Social networking is admittedly a part of my on-line life. You’ll find me tweeting and facebook-ing, and it’s fun. In fact, crafting is a big part of social networking, and not just on the mainstream social networks. Crafters use social networking to, well, network, duh, and to also promote their craft work. Because of this, over the last few years lots of craft-centric social networks have been popping up all over the web. At first, I was on the bandwagon joining them all, and at least attempting to participate on all the social networking goodness they had to offer. Eventually, it just became too much to keep up with, so while I may still lurk once in awhile, I’m not very active on them any more. I plain just don’t have the time.

Another issue with these networks is their user agreements. Like most people, I may not read every single word of these things, but I eventually started reading enough of them to realize that very often (not always but often) they have some kind of clause slipped in there about how they may share ownership of your content. I’m not using the exact terms they might use, but it boils down to that. They want what you write, create, whatever it is you want to call it. This means if you post a fun project you just designed on one of these sites, the owners of that site can republish it on-line, in a book, magazine, or on a t-shirt and sell it in the mall.

Granted, they will often claim that they would never do that, but if that’s the case, then why require you to agree to it in the first place? Why not simply be okay with a limited RSS feed of your blog, for example?

I’m not going to point any specific finger at any specific network, but the reason I decided to post about this issue is I think many craft bloggers don’t necessarily realize what they are or could be giving up when they join all of these groups. Obviously, each of us has to make up her or his own mind when it comes to participating in a social network depending on the time we have and the comfort level we have with each of them. I’m just saying, read the fine print, especially the part about copyright, before you click “yes” to any social networking user agreement.

Now that the book is essentially put to bed, I’m looking around the house and realizing what a wreck it is! Funny how that happens when you spend your weekends writing and making jewelry instead of cleaning. Since September, I’ve basically done only “gotta do it” type cleaning around here. I am tad overwhelmed, really, but I finally decided to just take it a room or even corner at a time and work my way through the whole house. My boys, pictured above, has offered to help me out even, so it will get done slowly but surely.

I have also done a little house cleaning, so to speak, on this blog, now that I can give it a little more attention than usual. If you go to the main page, you’ll see my blog rolls have been divided up into more categories, so they are a little better organized. I also deleted some blogs that seemed to be DOA.

Now, I’m thinking of a new template as well, though that may have to wait until this summer. What do you think? Is it time for the Crafty Princess Diaries to get a make-over?

Twitter and Facebook are the two main social networks that I am active with. I also dabble in Ravelry and LinkedIn. Some of my time on these sites is related to my writing work, either by promoting it or learning from others in my network. Has it made a difference for me? I think so. Can it suck up your time like crazy? I know so! But I still think using social networks is a good thing as long as you do it wisely and don’t let it take over your life.

I saw that Etsy Virtual Labs has a social networking lab hosted by the LabRats this Wednesday (10/21) night. It will discuss using Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and other social networks to promote your craft business. If you have been thinking about diving into the SN scene to promote your crafting or are already part of a few social networks but haven’t figured out how to make them work for you, this might be worth checking into. You (of course) have to be a member of Etsy.com, which is free.

This is a slightly blurry pictures of a bird I found hanging outside in our backyard this morning. I posted these on Facebook asking what kind of bird this guy was, and bam!, one of my FB friends was right on target with Kestral. I found some images on Flickr that match him perfectly.

Here are a few better pictures I managed to get while keeping the dogs preoccupied so they wouldn’t go bonkers:

Okay, enough of nature, I’m home writing, writing, writing today on a new super big jewelry project, but first I wanted to share my morning visitor with the web world.

EDIT: Okay, now a FB friend says this is not a Kestral but is a Red-Shouldered Hawk.

I often try to urge my fellow crafters into the blogosphere. Blogging is a great way to become part of an on-line crafting community, and for those who are interested in promoting themselves as a professional crafter, you really can’t beat the fact that blogs allow you to toot your own horn like no other medium will. Even if you have no professional aspirations, hey, it’s a good way to show someone the latest crocheted bag or piece of jewelry or garment or whatever you have made.

If you need a few more reasons to blog about your hobby or hobbies, this to the point article from Keven Sanders over at problogger.com may help: Hobby Blogs: Making Profits from Your Hobby.

Now, as a side note before you run over there thinking you are going to be making big bucks blogging, like any other business, you’ll need to work at it. I’ve made a little on this blog, but mainly enough to pay for running it. For example, if you know you are going to buy something off Amazon.com, even if you aren’t going to buy the exact item in the ads to the right on this site, if you click on one of the ads and enter that way, I get a small kickback from whatever you purchase. There are other ads on this site too, but you get the idea. If I worked harder at it, I’m sure I could make more money, but I’d rather spend my time crafting, ya know.

I saw a fellow crafter (Bernie Berlin) mention on Twitter that she is on one of the videos over at FiskarsCrafts.com, and wow, what a cool site. There are projects, a gallery, tool information, and of course, some very neat crafting videos. You can see Bernie in episode 99 showing how to make ATCs (Artist Trading Cards). See what you miss if you aren’t Tweeting?

