I was not a big fan of social media.  Perhaps it was the old dog and new tricks thing…but, I even balked at starting a blog seven or eight years ago!  I have had a Facebook account for a number of years…and I specifically got one to meet like-minded quilters as well as quilt professionals, hobby quilters, quilt product manufacturers, etc.  I also found some long-forgotten family members that found my FB page.  Not sure why any of them would want to friend me there since most everything I post is about quilting, though!

I was perfectly happy with JUST a FB page.  Then, a few years ago, I opened a Twitter account.  I didn’t really personally post anything to it, just let it be an outlet for linking to this blog.  Last year, I ventured a bit further and opened a Pinterest account.  After initially thinking it was a great idea, I read the pros and cons and decided the copyright infringement bothered me a lot so I closed my account.  And if you’ve ever tried to pin anything on this blog, you cannot do it.  I found photos of my family on some very ugly websites…and so chose to turn on the Hotlink Protection so no one can copy my images.  And I stopped posting so many photos of our kids.

And then, I was gifted with an iPad late last year…and my whole outlook on social media changed.  I could now get an Instagram account.  I could post one photo with text to all three of my social media accounts.  I could just go hog wild with keeping status updates on everything – and I love that about all of the social media!  And I could do all of this from my house instead of taking a photo, bringing it up to my office to download it and then upload it to whatever social media I wanted to.

Another thing I love?  Knowing that folks care enough to comment, like or re-tweet my posts.

Then come the brands!  Some companies are so great about sponsoring my quilts and designs and I want to make sure they know I appreciate it.  Abbi Mays Fabric Shop & Aurifil thread are two that immediately come to my mind!  I have also found a couple of companies who I will no longer do business with.  That would be Kona Fabrics and the Warm Company.  Why?  Because I asked them for sponsorship and they ignored me.  Didn’t even have the common courtesy of responding with a no thank you.  Sorry, I won’t purchase their products anymore – not going to happen.  There are a few others who fall into that category but I will reserve outing them, though they have also lost that common courtesy thing with me, too.

My money will go to those who support my quilting efforts.  And I don’t just take handouts – I purchase the ‘good guy’s’ products via retail markets, too, paying full price.

And that’s yet another reason for me to love social media – I can help promote the good guys and just ignore the bad guys.  I *truly* enjoy playing in a sandbox with friends!