continue to try to be everything to everyone and invest time to make Facebook work for me rather than against me or look to outsource this side of things, I’m hitting delete on our Facebook page for the time being.

 

Call it a social media experiment (or just plain sense) but if I need to restrict my online time, Facebook (where only 5% of our main blog demographic is hanging out) is the first to go. This doesn’t mean I won’t be participating on Facebook at all, I’m just using my time more wisely and will be concentrating on our Facebook groups. Mainly Blog Exchange which I share with a number of like minded bloggers and the newly formed Aussie Giveaway Linkup group.

 

businessmamassuccess

 

 

If I do return to the Mystery Case Facebook page, I wouldn’t mind exploring and focusing on more of the fun and crazy side of me. The keeping it a little too real, real me because rather than appeal to the masses (something that goes against the grain for me), I just want to be myself. Like it or leave it.

 

I appreciate that side of me is not exactly for everyone. I wonder if perhaps a new page and a new audience from the get go is in order or I just keep the more personal side of me… under wraps and well personal.

 

While I explore all my online options… you will find me hanging out in social media town here:

 

Instagram: @mysterycase

Generally a little visual sneak peek of what I’m getting up to at local events, the occasional worth casing bargain buy or designer treat and everything else in between. There are also my food reviews (mainly brunch and high tea) and I’m about to start ‘Casing the Cocktail’ because why the hell not!

 

Twitter: @msmysterycase (possible name change coming soon)

I tend to have an all or nothing approach to Twitter at the moment, where twitter is more of a feed on from other platforms and an afterthought and this probably should change. I’m keen to hear your thoughts!

 

Pinterest: @mysterycase

I’m going to be honest here… Pinterest scares the hell out of me. Not that I don’t completely understand the appeal and the potential, so much potential especially if you are a brand with something to sell. It’s more the potential to completely fall down the rabbit hole on that platform and needing to almost join a support group to find your way out again.

 

Polyvore: Mystery Case

My favourite place to experiment while I’m finding my style and running style challenges (like our current Outfit Under $50 challenge) that doesn’t require me jumping out of my comfort zone and in front of the camera.

 

WORTH CASING WEDNESDAY

Worth Casing Wednesday

If you have a blog post worth casing this week, this is the place to link up.

 



 

Where do you like to hang out in social media town and what platforms are you struggling with the most and why? What aspects of blogging have left a bad taste in your mouth?

About Mystery Case 462 Articles
Follow Raychael aka Mystery Case on her mystery adventures 'casing' people, products and places to bring you her worth casing favourites.

68 Comments

  1. Instagram is my fav place. If I stopped blogging tomorrow, I would still run my Insta blog! I only joined Insta about a year ago and couldn’t believe what I had been missing. Facebook bores me. Even more so now that they have cut back reach. What’s the point? Twitter I like. Pinterest is for me too but I don’t Pin for my audience specifically, I Pin for me. Mainly, I just like blogging on my blog and Insta.

    • I’m really loving Instagram too. I think if I stopped blogging tomorrow, micro blogging might be something I would continue with and Instagram is a great place for that.

      I’m pretty sure I’m already following you on Instagram Jody. Will have to check. What’s your handle?

  2. On apples for toddlers – grate it or use a peeler to make thin strips. My daughter loves it and no choking!
    On the rest – I’m seeing so many bloggers struggling at the moment. I think it’s good to take time out to reflect and redirect. You have to love what you are doing! See you on Instagram!

    • I’m seeing the struggling too Sara. I’ve just had a weekend where I was pretty much social media free. I need to schedule this more often.

      How do I find you on Instagram Sara?

  3. Instagram is definitely my favourite social media and I think it shows that I like it most. I don’t have Twitter and have yet to fully understand Pinterest or Facebook for that matter! Oh the dilemmas of bring born in the non computer era!

