Tag Archives: social media

The Social Media Rabbit Hole

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I caved last week, and FINALLY became a member of the Tumblr community. Wait, is Tumblr considered so yesterday?
a cartoon blond boy's face

Anyways, while perusing Tumblr, I came across a community called Studyblr. I was fascinated by the aesthetics of each photo that I saw while scrolling: beautiful stationary lined up neatly, planners, stacks of books, an organized desk, laptops, beautifully written study notes, and perfect natural lighting.
Studyblrs are blogs meant to encourage others to develop healthy study habits, promote organizational skills, and even encourage tracking your daily water intake.Yeah, it definitely caught my attention. Did I just stumble upon the holy grail of organization!?

I found myself asking how was I organizing and balancing my stressed out life and wishing my desk at home was neat like the photos I saw on Tumblr. Why couldn’t there be more natural lighting in my room? Why –?

Wait.

These are the moments in which we need to catch ourselves and break from social media. I was beginning to compare myself to people I’ve never met before. I was assuming that they have it all together. For all I know, these bloggers might not even be as organized as they seem.

cartoon of a young girl that says "it may look like I'm doing well and have my life together. I just want you to know... that is a straight up lie."

There’s a big debate in the community as to whether or not Studyblrs are helpful or harmful to ones mental health. Some stating the unrealistic study habits and pressure that’s attached to it.  After watching a variety of Youtubers and reading blogs on the Studyblr community I was able to develop my own opinion about the whole debate:

1) Studyblr photos are beautiful to me! I’m a huge fan of stationary, contrasting colors, and well organized books.

2) They have some amazing tips! But I’m here to keep it real with you. Their study tips are not for everyone, and that’s okay. Everyone learns differently. Rewriting notes in different colors might not be your thing. I had one professor in college introduce me to Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, and encouraged me to create art in class while she lectured. She knew I had my own style of learning. Read more about Gardner here.

3) You don’t have to do everything a blogger is doing. Be you. That means embracing your uniqueness and doing what’s best for you. Pick and choose what works.

4) Stop comparing yourself to everyone on social media. Be who you are in this very moment. We’re all on a different path in life. Inspired by something or someone? That’s great, but remember learning any new skill takes time. 

5) Comparing yourself to others creates unhappiness, which can lead to stress, and can manifest itself into physical ailments.

Interested in Studyblr?
-Here’s a link to a free planner
-Tutorial on how to setup a bullet journal

Check out the Studyblr community on Tumblr and Youtube. Leave your thoughts about the Studyblr, your own personal study habits, or share a moment you fell down the social media rabbit hole.

-Sarah

The Purpose of Social Monitoring

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a series of logos for social media platforms

Image by: Sean MacEntee

Depending on the blogger, one of the easiest and most difficult things about blogging is creating your blog. Unfortunately, this is a contradicting choice because it can be difficult to have the courage to start a blog and be comfortable with sharing your thoughts for the internet world to view at their own leisure. For those of you who are struggling with this dilemma, I want to encourage you to follow your dreams, blogging in its many forms is the most enjoyable experience I have ever had in my life. It has allowed me to have a greater acceptance of myself and I have learned a lot about who I am. Whether if you are choosing to start blogging through written posts, photographs, or videos; each and every form of blogging can captivate an audience to relate to your life experiences. So if you have been wondering and wanting to blog for a long time, I would suggest that you give it a chance and take a leap of faith. Blogging is extremely fulfilling in that it shares moments in life that were either positive or negative to benefit every reader, watcher, or listener.

But for those of you that have already chosen to start blogging, it begs the question of “what comes next?” while starting the blog could’ve been the easiest part the upkeep can be the most difficult as you have to make sure that your blog stays relevant for readers to continue reading. However, there is a very important detail that I have left out … how do you attract readers in the first place. The answer is simple, aside from utilizing your social media to constantly alert your readers of when you upload a new post, social monitoring enables you to understand what readers are interested in. Social monitoring helps you as a blogger gain the knowledge of seeing what are the trending topics as well as the insights of your possible readers by zeroing in on their interests. There are many free or low-cost options to be able to do social monitoring effectively. It allows to listen in to what others are posting about in social media, various blog posts, or public forums. You can easily see what others are conversating about on the internet to guide you in what to talk about in future posts or to just gain a perspective on the audience’s interests.

So with the use of this information, I hope it helps to encourage you to post in the future and will help you be successful. Good Luck and Happy Blogging!