A year ago I set up a facebook page for Writing in the House of Dreams, but then I didn’t do anything about it. I didn’t start posting updates, or drawing people’s attention to it, because I wasn’t sure what the value-added would be when I already had – and loved – this blog.
It’s gradually occurred to me, through following some excellent fb pages such as Dreamwork with Toko-pa, The spirit that moves me, Moon Woman Rising, Creativity matters, New heaven new earth and Action for happiness that a facebook page does certain things a blog can’t do.
With a facebook page
- readers can initiate topics and conversations rather than just responding to the content
- readers can post pictures as well as comments
- I can flag up news such as this blog getting a mention in Victoria Field’s excellent poetrytherapynews last week
- you can flag up your own relevant news – Victoria could have posted her link on my fb page herself
- it’s a great place for me to share quotes, brief insights and even dreams
- it’s somewhere you can share your own quotes, brief insights and even dreams
- it’s more immediate, especially for a once-a-week blogger like me
A limitation with facebook pages is that ‘likers’ no longer see all the updates in their timeline unless the admin pays a fee, whereas every email follower of a blog will receive notification whenever a new post goes up.
So my conclusion is that neither is best – facebook pages and blogging can simply do different things. That’s the theory, and now I’m ready to try it out in practice, so I’ve added the link to my Writing in the House of Dreams facebook page to the widgets at the right hand side of this blog.
I do hope you’ll ‘like’ the new page and go on to become part of its active community. If you really do like it, please tell your friends!
Jenny Alexander's blog: Writing in the House of Dreams 
I have liked both facebook pages. Lovely blog and a really good post. I read countless posts on how both blogging and facebook are a waste of time for writers and I completely disagree. I find blogging is a wonderful way to share ideas and interviews and information on great writers, I can connect with both readers and writers, and I love the snippets and interaction on facebook. I find both really constructive in different ways.
Yes, yes, yes – and here’s a case in point, because through this post I’ve just found and followed your blog and fb page. Thank you for commenting 🙂
Defnitely, I have it all FB, twitter, pinterest, tumblr, youtube and linkedIN and so on…it great cause you have more reach and versatility.
You’re so right – I do linkedin and twitter, and am about to engage with pinterest and google+ – it’s a real buzz to be chatting to people all over the planet about the things you’re interested in.
I think a blog is more valuable than a Facebook page, but I can see the significance with both. My blog links directly to my FB page, so whenever I make a post, my FB “friends” can see and read it.
As you say Jenny, the blog and facebook are different and they will be seen by different people at different times. I was encouraged to start my facebook page last year. I’ll be honest and say I was reluctant because it just seemed to be another thing to do and I wasn’t even on facebook personally. But I think the facebook page has potential to direct readers to your blog and that for me was important.
You can see the referrals from facebook on your wordpress stats and I know that posting my blog and other related photos to my facebook has helped increase my readership.
Like you Jenny, I blog weekly, but it is quick and easy to put up a post on facebook as a way to interact with readers.
Your fb page has been phenomenal Carolyn – I joined early and have watched it grow and grow (The Hurt Healer, if anyone would like to look it up) And it feels like a real community. You’re doing a great job 🙂
I had no idea that FB charges a fee for a page to be seen on its followers’ feeds! Thanks for this, Jenny!
Hi Candy -some updates appear in followers’ feeds but not all. If you want all likers to see all updates you have to pay.
Hi Jenny–Thanks for this post! I am new to FB and had never heard of the fee, either. Can you direct me to where to find out more? Also, I do not have a huge following; is this even an option for me?
Hi nancy – I’d say explore the pages you follow via the left hand column options on your home page, and you’ll find you aren’t automatically getting all the updates in your news feed – some are only available if you look for them. As to the size of your following, two things- this has to build over time and size isn’t everything! I’ve made some great contacts and also friends through blogging and each of those is worth a lot of random numbers 🙂
Thanks, Jenny! And thanks for your blog post on the subject.
Personally I think a blog has far greater value than FB because of opportunity to build an interactive list with our fans. I used to have a FB page for my books, but deleted that in favor of the page I have for my blog because I already have an active and growing following and promote my books there so it just made better sense for me. Also, I’m lov’n Google+ more and more. It’s so much easier to connect with people and I’ve just set up my new Google+ page for my author business series so I’m excited about the potential!
This has inspired me to start exploring google plus properly – I signed up ages ago but haven’t done anything since. Thank you!
Thanks for the info. I have a blog, but have been debating whether to get on Facebook. Still thinking about it.
Yes, I think it’s important to choose things you’ll enjoy and not find too much of a chore, Lupe. I followed pages I really like in fb for a few months before deciding yes, I could do that!