  4. Raychel, I love what you do. I think you are a brilliant resource for other bloggers and I am really grateful for your support and for the Blog .exchange. I agree that leaving a social media platform that is t working is a good idea. I am an Instagram tragic and I lov Pinterest too but I overdosed on it last year and am a bit sick of all the perfect cakes, cupboards and abs floating around on there. Have a great week. Eat an orange instead and see how that tastes. Bron

    • Thanks Bron. I was going to throw in an orange quote at the end of the post but then it started me on a whole other tangent. lol

  5. I love Instagram. I have Facebook but I mainly use that for friends and I have Twitter,I use it for news in the morning. I don’t do Pinterest at all.

    I feel that blogging should be who you are. I know some turn it into a job and such. I don’t because I want a couple of things in my life that I truly own and feel that I can express myself. I go places and take pics at my leisure. If something interests me then I take pics. Just me.

    I will follow you on Instagram.

    • I will start following you on Instagram. Blogging has always created work for me, so really is work for me. I’m also an all or nothing kind of gal, so I suppose having a blog as a hobby was never going to work for me. Hmm more food for thought.

  6. You are fantastic and I am amazing at how much you do. I am so useless at Twitter and Instagram. I find time is my hardest factor with blogging and I have vlog and blogs I want to do more but can’t physically do it all.

    • I’m the same with the time factor and then feel guilty for wasting time. It might be time to put all my crazy ideas on paper and pick my battles.

  7. Oh I don’t blame you for taking a step back from your FB page – sometimes it feels like a huge amount of effort for not a lot!!!! I love the ‘no niche’ thing – it makes it interesting and theres always something cool to read!

    • I just have the wrong demographic and approach for a FB page to work. I’m really loving the groups though and I will always be no niche. It’s just who I am.

  8. oh Raychael, how I hear you..and how I ‘get it’. Here’s the thing. Blogging is for suiting ME now…and I totally love it when people such as your good self pop in for a look and a comment.
    However, in my blogging past, 2011-2014 I tried to be ‘too many things’ to a variety of audiences because, in this humble opinion, I had plenty to offer in terms of: teaching, schooling, grandparenting and life itself.
    Not one of the items above actually took me any deeper into ‘blogger’ land as a ‘niche’ or ‘expert’ blogger despite soo many ‘bloggy experts’ and ‘blogging conference speakers; telling me “if you do this, then that” soon
    I became disillusioned and sat back and for much of last year blogged irregularly and ‘teacher me’ was conscious of not using my voice/views in a way which could have conflicted with the employment I was in at the time.
    In 2015, as you know from now reading my blog, we made a HUGE life shift by moving to the central coast, leaving family and me taking retirement from education. I “needed” to have a focus each day because there is no real focus when you make such a major move. I decided to do an entry every day on the blog about whatever took my fancy that day. I also planned particular posts and now I am the ‘free to be me’ blogger, instragrammer, FB and pinterest person I need to be.
    It took me ages to become ‘brave’ enough to share my stories about anxiety and loneliness but in doing so I have helped myself admit to these issues and have had support from others.
    I know I have written a post size response but it’s come from the heart, and what I have really enjoyed again, via linkys, (now yours too!) is I am reconnecting with so many of the bloggers I have known for YEARS.
    Denyse xx
    PS my IG account is set to private so ask to follow me..I got annoyed with spammers.

    • Thanks so much for your reply, it really means a lot to me. Next time I’m visiting my family on the Coast, I want to meet and have a super long chat.

      I’ve just commenced the business diploma which is fantastic because it means business wise I will be more focused and moving in the right direction but it has me conflicted about my approach and particularly the time I’m spending here and online in general.

      The recent troll/hack attack and the local blogging competitiveness that I always try and side step or avoid also have me feeling more disconnected than I should be at the moment.

  9. I’ve hidden my blog FB page a few times. I used to be far more active on Twitter than FB but am changing that a little now (though my FB page has very low number of likes even after years of being hidden and unhidden!).

    I struggle as you do, with the ‘how much to reveal online’ thing – also because I feel I need to be perceived as vaguely professional by others – usually non-blog readers and those who may stumble across my blitherings.

