When I started my blog, one of the first things I had trouble deciding was what to do about my social media accounts. I had a personal Twitter and Instagram but wasn’t sure if I needed to make new ones just for my blog. Ultimately, it is your decision as the blogger to choose what you want to do, but these are the reasons why I decided to make a separate Twitter and Instagram for my blog.
Privacy.
Both my personal Twitter and Instagram are protected for various reasons. Not only are they protected for my own privacy, but they are protected for the privacy of my friends and family members as well. Not everyone wants their face plastered all over the internet and I totally get that. By having a personal Instagram that’s protected, I can still share cute photos of myself and friends and family and they will know that only people I know personally will be seeing the photos.
The problem with making your blog Twitter or Instagram private is that people WANT to follow you! I find it so off putting whenever I go to follow someone and there’s a blank screen saying that their account is private. Nine times out of ten, I don’t end up following the person. ALSO, no one can see your photos if you’re private! And that’s a bummer for gaining a following as well.
Twitter chats.
Once I started to become immersed in the blogging community, I saw how important Twitter chats can be. Chats allow you to get your name out there and connect with other bloggers in a big way. However, these chats can get kind of annoying to your non-blogger friends. Joining in on a chat with my blog Twitter allows me to be free to tweet what I want and not worry about getting on my friends’ nerves.
Shameless plug: I run a bi-weekly Twitter chat called #BloggingCollege and it happens every other Sunday at 8pm EST!
I could start from scratch.
I enjoyed creating my new accounts from the bottom up. Especially Instagram. I’ve had my personal Instagram since my junior year of high school. The Instagram game has changed drastically since then and it was nice to be able to start up a new account and allow it to reflect who I am as a blogger right now. I also enjoyed the idea that I could choose my own theme right from the get-go.
For more information on Instagram themes check out Morgan’s post!
Consistent handles.
My personal Twitter and Instagram handles have nothing to do with my blog (obviously). I liked that because I created a separate Twitter and Instagram I was able to make my new handles consistent with my blog. Even though @kaylablogs was taken (boo) I still was able to make them the same on both Twitter and Instagram.
Fun fact! My middle name is Victoria so that’s why my username is @kaylavblogs. So clever, right?
It’s easy!
Since Instagram just rolled out their new account switching feature, it has become even easier to manage multiple Instagram accounts. Twitter has already had a feature like this in place for a while and I was SO happy when Instagram climbed on board. With the tap of a few buttons, you can easily switch from personal to blog accounts (no more logging in and out — yay!)
Bottom line: no matter what you decide, remember that the choice is yours to make! Do whatever you feel most comfortable with but make sure you allow yourself and your blog to grow!
I love the new Instagram feature. I can now toggle through all my accounts much easier. I created a separate Instagram for the same reasons.
Mikayla | A Seersucker State of Mind.
I always wondered what the “v” stood for in your name! Now I know, haha 🙂 I don’t have separate social media accounts for my blog, but I think it’s a really neat idea and can totally see the benefits!
X,
cristinaoncampus.blogspot.com
I struggled deciding weather I should combine my blog Instagram or make a whole separate one as well. I finally decided just for the sake of not bombarding my entire feed with fashion posts that will annoy my friends who don’t wont to see them to make a separate one. Also, for privacy issues as well. Thanks for sharing this with us!
xoxo
Amy | Pastel N Pink
It’s so much easier now! I use the same social for both but I like the idea of having separate social channels.
I actually use the same for both because I was lazy but I definitely get the want to have them separated.
xoxo, Jenny
I have a separate Instagram but not twitter. My take on twitter is that some of my friends post “annoying” to me stuff, weather it’s related to sports or something I have no interest in, so they can handle some blogging tweets 😉 haha – I didn’t know about the twitter chat you run though!! I’ll have to look out for it next time!
Deciding whether or not to separate social media can be a pretty big decision, but it sounds like you have all the right reasons to do so! Thanks for sharing your insight 🙂
-Anna | http://www.fivefootandfabulous.com
I have a separate Instagram and I definitely prefer it this way. I’m considering making a separate Twitter, but I don’t think I tweet enough to do so.
