Hi Everyone. Sorry it's been so long since I wrote a blog post but I'm still here. The reason why I was away for so long was because I discovered Instagram! Yes, and maybe it's not a good thing...
For the past few years I really enjoyed writing my blog and meeting such interesting bloggers. Another blogger I follow recently joined Instagram so I did, too. It's fun but it's taken me awhile to "weed out" those I don't want to hear from or follow. I've met some nice ladies who share the same interests as me and some of them are old blog friends!
But, that said, I find that people are not always so polite. Awhile back it got very political in regard to the craft community and it ruffled my feathers a bit. My dear daughter gave me some great advice which was do not get involved. But, is there an etiquette you follow with your Instagram friends? I mean, almost every person's account on which I comment on, they in return comment on my account in a nice, positive, polite manner. Although, there are a couple who would never reply in return regardless of how many times I comment on their account. Does this make sense? I'll add a further caveat in that I feel many people out there in social media land are prejudice and ignorant. In this case, people of the same race but who live on different continents. What? Yes, I guess I've had my head in the sand. Remember, I do not belong to Facebook and my only experience has been this blog. As I've said, I've met some lovely, kind people who are gifted in many ways and they share those gifts via Instagram. I now feel I can somewhat "navigate" through Instagram although I'm always on guard.
Speaking of guard, I think my blog needs a guard! I was looking back at some old posts and there was one in which a blogger stole my photo, posted it on her site and has not removed it nor has she given me any credit. It's a joke as she is a scammer in my book. Please be aware of Craft Passions. She has put up a false disclaimer saying people have given their permission to share their patterns/photos. I've never heard from this person before and she, to date, has not responded to my email! Such is life.
Life is very good here in SoCal although we are experiencing the "May Gray" which proceeds the "June Gloom". Lilly is alive and doing well and sends her meows to everyone. I wish you all a wonderful, relaxing weekend. I'd love to hear your thoughts about my ramblings.
But, that said, I find that people are not always so polite. Awhile back it got very political in regard to the craft community and it ruffled my feathers a bit. My dear daughter gave me some great advice which was do not get involved. But, is there an etiquette you follow with your Instagram friends? I mean, almost every person's account on which I comment on, they in return comment on my account in a nice, positive, polite manner. Although, there are a couple who would never reply in return regardless of how many times I comment on their account. Does this make sense? I'll add a further caveat in that I feel many people out there in social media land are prejudice and ignorant. In this case, people of the same race but who live on different continents. What? Yes, I guess I've had my head in the sand. Remember, I do not belong to Facebook and my only experience has been this blog. As I've said, I've met some lovely, kind people who are gifted in many ways and they share those gifts via Instagram. I now feel I can somewhat "navigate" through Instagram although I'm always on guard.
Speaking of guard, I think my blog needs a guard! I was looking back at some old posts and there was one in which a blogger stole my photo, posted it on her site and has not removed it nor has she given me any credit. It's a joke as she is a scammer in my book. Please be aware of Craft Passions. She has put up a false disclaimer saying people have given their permission to share their patterns/photos. I've never heard from this person before and she, to date, has not responded to my email! Such is life.
With my best wishes,
Pat
Your daughter had really good advice here! Years ago I talked with an Abbess at a Greek Monastery about an incident where I felt ignored/slighted/mistreated when talking with a small group of friends. She told me something that I still find is so helpful...that when this happens, just continue praying (or start!) and walk away - and understand that they are not my responsibility. I still find that to be not only a relief (I don't have to change them or get involved) but helpful... I know that there can be really mean things in social media... I am so glad that there ARE kind people who comment on my blog. I am very careful with IG myself - I have it private, only accept followers who I know/what and I keep it small so that I am not overwhelmed but also so I don't spend all of my time there. I am really thankful for IG and for friends like you! :) God bless you dear one!
ReplyDeleteWhile I check in to IG every once in awhile, I have discovered over the last few years that I do not have time I am willing to invest in participating in it more. I still enjoy the process of blogging and I am grateful to have met dear folks like you through it, Pat, but seem to have less time to invest in it than I did ten years ago when I started. I am sorry you have been hurt by unkind and dishonest people on some social media platforms. I started my blog as a place to appreciate and encourage crafting creativity and therefore usually avoid what I view as destructive divisive topics even though I have definite opinions on life outside of my crafting interests. I so admire your many creative skills, Pat, and am so glad to have met you through our blogs! Please give Lilly some love pats from me. xx
ReplyDeleteArh Lilly, she's so sweet, I love her white feet. I'm sorry you've experienced being scammed, not good. Though I have an instagram account, I may yet shut it down. It's set private as I've never posted anything on it and only opened it to follow a few accounts. That number increased to 11 ish accounts and I found I popped on it far too many times a day for increasing lengths at a time.