    • The business diploma and my possible change in direction, where I will be moving more online with the business and actively seeking clients, does have me over thinking and analysing my approach at the moment.

      I haven’t hidden the FB page, just stopped posting to it but I suppose I should look at hiding or closing?

      • I only ever hid mine so it didn’t look like I’d just forgotten about it. Hiding it was better than deleting it as I was able to re-activate it down the track. And now I’m using it more than twitter as I took a heap of SM stuff off my devices (and I used to stuff about on Twitter for ages!!)

  10. I say screw the bad apples, let’s all celebrate being the weird, spiky, dragon fruit things. How boring if our fruit salad was all one type?

    • I’m definitely a dragon fruit and interestingly this post started out being titled fruit salad, so I wasn’t just concentrating on one particular fruit but it was the catch up with you yesterday, rehashing some of the blogging bad that comes with ranking and creating an interest (occasionally and inadvertently ticking people off) that had me changing blog title and direction at 2am this morning.

    • I found the social media audit easy because of the stats. It’s the offline audit that I’m struggling with at the moment. Although, I’m getting better at saying No and picking and choosing my battles.

  11. I love to keep it real on my blog, and always tell it like it is, and there will always be people that disagree with me. I have been lucky so far to only cop the wrath of one irate reader over a baby sleep school status on Facebook. Each to their own I say, its what makes the world an interesting place!
    What i think people need to understand is that although many of us pop of lives online to share with everyone, our blogs are just a fraction of our lives, just a snippet, and there are some parts, although I am always honest, I just won’t talk about in public. Just like I don’t tell family, friends and so on that I see everyday every last thing about us. 😉

    • I completely get we are mostly seeing picture perfect moments online and I can’t control what people take away or think of me. I’m resolved with that, I’m just not resolved with the online trolls, the bullying and the competitiveness that I’ve been a party to or witnessed lately. I just don’t get that side of things at all.

  12. Sometimes I feel like I’m spending too much time on FB with not much fruitful returns for the blog too. Think I need to rethink how I allocate time on my social media platforms too 😛

    • I would suggest doing a social media audit which analyses the stats. You then want to look at your ideal blog demographic and work out if the platforms that aren’t working are worth spending time on.

  13. I love Instagram and get a lot of good engagement there. Pinterest, I love but keep as mainly personal (I still use it as a sharing platform). Twitter, I get very little from but still use it as a sharing platform. My Facebook page is new but not mega active although I’ve found it good for interacting with other bloggers. The Blog Exchange group is super useful!

    • It’s having a wide demographic that means a FB page is never going to work from my point of you and I get that and I could spend time and energy niching down there and making it work but in the scheme of things, it really isn’t where my ideal audience are hanging out. I much prefer the groups.

      • Although I have had a presence on FB for about 6 years with my blogs and my posts are shared and even though I have developed a good following for my blogs, I dont spend time on Facebook’s timeline, I find that a time waster. I do however, I have joined and un-joined groups until I found bloggers that are supportive, thats what it is about, right? I like to read articles and posts that help me to grow as a blogger and once in a while share my experience.

        I decided a long time ago that I blog about things that are of interest to me, our families are the ones we should spend time on pleasing, not the masses. But I am happy and thankful, when I have comments on something I have written about.

        Like you, really I dont have a niche, I blog about what inspires me at the moment.

        Just joined your FB group and look forward to learning more.
        Thank you for your thoughtful insight!
        Have a beautiful day!
        Karren

        Hope you have a beautiful day!

        • Thanks so much for joining Blog Exchange and for your blogging support Karren. My problem with FB is that if I’m posting and wanting engagement I feel bad if I’m not reciprocating and I just end up spending far too much time there. The FB groups are definitely the way forward.

  14. Yeah, I’ve thought about deleting my fb page, but… for now I am just sharing my blog posts on it. It is not a place of interaction, but then again, I am pretty much gone from social media at the moment trying to create images. We’ll see – changes is a living world.
    Like you I am fairly diverse in what I like and honestly, for now I have given up on trying to please everyone. I am simply sharing what I crated and what I love – that’s it.
    I am sure you’ll find the way that’s right for you, Raych.