In my various wanderings around Twitter, I found a fellow Tweep linking to this article: “The Blogosphere 2.0” I wish I knew who posted the link, but considering I’ve got over 800 followers and I’m following over 500 myself, being able to back track this sort of thing isn’t so easy. So I apologize if I’m not crediting anyone for pointing me to the article.

The post is written by Laura McKenna, and as someone who has been out and about on the Blogosphere for a good many years, the title made me curious. How has blogging changed over the years? That’s what she talks about. Among things like A-Listers don’t matter that much any more and blog rolls aren’t that important (which I’m not sure I agree on), she also points out that niche is where it’s happening now:

It’s all about niche blogs. If you have a particular expertise and unique perspective, then [sic] you can quickly gain a following. Everyone else is out of luck.

What can I say, but, “Amen sista, and hell yes! People are just now figuring this out?” I have known this for soooo long, and to prove it, you can check out an article I wrote back in 2005 for a very cool blog called problogger.com: Niche Blogging Benefits. I no longer blog as much as I did back then, but I’m still pretty much in the thick of the blogosphere when it comes to my own crafting niche at least.

So for once in my life, I was ahead of the curve on something, and what’s the point of all this? Think about it. If you are a blogger now and you can’t seem to find your voice or direction, more than likely it is because you are trying to be all things to all people. That is really hard, if not impossible to do. If you have been thinking about stepping into the blogosphere pool but haven’t known what the heck you’d talk about, think “niche.” What do you know a lot about? What kind of activities do you do regularly? If you are a crafter, this is a great place to start.

Again to quote from McKenna, Use your blogs to target particular audiences and have a clear mission, and you’ll get a following. Blogging should be the means to another goal — a rough draft for future articles/books, a way to network with professionals, a place to document your life for your children, a way to have fun.

I pulled out the niche nuts for you, but for those interested in how the blogosphere continues to morph, her entire post is worth a read and a thought or two or three.

Yes, it seems like an odd combination, but you just never know what you will find over at Ravelry. I was checking out some of the latest groups over there, and low and behold, there is now a group for The Bronte Family. I adore all three Bronte sisters and have read a good deal of their work. A few years ago, I had joined a Yahoo Bronte group, and we read anything by and about the Brontes. It really made me stretch my literary muscles, and I ended up learning about works that I hadn’t heard much about like Agnes Grey, one of my favorite novels. I’ve even used this text a few times in my English classes because it’s not overly long or involved for students, and the ending is wonderful. I won’t spoil it for you, but it’s got an ending that would be perfect for any romantic Hollywood movie. I even managed to squeeze little Agnes into my dissertation. Obviously, it may be a stretch to combine yarn crafting and Bronte adoration, but I’m excited none the less.

Twitter is one of my favorite social networking sites. It’s quick, easy, and fun, and thanks to a mention over at Mashable, I’ve been getting an extra influx of Twitter followers lately. As of this post, I’m following 435 Tweeps (a term used for those on Twitter) and I’m being followed by 629 Tweeps. Yes, that’s correct: I don’t necessarily follow everyone who follows me. That’s because, even though I really can’t keep up with 435 people, I try to select who I follow based on some basic criteria:

- Does the Tweep have a bio that tells me who he/she is? If no bio, no following!

- Does the Tweep have an interest in jewelry and/or crafting of any kind? If yes, then that’s a person I follow back.

- Does the Tweep seem to have any coherent updates? If not, I don’t follow. What’s the point?

- Does the Tweep DM five minutes after I follow trying to sell me something? If yes, then I un-follow the Tweep, and generally, any Tweep that DMs me with any sale info (unless requested by me), I un-follow. That’s just not cool. It’s actually spam IMO.

- Does the Tweep have any shared interests (outside of crafts) such as books or pets? If so, then I follow.

- Does the Tweep seem to prefer preaching about any number of topics, from religion to politics? If so, then I don’t follow.

I get all kinds of great information on Twitter, and it’s a good place to feed my blogs into or just post about new crafting tutorials I publish on-line. And, yes, I admit to providing other information that isn’t necessarily Earth-shattering, such as the fact that I may be tucking my cats in for the night or what I’m having for lunch, but that’s what Twitter is all about, an on-going, big, crazy conversation with hundreds of your web friends and associates.

Tweet on! Oh, and of course, feel free to follow me!

Okay, okay, I know that I need another social network like a hole in the head, but….I finally caved in and joined Raverly. I have been directed to the site so many times when I was looking for crochet patterns that I finally joined. That’s how it started. Sure, I’m just joining for the patterns. But, of course, soon I found myself surfing around, wondering what was over there besides patterns. Next, I figured I’d fill out my page a little; what harm could that do? I’m just adding a little craft information about myself, right? Then I started uploading some of the projects I’ve completed. Well, you get the picture. It does have the potential of sucking me into it’s social networking grip! Luckily, I don’t find this site super-intuitive, at least for me, so I’m still slowing feeling my way around. I’ll keep you posted on my progress, and of course, if anyone over there needs a friend…