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It’s been way too long since my last FBFF post and I love this week’s questions!  Today, we’re talking about the blogging community, which I touched on a little bit in this post.  Let’s dive right in, shall we?

1. What blogging communities do you belong to? I belong to the big one, Independent Fashion Bloggers, which has so many great resources and tips, especially for a newbie blogger.  I also belong to the awesome NYC Bloggers’ Collective which I love because it’s given me the opportunity to meet several other New York City bloggers in real life!

2. What do you think the role of community is in blogging? I think community is the best thing about blogging!  When you interact with other people through blogging, it’s a great feeling to know that you’re not alone out there on the world wide web.  Supporting each other in the blogging community is so important.  Just as someone helped you grow by interacting with you on your blog and maybe giving advice, it’s great to pass along that knowledge and community spirit to another blogger!

3. Blog comments, twitter interactions and meaningful Facebook threads have decreased in the last several months. What are your thoughts on why that is? Hmmm, as I mentioned before, I’ve noticed that comments on blogs have generally decreased.  As far as the other two platforms, Facebook and Twitter, at least for me I would say that my interactions on those networks have only increased as I became really into Twitter in the last year and created a Facebook page for my blog a few months ago.  I think one possible reason for this decline is that there are now so many social networks that you can interact on!  For example, I may see someone’s post on my Instagram feed and “like” their picture, but not necessarily click through to the actual blog post and leave a comment.  And oh boy, the increased difficulty of CAPTCHAs has deterred me from leaving a comment many a time (not because I don’t try, but because I can’t read those darn things!)  In general, I don’t think of this as a bad thing- I would rather be interacting with my readers in some fashion, than not at all!

4. How do you cultivate community around your blog? I try to cultivate community by asking questions at the end of my posts.  I’m always interested in what you have to say!  Also, I try to respond to every single comment left on my blog, even if it’s just a simple thank you.  I want my readers to know that I read their comments, appreciate them, and will make time to comment back or respond to any questions.  If it’s been a crazy week and I just can’t respond to everyone, I’ll at least try to leave a general thank you comment.  Interactions via comments, twitter, or Facebook are important for building community because it makes it two-sided (as opposed to one person just talking to the air!).

5. If you could make one resolution to be a better community member what would it be? I think my resolution would be to leave more comments.  When I was first started blogging, I was commenting on so many blogs a day by clicking through from other comments and I discovered some really great blogs that way.  I’d love to get back into the habit of doing that!

As usual, I’d love to hear your answers to any and all of these questions in the comments! :)

Fashion Beauty Friend Friday was created by Katy Rose of Modly Chic. Become a member at the Fashion Beauty Friend Friday Google Group to join in the discussion!

It’s that time of month and I’m ready to tackle this next set of FBFF questions :)  This time we’re talking about something that goes hand-in-hand with blogging: technology!

lol at this decal- it used to say “love!”

1. What are the tools you use to blog? Numero 1- my computer of course!  I would say 95% of my blogging is done on my computer, including writing posts and commenting on other blogs.  A close second is my iPhone, which I use to stay connected through Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest while I’m on the go.  I’m seriously checking these apps constantly throughout the day because I feel like I never want to miss a good tweet or picture post!  I’ve also got my DSLR (Nikon D40) for outfit posts and just generally capturing snapshots of my life.  Other tools in my repertoire include Alex, who has taken most of my outfit pictures since I moved to New York and my trusty little Ikea couch, which serves as the background for many of my still life shots (Exhibit A: see picture above).  Also, I’m old-school in the sense that I still like to write things down, so I carry a notebook with me most of the time.  They come in handy when I need to quickly jot down an idea for a post, or sometimes I even draft out a full post in writing, then put it together on my computer.  Does anybody else do this?

2. What technology item is on your wish-list? An iPad, definitely!  I’m sure I would have a lot of fun playing around with it and I feel like it would just make traveling so much easier.  It’s definitely a wishlist item though- those things are expensive, especially for someone on a tight budget!

3. Through the barrage of posts, tweets, pics, poses, messages, etc… how do you avoid becoming a slave to the constant infiltration of information?  Ahhh yes, how to avoid getting sucked into all the technology! Honestly, I’m not very good at this!  I’m usually on a computer (at work or at home) and if I’m not on a computer, then I’m on my phone.  However, on the weekend I’m much better at turning it off (the social media itch, that is).  I like to have at least one full day to myself, where I can catch up on my favorite TV shows, or my knitting, or my current read.  It’s definitely important to unplug from time to time!

As usual, I’d love to hear your answers to any and all of these questions in the comments! :)

Fashion Beauty Friend Friday was created by Katy Rose of Modly Chic. Become a member at the Fashion Beauty Friend Friday Google Group to join in the discussion!

Also, there are two quick items of business that I wanted to remind you guys about!

– Google will be shutting down Google Friend Connect next month and I want to stay connected to y’all!  There are several ways to stay connected to my blog: you can follow me on Bloglovin’, subscribe to my RSS Feed, or follow me on Google+ where I share all of my favorite finds on the web.  There’s also Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest!  I would so appreciate it if you could follow me on one of these other platforms! :)
– Missed out on the Correspondence Club in February?  Well now’s your chance to join in on the fun for March!  If you would like to participate in March, please send me your information by February 29th at 12:00pm EST.  I’ll also be doing a round-up post of all the February letters that day and I can’t wait to hear about everyone’s experience! :)