    • You really can’t be everything to everyone and I’m resolved with that. I found the social media audit easy because it involved stats and cold hard facts. It’s the offline audit where I need to work out what to outsource and how to best spend my time that I’m now struggling with. I’m a bit of a control freak and like to do everything myself.

  15. Platforms I like? Twitter. It has such amazing reach. I follow my friend Edie Melson’s advice…5 tweets for others, 1 for me. She makes a practice of putting others first and she just keeps growing and growing. She’s got great resources Raych. @EdieMelson

    I’m just getting started with Pinterest. Love the photography aspect of both Pinterest and Instagram. Just learning the ropes with them. Being cautious not to get sucked in to Pinterest, not to see the light of day again. 😉

    FB is going downhill with them asking youth pay to let your friends see your feeds. It has it’s place, but walk away if it’s hurting your main blogging. My two cents anyway.

    Keep being you Raych. You’re great just the way you are! 🙂

    • Thanks Mary.

      I’m not sure it is hurting my blogging but I do waste far too much time there. The social media audit was easy because you only have to look at the stats to see what’s working and why investing time and energy in a place where your ideal audience isn’t actually hanging out isn’t worth it.

      It’s the offline audit that I’m struggling with now. Saying no, picking my battles and trying to allow the control freak in me to outsource some aspects that are taking up too much of my time.

  16. Where to begin with social media…I’m not really that good at any of it. I have low engagement on FB but it spikes sometimes so I’ll keep plugging away. I love Twitter but more for keeping up with the news and politics than to actually engage much myself. Pinterest is the devil (I once wrote a post about it!) and Instagram is my after thought platform – I can go days without uploading a photo and don’t generally spend huge amounts of time there.

    BTW I’m looking forward to reading more about you! And I’m so there for “Casing the Cocktails!”

    • Would love to see your post on Pinterest, although I may have already.. it sounds familiar. I will go searching tonight.

      I did a social media audit because I’m needing for the business diploma to almost micro manage my time. It was a great way to look at the stats and where our ideal audience is hanging out and stop wasting time and energy in places that just don’t hold value. I’ve now moved on to the real life audit. It’s all about the time factor again and me giving up my old controlling ways and outsourcing some of the aspects of my life and the business. I’m struggling with this side of things because I do like to get hands on and do absolutely everything myself. Even if it takes me twice as long to master.

  17. All good points Rach and I feel your pain.
    I often think Facebook is not worth the time and effort as you get very little engagement for the work put in, when you compare it with Instagram where you get heaps of instant engagement. Pinterest is actually the biggest source of people finding my blog via recipes or book reviews I’ve pinned, so it’s actually a great tool for getting your content out to people who don’t necessary follow your blog.

    • I’ve been looking at my social media list following the audit and thinking I’m rather old school. No snapchat or Periscope and I’m sure there are other places I probably should be looking at as well, but honestly I’m struggling to keep up with what is already on my plate. You can’t be everything to everyone and I can’t realistically be in so many places at once.

      I only have the one or two recipes on here. I was kind of testing the waters and haven’t decided if I will continue with that side of things but it’s interesting to hear about your success with recipes and Pinterest. I would never have thought to pin them.

    • I’m starting to think for the change in business direction, it actually makes sense to outsource the social media side of things. It can be so time consuming and I think my time might be better spent in other areas.

  18. I love that you are no niche and you do it with such style. Always interesting. I struggle with social media. I guess I don’t understand a lot of it and to be truthful I can’t really be bothered. FB irritates me and I just feel like I am spamming my friends with promoting my blog posts. (I am in a few groups and I do like those). I tried to set up a blog FB page but struggled so it’s left unfinished. Self promotion is my down fall. I’m not a photographer but I do like instagram and probably should spend more time there.

