To Be Social, or Not to Be Social? That Is the Question.

If anyone tells you that you can make a website in a couple of hours, don't listen to them. Technically, it might be possible, but would it be the bespoke, slick site you dreamed of? I suggest not.

I foolishly believed I could, despite having previously made a website which took considerably longer than a couple of hours and generated considerably more angst than anticipated.

Website builders are great and you can use an off-the-shelf template or customise every single bit, but there's a lot of decision making involved: themes, colour, layout, font...Greens, blues and neutrals. Seas and shores, right? That was straightforward, but the font decision was another matter. Fonts have characters. Apparently. After googling and researching for hours, I settled on Raleway. It's unique, modern, elegant - and it's got a neat little w...sorted..

Then there are decisions on sections, pages, buttons and links, payments, contacts, products and blogs; images to upload; email to set up; bank account to connect.

Two weeks on and, although I was rendered unable to even make a decision about what to have for breakfast, the website was good to go. But what about social media? Do we go there? Should it be 'a thing'?

Businesses need social media. It's a way to connect with potential customers, build the brand and hopefully make sales. However, my previous experience with business and social media hadn't been a particularly resounding success. There might still be a Twitter tuition account out there with three followers (two of whom are related to me, so they had no choice) and some posts about fun grammar facts. It seems that I was the only one who found them fun, and even I gave up after a few days.

Instagram was new to me though and seemed to be the perfect platform for art and crafts. We'll get it right this time. So...how does it work?

It's all about The Algorithm. Don't read this to find the key to being an Instagram success because I'm still bamboozled, but the mantra is post, like, follow, share. Do it consistently. Do it at the right time. Hashtag, hashtag, hashtag. Stories. Reels. Highlights. Engage. Eek! Overwhelmed face emoji.

Another big obstacle is The Voice. No - not the one with the unbelievably youthful Welsh crooner. The inner voice, and not the good one; the inner critic; the voice that echoes the school bully or the boss bully who is smarter, cooler, more popular, more professional, more knowledgeable... just more, just better, or at least they believe they are. Who do you think you are? You're not artistic. You can't even draw a straight line. Ay, there's the rub, as someone who was quite good with words once said.

It's got to be done though. Get it out there. E-commerce won't work if you're too shy to sell your wares. I've been a lecturer and wasn't a stranger to eye-rolls and yawns when I whipped out my all-singing, all-dancing, all-bells-and-whistles lesson that took two full days to prepare....Just pretend you can dance like no one is watching and do it.

And that brings me to another issue - the truly toxic side of social media. My students have told me about it and they've written about it and I've seen the devastating impact it sometimes has. I am thankful that I was a teenager in Ancient Times when non face-to-face communication was a telephone that was attached to the wall (yes, really) and when the entire family felt entitled to turn down the volume on the only television in the house (no kidding - the only television) and listen in to everyone's private conversations. My 14 year old self would probably still be hiding under the bed if social media had been 'a thing'. But, as I said, I've been a lecturer -the yawns, the eye-rolls, the muttering - and the students could be quite unpleasant too...

So I'm posting. Churn them out, I was told. I post every day, but I'm going to run out of ideas soon. I've already posted everything I've made and my interesting and photogenic sea pottery and sea glass finds. I'm liking and following, and people are liking and following back. I'm grateful it's not Twitter all over again. The likes and follows have introduced me to a wealth of art and crafts that I had no idea existed and more than once I have wondered if I should change direction. I've seen some beautiful sea glass crafts and I'm not sure that mine stand up in comparison....oh, give it a rest, Little Voice.

And I could spend hours watching the animal and bird videos suggested by Instagram. I have a weakness for animal and bird videos and have recorded hours of trail camera footage in my own garden. One of my first posts was of a magpie stealing a grape, which I edited carefully to sync with the Mission Impossible theme tune. That's got nothing to do with sea inspired art and crafts. No, but I thought it was funny and added another dimension to my posts. Well, it didn't get many likes, did it? Thanks for pointing that out, LV. I thought it was hysterical, but maybe it wasn't seen, didn't reach the right people, wasn't in the right format or just didn't appeal. Who knows. Most of my trail camera footage is of sparrows, a fat pigeon and a blackbird that eats grapes off my shoe. I thought that was a great party trick, but Instagram has revealed to me a squirrel being brushed with a toothbrush, its little paws folded in front and its eyes closing in utter bliss....Hmm, just stick with what you know.

Time is another factor. This social media business does take up a lot of time. In the last few weeks, I've spent longer on that than I have on making anything, which seems rather counter productive, so I'm starting to schedule chunks of time just for social media and am trying hard not to get sidetracked by reels about robins.

Is all of this, though, having any impact at all on sales? The jury's out on that one. I am selling, but I'm not sure if it has anything to do with Instagram. The two seem like separate worlds at the moment, so, although my foray has been fun so far, will we continue being social?

Yes - at least for the time being. I have seen some lovely art and crafts which I would buy and I guess the same is possible of anyone who has seen what I have posted. My social media reach is increasing which can only be a good thing. More than that, though, my experience with Instagram, so far, in the little art and crafts corner in which I find myself, has highlighted the kindness, the support, the goodwill, the thoughtfulness and just the downright decency of human beings. And we could all do with more of that in our lives.