How do I blog? How am I using the Bloggerverse?

I launched this blog back on March 16th 2017 - so tomorrow it'll be three and a half years old. Before 2017 I had done my blogging and hobby across different phpbb-forums. Forums fitting for the different projects and games I was doing. 

But phpbb-forums were dying, not really seeing activity. More and more discussion and hobby work was moving into Facebook groups. But FB groups are moving fast, scrolling by - that's why I launched this blog. I really wanted to collect my hobby, show off my stuff and be my personal log - of how my hobby is evolving. 

Slowly the blog has grown is reach, across other kinds of social media - but all centered around this blogger - where all stuff is still collected as blog posts. One thing that's always been important to me, is to not be a spammer and only sharing appropriate posts in across different media. 

So in this blog post, I'll be writing - how am I blogging. And how am I using the different platforms. It's become a bloggerverse - multi platform hobby blog.

Blogger - the base of operations

I blog because I like it - that's my motivation. I see a lot of hobbyists getting hobby stress. "I should be going this", "I need to tend my blog like this". I do the hobby projects I like, I play the games I like and then take photos of my stuff. 

Lots of the blog posts I have on the blog is written months in advance. When I finish a ton of terrain (I often work in batches) - I photo it all and split it into different blog post. Like when I did the entire Wasteland in a week of vacation time - became blogs for cars, scrap piles, dead trees and ruins. 

When stuff is on the table I photograph it all with my phone. I then jump on blogger, an insert the photos into different blog drafts.

When I feel like writing, I make a coffee and start typing. Might write up five blogs in a row, pictures already there. Keep them as drafts for later. 

To not spam and keep content for a long time - I tend to post a blog post every three days. That keeps the blogger nice and fresh. And with my normal hobby output, working when I want - I always have around ~30 blog drafts ready. So even if I don't feel like hobbying or spending all time outside during the summer, I have material to keep the blogger going. 

What to post?

I try to mix up whatever stuff I have ready for posting. Switching between fantasy, cyberpunk and post apocalypse. If some game is new and I have stuff for it, I'll post that. Like a new expansion is out for RoSD and that's what people are talking about? I'll post some RoSD stuff if I have it. 

But I always do the hobby work I want to do! Not putting thought into 'I better do this specific thing because of blogging'.

• All finished hobby work gets a blog post.
• Models, terrain, games, videos, hobby thoughts.
• Write multiple blogs at once.
• Post roughly every three or four days. 

Facebook - the news, the photos

My Facebook page was the first social media I launched and that's what will bring in the most traffic. Whenever a new blogpost is released, I make an FB post with a bit of text, link to the blogger and all the finished photos from the post. I don't include WIP shots, as these always have lots of 'how to' words with them. 

Facebook has a ton of different groups for a ton of different games - and sometimes more groups than one for each game. After posting a blog on the page, I'll share it around. One time and in all relevant groups at once. 

I've seen hobby blogs sharing their facebook post in 1 group at a time across a number of days - I consider this spamming. Or sharing multiple times in the same groups.

So I tend to share my blogs once and only in groups relevant for the blog. Would never share Frostgrave stuff in the Rangers of Shadow Deep group. 

I can't figure out the best times to post, so don't mind that much. It is what it is.

• Post and link each blog post on Facebook.
• Share in all relevant groups.
• Share only once at the same time. Don't spam timelines. It shows up all over, then it's gone.

Twitter - random photo throwbacks to blogs

Twitter is new to me still. And I don't know exactly how it works, with the lack of groups and a ton of different hashtags flying around. But I have seen lots of hobby people only using Twitter as their platform. It seems kind of weird to me - as it's not a platform for photos. 

But I have a Twitter. All photos from the bloggers that I  post I download into a folder called 'twitter'. As twitter only allows 4 photos pr post, it'll take a lot of time to get through them. 

So on Twitter I'll post 4 photos a day, just pick four from the folder. To the tweet I add a link to the blogger and some hashtags. After posting I delete the photos in the folder (so they only get shared once). This way Twitter is an excellent place to follow, to get throw-backs, see post that has been. Probably long before. 

I also use twitter to announce going live on Twitch. Hard to spam on Twitter. 

