Pros and Cons of Social Media for Bloggers

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In the digital age, social media is something almost everyone uses these days. As a blogger, it’s almost inevitable that you will use social media to market your blog. While social media can be beneficial, we think it’s also important to recognize that there are pros and cons to social media for bloggers.

According to a study done in 2022, approximately 80.9% of the US population uses social media. (source) That is a staggering statistic. As a blogger, you are also considered an online business owner, so that statistic can be good news for you, too!

While social media has a lot of benefits for online content creators, it also has some drawbacks. We believe social media can be a tool for your business, but we don’t recommend you using it solely. If you are a business owner, influencer, content creator, etc, we think it’s in your best interested to have a self-hosted WordPress blog to serve as your home base so your ideal audience can always find you.

Let’s dive into the cons of social media first.

Cons of Social Media

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Con #1: You don’t own your social media content

If you are building a brand/business on social media this is something really important to consider and understand the risk you take by only using social media.

There are hundreds of thousands of successful entrepreneurs who are building their businesses online. And right now, it may be amazing! But, a gentle reminder that the platform that you are posting to is not one that you own.

You don’t make the rules.

You aren’t in charge of who sees your content.

You are at the mercy of what THEY think is best for the PLATFORM, not for you and your business.

This is why using social media as a tool can be amazing, but it’s really important to have a blog that your community can always connect with you on.

Blog Tip: Have a self hosted blog as a home base where people can connect with you.

Con #2: Social media is addictive

Once you login to a social media app, it can be hard to get off of it. They are designed to rope us in and keep us engaged. Don’t believe us? Check out the book How to Break Up with your Phone by Catherine Price.

Social media and our phones are meant to distract us from what we should be doing, or need to be doing.

Setting clear boundaries for social media usage will only benefit you. It does have positives, that we’ll talk about here soon, so we aren’t saying to shut it all down… but just be mindful that it can serve it’s purpose and then be willing to set some boundaries with the amount of time you use it.

As a blogger it’s also really easy to get on Instagram or Facebook for engagement, only to realize that you’ve been scrolling with no general purpose for minutes or even hours. It can be a huge waste of time because it’s so addicting.

Blog Tip: Set screen time limits and/or app limits so you can be mindful of your usage.

Con #3: Social media can be stressful

Why is social media stressful? Because keeping up with every platform and their changes is exhausting and it’s always changing!

Think you have Instagram all figured out? Guess what, now you have to learn Reels.

Heard of TikTok? Yep. You’d better be on it if you want to grow.

It literally never stops. There is always a new trend, a new platform or something else you could be doing to grow on social media.

We’ll admit, this can be the fun part, even if it brings on some stress. But, we need to keep the “main thing the main thing” which is your blog. Remember, you OWN your blog, but you don’t own your social media content.

Blog Tip: You don’t have to be on every social media platform! Pick one or two where you can show up consistently and don’t feel obligated to master every platform.

Con #4: Bullying and mental health concerns

Sadly, people can be really cruel behind a keyboard. When a blogger is sharing vulnerable and valuable content, sometimes people can bring negativity into your space. This is not only a concern for the younger generations, adults experience bullying as well.

You do not, and should not, feel bullied. We know it can be hard to ignore the negative people who may find you, but the best thing you can do is ignore and/or block them.

Mental health concerns in general are a concern on social media because there is a disconnect in what we see online and reality. We are seeing so many highlight reels online, and it can make us feel FOMO (fear of missing out), poor body image, negative about our finances, career, family, housing, parenting, etc.

Just remember, what you see online is only a small part of their story… there is always a much bigger picture happening that we don’t see online!

Blog Tip: Unfollow accounts that bring up negative feelings. Block any accounts that bring negativity into your social media space!

We recognize the importance of social media as well, so let’s take a moment to focus on some of the pros that social media offers bloggers.

Pros of Social Media

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Pro #1: You can connect with your ideal reader

When you know who you are talking to, and what niche you are serving, you can connect with your ideal reader easily on social media quickly by doing a few searches. You can utilize hashtags, suggested accounts, and also look through the comments on similar accounts to connect with people who would also benefit and enjoy your content.

Social media can make it SO easy for you to find what and who you are looking for.

This can be great for bloggers because when we share specific content we want to share it with people who will find it valuable! So, if you know what you want to share, and who the type of person you want to share it with, social media can be beneficial.

Connecting with like-minded people is one of the best parts about blogging! It can allow you to expand your reach, serve new people and grow your community when you collaborate and connect with others who are interested in similar topics.

Blog tip: Visit like-minded accounts and surf the comments section to connect with individuals who may benefit from your content as well.

Pro #2: You can diversify your reach

While we don’t recommend building a business on social media alone, we also don’t recommend just building a blog. Why? Diversifying your blog is a good thing and can lead to success.

One person may follow you on Instagram and have no idea that you have a blog. Or vice versa. You can reach all kinds of people on different platforms through engaging on social media.

The goal would be to turn a social media follower into an email subscriber because that is a list that you own and can continue to connect with that person even if something were to ever happen to your social media account.

Blog tip: Don’t spend more time on social media than you do on your blog!

Pro #3: Promotion of blog content

When you get done writing an epic blog post, what do you want to do? Share it! First and foremost, it needs to go out to your email subscribers, but after that, you’ll likely want to promote it on your social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

You will likely not get the majority of your engagement from your social media platforms, but we appreciate any and all clicks over to our websites so use the followers that you have on those sites to promote your content to. They follow you for a reason and likely are thankful when you post new and valuable content.

Blog Tip: Every time you have a new blog post, share it in stories or a feed post directing your followers to your blog!

Pro #4: Additional stream of revenue

Using social media as a stream of revenue can be very lucrative for bloggers. You can utilize affiliate marketing and brand sponsored content on your social media platforms to earn additional revenue.

All of your social media followers will not also follow your blog, so it’s a great way to tap into another group of people who find your content, services and recommendations valuable.

Blog Tip: There are several different ways to make money blogging, check out this podcast episode to learn more!

Social media can be an effective marketing strategy for your blogging business if you use it in a healthy way.

As a reminder, you are more than the number of people that follow you, and your worth is not tied to how many likes you get either.

Building a blog is the best way to secure your content for a lifetime. There is no shame in using social media to help grow your blog, just don’t rely on it solely for the growth of your business.

If you are an influencer or content creator who is currently only sharing online and wants to start a blog, we’d love to help you get started! Our beginner course, The Blog Depot, is the perfect place to start learning more about blogging and if it’s a good decision for you.

How can you grow your blog besides social media?

• Grow your email list! We cannot stress enough how important this component is for your business. Check out this podcast episode to learn more about email marketing.
• Learn more about Search Engine Optimization and implement it!
• Post consistently and offer valuable content to your audience
• Make sure your website is self hosted. We recommend Big Scoots for hosting.

How do you use social media to help your blog?