Best Wishes,
Allison | http://www.LiveLifeWellBlog.com
love this post! when I first started blogging I debated between personal vs. blog account for such a long time! I ended up just sticking to one account for both but I can totally see where you are coming from in this post! x, kenz http://sincerelykenz.com
I did the exact same thing! I wanted there to be a separation – at first I was nervous that my friends and family would not care about my blogging, etc. But now I just have them following both my personal and blogging personas 🙂 Glad I was not the only one – thanks for sharing!
I don’t have anything separated, but I don’t usually post anything too personal.
I definitely think there should be a separation. I try to keep a private Instagram just so I don’t feel left out posting pics of friends!
http://www.kayleighskloset.com
I am trying to figure out if I want to do this, but it’s so hard! I have a personal instagram and a blog one, yet I never use my personal one!
Nicole // Chronicling Home
My Instagram used to be personal, but once I started blogging a year ago, I just started it to be public and I like it that way. I think its okay to post personal posts on your blog/business page, because after all, we are all human.
xx,
Amanda || http://www.fortheloveofglitter.com
I totally understand your reasoning. My personal/blog instagram is the same, but it’s because I really don’t share anything on my blog instagram that I’m uncomfortable with. My twitter is solely for blogging though…I don’t think I would even have twitter without blogging!
Twitter chats are my new favorite thing! I just made an Instagram for my blog for privacy reasons. Although my personal Instagram is public, I wanted to have a separate space for my blog that’s outside of friends and family.
http://thealwaysblog.com
Love the points you made in this post! Especially the point about how not everyone wants their face on the internet! Great post Kayla! 🙂 And I love that post by Morgan, too!
Rebecca | Life as a Dare
I definitely agree with all the reasons. It took me ages to decide and create a separate account for my Instagram & Facebook. Not only because of the privacy reasons (even though that’s hugely important) but also because my friends wouldn’t want to see their feed being flooded with beauty/fashion/musings related posts 🙂 Separate accounts for personal life & blogging = win-win.
New on your blog, Kayla, and will make sure to subscribe/follow/add you on social media to stay tuned 😉
Pop over to my blog any time & say hi. I am always happy to discover lovely bloggers to follow and stay in touch with.
xox Nadia
☕❥http://www.mielandmint.com/
Hi Kayla! I’m a brand new blogger, and I was wondering, would you recommend the same thing for Pinterest? I have been on Pinterest for years, and I’m not sure if I should continue to use that account for my blog. What do you think?
Hi Kayla! I am a brand new blogger and I was wondering if you would recommend the same thing for Pinterest? I have been on Pinterest for years, and I am not sure I want to use that account for my blog. What do you think?
Author
Hi Delaney! Welcome to the blogging community!
I kept the same Pinterest I had since before I started blogging. However, I changed my username to reflect my blog http://pinterest.com/kaylablogs and then I added a board specifically for my blog posts! I also went through and cleaned it up a bit. What I mean by that is I “hid” boards that weren’t really relevant so only I could see them and I changed the cover photos for all my boards so they were somewhat cohesive.
If you have any other questions feel free to email or message me! I saw you were a college blogger so if you’re interested in joining a Facebook group for college bloggers here’s the link! http://facebook.com/groups/bloggingcollege
Thanks Kayla! I have had separate personal and blog instagram/twitter accounts for a while now, and I have been wondering for ages if it would just be easier to merge the two, but I’ve found that my blog instagram has a definite feel to it that would be ruined if I started uploading my every day photos to it. I’ve only been blogging casually as a hobby but want to try and write more regularly so I’ll keep the separate accounts! Thanks for the advice.
Jess / http://www.wokejournal.com
This is great advice! I’m in the process of developing my blog and I want to gain some traffic to social as well. I just created a new instagram account and I’m hoping to build up my follower base to that of my personal one! -Raquel
Cool beans! Definitely gonna go ahead and create a separate instagram now, thanks for the super useful post! 🙂