• Post 4 random photos from previous blogs. Only post photos once, then delete.
• Announce live videos on Twitch

Instagram

Instagram is for posting photos, lots of photos. I've refrained from doing WIP photos of projects. I think I have enough content as it is. Instagram follows my blogger page, but is way behind. I often forget to use it, or there's too many photos in the blog post (Instragram allows only 10 photos). 

I really like posting from a PC, but that's not possible with Instagram (only 1 photo posts). So to not loose track and double post. I follow the blogger. Posting photos of a miniatures or game on Instagram. So Instagram will often lack behind the blogger. I always add a link to the blogger, though people will have to copy it to go there. 

• 1 post pr day, using photos from blogger
• follow the blogger order
• post photos only once

Twitch

This is a new addition to the bloggerverse. I don't know much about video editing or filming. Twitch is intuitive and easy to setup. I want to show of some builds and I really want to get going with solo games. Twitch offers a new way to show off stuff, that's not only written words. 

The cool thing about doing video on Twitch is the interaction. Playing a solo game lets people watching take part in the game. While working on terrain, people can ask at techniques or idea while I'm working. Getting to points I might not think off myself. 

I also pre-order a lot of rules and games. And sometimes get lucky enough to get stuff soon after release. So flipping through books and set is good fun, I love the hobby hype. 

But for the most Twitch shows I make sure to consider: What do I want to show today? No just fumbling about.

• Easy to do filming
• solo games, unboxings, previews and terrain building. 

Youtube

I'm a firm believer that the internet cannot have enough content. The Twitch software is easy to use for editing the streams. I try to cut down the videos to shorter versions. Making Let's Play, unboxings and terrain builds. The finished / slighty edited and shortened videos are uploaded to Youtube. 

As this is finished content, I will then make a blogpost for the video. This can be combined with a longer written blog or photos. I don't want to spam. So a video preview will be combined with a written review if possible. 

For years I've been doing small 1 minutes shots of terrain setups, for all my games. This go in here as well. All videos will have links back to blogger and the correct written article. 

• Edited, tightened material recorded on Twitch.
• Minimum on video pr week. This can be anything. 

Discord

Discord is an excellent program for hanging out and talking to other people. Used originally for talking while playing PC games. Back during Covid19 isolation, I was really missing talking hobby with people. The Discord was setup to help with this. It's a platform to hang out, in a way Facebook can't provide. 

The Discord has since grown to a small community in itself. All people are welcome. Post away about anything in the hangout area, and people will jump on voice chat if they want to talk while doing hobby work. 

Lors of people, that doesn't have blog on their own, have gotten a thread here. A micro blog, a thread for them to add whatever hobby the want. 

In my own thread I post WIPs, link to written blogs, twitch will tell if I go live, YouTube will link new videos and photos from Twitter. So my thread is kind of a consolidation room. It's just a nice place to hangout and talk hobby with good people. I always check around here while I'm doing hobby work. 

• Hangout and talk with hobbyist
• Micro blogs

Podcast - Garage Talks

The newest part of this constantly extended bloggerverse. With half a year of life on the Discord, I got the idea to invite in some of the authors from the industry. The idea is quite simple - come join the chat, hang out and talk hobby work. With a focus on the author themselves of cause. 

First one to visit us was Patrick Todoroff how made wrote Hardwired, Nightwatch and Zona Alfa. 

The plan is not to make a traditional interview. All the people on the Discord are allowed to join in the talk. The first one was great fun. It was recorded and released as a podcast.

There's no plan or 'must make' for this. These talks and podcasts are completely up to if any authors or people of note from the industry is willing to join us for a chat. 

To sum up....

That's a damn lot of social media, considering it's about small toy soldiers. I've got no plans of fame, monetization or something like that. I just like to do models and terrain. 

My miniatures are not top painted - they're decent. But I'm proud of them. I do get some good ideas for terrain and conversions. I like to share those, some people get inspired. 

It all comes back to this blogger. A couple of posts every week, my personal hobby log, a collections of stuff I do. No stress, no 'I must do this' - this is my leisure time and hobby. Don't spam, but share the cool stuff around. Stay grounded, stay honest, we're all geeks. 

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think.