ReplyDeleteRegards commenting, people do strange things like you say on all media platforms. I'm on facebook but try to limit it, I run 2 groups and my own hooks and needles pg, if it wasn't for those, I'd probably shut that down too. Take care, I've enjoyed catching up with you and seeing Lilly. Cathy x
Lilly is looking good, I love to see our cats resting outside in the sun or shade, they do it so well. I agree the internet has a mixture of different people, so far, I have not had any issues, so I was sorry to read you had your content stolen. I too am finding Instagram rewarding.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you Pat :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't post on Instagram more then once or twice a year, I much prefer writing my blog as I find the friendships formed more enduring and I also think interaction is more thoughtful. I do enjoy looking at photos that other people post, I follow a few crafty accounts. Have a good weekend x
I really enjoy Instagram, as I love seeing photos posted by my friends and family. I don't always comment other than hitting the Like/heart button.
ReplyDeleteI think the craft discussions drove a lot of people away. My way of dealing with it was to scroll past at first if I was not interested or did not agree, and if someone kept going on and on and on I just stopped following them.
Lilly is SUCH a pretty girl! Please give her a kiss from me.
I hope that you keep writing your blog, because I don't know how to find you on IG :-)
ReplyDeleteRecently I witnessed an interchange on Instagram between good friends, a daughter and her mother, on Mother's Day. The daughter (31 years old) wrote something that was blaming and shaming, and the mother tried to defend herself, and the daughter said no, I remember right, you did ___ and said ___. Eventually the mother just put an emoticon of someone bawling.
I was so horrified, I wanted to do something, share it with someone, commiserate with the mother, or *something*! I struggled over it for too long, and eventually realized that the most helpful thing I could do for them was to pray. The daughter had made it seem like it was a public issue, but it wasn't!
That is the only time I've seen something like that on IG. I don't have many contacts on there that I don't know, or whom I didn't already know from blogging.
Not xe to see you back blogging, Pat. It's very annoying when people don't adhere to the unspoken blog rules of politeness. I've been very fortunate in that I've had very polite readers (only one rude person whom I ignored). I've not used Instagram...purposely since I cannot afford to spend more time on the internet than I already do! I do use Facebook but not a lot. The advantage is that if you use the highest security levels (you can choose) then only the people who you accept as 'friends' can see your posts or comment on them.
ReplyDeleteThat was supposed to read........Nice to see you back!
DeleteHello Pat!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you have had problems with people's etiquette on the web.
I don’t use Instagram and only pop over to visit occasionally. I like blogs too much to change to Instagram, plus I already spend too much time on the web.
I do hope you will relent and stay in blog land, but I understand the allure of Instagram!
Always lovely to see photos of Lily.
Hugs,
Barbara xx
That was supposed to read........Nice to see you back!
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So good to see you are back, Pat and that Lilly is enjoying life with you down in sunny Cal. I guess it is not so sunny, though - I think we have the exact same weather here in WA. I opened an Instagram account, but never bothered to take it any further - I just don't have time right now. Yes, it is a mine-field in cyberspace as to what to respond to and what not to. I am on Facebook, but only family and very close friends. It's so important to guard privacy these days. People feel they can be rude when they aren't face to face. I block rude people. I hate seeing people air their dirty laundry all over cyberspace. People need to get a grip. Hehe. Hope you are having some wonderful summer adventures and hope you stay in blogland with the nice people :) Hugs xo Karen
ReplyDeleteI've discovered Instagram this year too, and though I'm really enjoying it, I don't think you get the same connection or interaction that you do here in Blogland. It's for that very reason (or one of them) that I'm keeping my blog going.
ReplyDeleteI've been on Instagram for a long time. The only people I follow, or who follow me, have been with me since the beginning. Many are fellow church members, some are my family, and most of the rest are acquaintances. I don't blindly accept follow requests – I have turned down [deleted] many requests, and I'm not afraid to block or report. I'm not in it for the count – as can be seen by how many I follow (72) and how many follow me (57). I was on facebook for many years, but left it forever 2 years ago. I never used it, and when I did, my friends list only included the few of my family and my cousins around the country. I can just text them nowadays lol. Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you do come back to post on your blog as I'm a big lover of cats myself... our beautiful tuxedo cat, Mullen, died of old age several years back and we miss him so much, as we do our two dogs who also died of old age. Blessings to you, Pat! ♥
ReplyDelete