Where can I write personal, blog-style posts for actual readers?

November 17, 2017 5:23 PM

Looking for a place/places to write blog-style posts where there's an actual audience, or a chance to build one?

I have been blogging for years (not much recently), usually for an audience of very few, and little interaction. I'm looking for places to write where my writing might actually be, ya know, seen. Not talking about setting up a blogger-type blog, as I already have that, but somewhere that already has a readership, where I can read others' writing as well. Facebook posts and my old blogger site aren't working for me, and I'd like a place to write more than a few sentences. Thanks in advance!

posted by FlyByDay to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

Facebook really is the best place if you want to be seen - you don't mention why it isn't working, I'm assuming you have only been posting on your personal page? If you start a separate page (go to the arrow in the top right and corner and in the drop down menu select 'create page') and post to there, you can then share posts to your personal page where you have a ready-made audience and from there hopefully your friends will share it too and you can build a bigger audience. Posting with eye-catching images and headlines can make posts more likely to be read and shared. I started a political / satirical page in this way after going viral 2 years ago and now have a solid audience for anything I write. Please feel free to pm me if you'd like more details and I will direct you to my page so you can check it out.

Apologies if you're dead against the Facebook route, but if you want to be where readers are, Facebook is it.
Good luck!
posted by matthew.alexander at 5:38 PM on November 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: @matthew.alexander, I'd like a place where I can be very honest and not have to wonder who (of people I know) is thinking I'm crazy, who's thinking I'm pathetic, who's thinking I'm "too sad" to read, who's offended*, and so I'd rather write where people I know won't see it. I want to be able to be personal about my struggles, and the people I know don't need to hear that, nor do I think many want to. I do use Facebook for lots of things, though.

*it so happens that someone I like very much, who happens to be very well known and is both a Facebook and real life friend, unfriended me recently, apparently because of something I posted that he disagreed with. I just realized this. He never said anything. I don't want to have to repeat this ad nauseum. it hurts too much.
posted by FlyByDay at 5:46 PM on November 17, 2017 [2 favorites]

Another vote for Medium. And you can share your posts to Facebook and/or Twitter if you want to.
posted by BartonFink at 6:12 PM on November 17, 2017

Tumblr, maybe? Whether or not you get readers may depend on your topics and tags.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:34 PM on November 17, 2017

Is there a particular topic you'd be blogging about? I only know my own field but in it, there are several popular and widely-read blogs that accept many posts by guest authors, in fact they are almost entirely written by various contributors. If you have an interest or field you would be writing mainly about, I would suggest trying to submit guest posts to sites like these.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:10 PM on November 17, 2017

I second Tumblr. There are active blogging communities there for lots of topics, and the reblogging feature means it's easy to participate in other people's conversations. (More than easy -- expected!). If you use someone else's post as a springboard for your own thoughts, chances are good that they will see it and respond in kind. And it mostly has the same culture of pseudonymity as the old web.

The tough part will be finding the right community. But if you find one or two voices you like, you can notice and follow who they respond to and who is saying interesting things on your dashboard. With time and engagement things will build and snowball.
posted by rollick at 8:36 AM on November 18, 2017

I have an old school recommendation - LiveJournal. I've been writing there now for 15 years. Although I write there for myself, I have developed a wonderful community there.

It offers varying levels of privacy - you can create an entry only for you, only for a subset of people, only for those with accounts linked to yours, or public. 99% of my own entries are public and are read by those with Live Journal accounts and those without. I've met wonderful people, received excellent advice, gotten really valuable feedback and created a vault of the last 15 years of me.

Many people are on Live Journal ONLY for the community. Their content/value prop/expectations are different than mine but we co-exist nicely. I've met (virtually) and gotten to know the widest diversity of people imaginable.

There is a free version but, honestly, it is butt ugly and filled with ugly ads. $20 a year gets you a much nicer experience.
posted by susandennis at 10:46 AM on November 18, 2017

Mark and Denise, two LiveJournal tech support folks, split off from that site because they wanted more control over their content. They opened Dreamwidth.org in May 2007. (Livejournal changed their location, management, and TOS to Russian early this year, and many LJ folks have migrated because of Russia's official hatred of LGBTQ people.)

I've been blogging on Dreamwidth for a decade (link in my profile). My ability to control who reads what is fabulous.

You can also create a community, where multiple people can start and discuss topics.

Dreamwidth has no ads--it's supported by folks like me who happily pay $35/year to ensure that my writing will last on the internet. However, you can use the site for free as long as you want. You can use it as an RSS reader, as well.
posted by Jesse the K at 12:32 PM on November 18, 2017 [5 favorites]