    I hear you on the personal blog sharing versus professional business presence. I am toying with the idea of returning to some personal development in the form of an online business in the future. What I’m struggling with is sharing my on going struggles with life on the blog and then on another page promoting a ‘work with me’ in a professional sense in a personal development/coaching capacity. I’m concerned that others may wonder how can I help others when I’m still a work in progress myself. Something I have to spin around in the old think tank for bit longer. I do think we all sit somewhere on some sort of work in progess scale though. Doesn’t mean we are not able to work in a helping field.

    Good luck with the study and the new direction you are wishing to take. You are so generous with your time here. Xx Sandra

    • I hear you with the whole professional verses personal. It’s probably even more imperative for you having a success/coaching business. While your struggles would resonate with me, if they were ongoing ones, I suppose if I was looking for someone to mentor me, I would be more inclined to look for someone that was oozing success but in a genuine not overly sales or spammy way. If that makes sense.

      I’ve been meaning to touch base in regards to you hosting the Blog Exchange challenge for September. Is this something that would interest you?

  19. Bugger the bad apples! The best thing about the interwebs is that we can read/ignore/delete/block/follow anyone that we choose. Leave them to them. And blog for you! Like you say, people can scroll through the content that they’re not interested in.
    I have a love hate relationship with Facebook. I deleted my account a year ago and was so happy without it, but then needed an account to manage a work page and have been slowly roped back in again. Twitter used to be my fave but over the last few months I’ve found i have no desire to hang out there. I think insta is definitely my favourite sm platform.

    • I’m rather enjoying the Facebook groups but yes Instagram is my favourite platform too. I haven’t actually deleted my FB page, just not posting or worrying about it for the time being. Some clients when I occasionally do sponsored content want some form of exposure on FB which is something I need to take into consideration.

  20. I guess I love Twitter the most, and I am investing more time in my blog’s Facebook page. Next would be Instagram but that also is personal and half the time I don’t do a photo to publicise my blog posts and last on my list is Pinterest because I don’t really get it or like it that much!

  21. I guess I love Twitter the most, and I am investing more time in my blog’s Facebook page. Next would be Instagram but that also is personal and half the time I don’t do a photo to advertise my blog posts and last on my list is Pinterest because I don’t really get it or like it that much!

    • I suppose you need to look at your blog demographic and where they like to hang out online, not all of your readers will feel the same way about their time online as you do. So you need to invest your time wisely to platforms that connect with them.

  22. Well said. I’m glad you’ve decided to keep hosting as I’m afraid to get into Twitter & Instagram for fear I’ll never get off the computer. Bad enough right now with FB, Blogging and visiting Blog parties. Yeah, they say you have to have a niche. Guess my niche is like yours. It’s what I enjoy doing at the moment. It is getting more strange every day that I have to recognize everyone’s thoughts, feelings and offenses, but they aren’t to recognize mine.

  23. Raych I’m sorry to hear you’ve come across some rotten apples, sadly they are always there but often don’t present themselves to us straight away. I have someone who follows me on SM and negates or takes the opposing view to ALL that I say, I just ignore it, their beef not mine. Just keep on doing what you’re doing lovely. Here’s to no niche! x

    • Yes, I only need a session with my mother in law or eldest daughter at the moment to find the opposing views. The negative online aspects are all learning curves and eye openers. It’s the lack of time and the business course itself that has me over analysing how and who I’m spending my time with online at the moment.

      How you had a great break and you are now feeling better?

  24. OH you are so brave – I so want to delete Facebook cause I am over working out how to reach our audience….
    And yeah I have to be really careful not to listen to bad apples, I need to concentrate on those good apples.
    I prefer instagram – I can connect one on one over there.
    Not that into Twitter but use it share links.
    Great post about the effects of Social Media, all the best with your time away from Facebook.

    • Not sure how brave I am. There will be campaigns that will want a FB presence which will make things interesting but overall in terms of the blog, unless I have several FB pages for the different topics here, it just doesn’t work for me.

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