Something for the Weekend? Try #gdnbloggers

Screen capture of part of the #gdnbloggers page on Twubs

Let's start with a short story (abridged and from a UK perspective)...


... Once upon a time there were loads of garden bloggers all typing away on the void, who were grateful if a handful of people (mostly their mums) stopped by to leave a comment.

Then along came Blotanical (RIP), where we found lots of garden blogs and friends from all over the world, and we happily talked to each other, left comments, even met up from time to time. We all learned lots from each other and all was well with the world.

Then everyone got busy with their lives instead (which is fine and quite natural), and in the meantime the online world fractured into more pieces where lots of other shiny things like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest laid temptation in everyone's path. It meant we had plenty of ways of making virtual friends and sharing our stuff, though it often felt like a lot of frantic running on the spot was needed just to keep up with everything.

But somewhere along the line, most of the real conversation seemed to stop, or was drowned in a sea of links, dodgy questionnaires, and corporate-look-at-me kinda hype.

Thank goodness All Horts! came to the rescue, where there's the opportunity to talk to not just garden bloggers, but all kinds of horticulturally like-minded people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Jolly jaunts are arranged from time to time and the conversation flows on Twitter and Facebook.


Now to come full circle (ish)...


...Then one day recently a jolly chap called Andrew O'Brien asked if there were any other garden bloggers on All Horts!, and lo... he found there are loads. Not only that, many said they'd welcome the chance to get to know each other's blogs, and to help support each other through the many twisted turns of the internet.

So the hashtag #gdnbloggers was born, as the (not so) secret signal that a garden blogger is around.

Not only that, but Andrew has also set up a monthly #gdnbloggers chat on Twitter, where we can gather around the virtual water cooler for a good old chinwag. Chat, help and fun are compulsory; wine, nibbles and cake are optional (and BYO).

The first chat is tomorrow evening (28th February 2016), 7-8pm GMT. It'll cover "... we'll be introducing ourselves and our blogs, and discussing what we want from future chats." See you there?

You can follow the chat via the Twitter hashtag, or via the Twubs account Andrew's set up. If you want to join in as well you'll need either a Twitter or Twubs account to do so. NB #gdnbloggers is an ongoing conversation, so you can look out for the hashtag or at the Twubs page to find e.g. all kinds of blog posts to add to your reading list.

If anyone's unsure of how a Twitter chat works, then Andrew is pointing everyone to this guidance.

Hurrah for Andrew!

Comments

  1. CJ27 February 2016 at 13:50

    That's a great idea, sure to be lots of inspiring people to meet there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Flighty27 February 2016 at 14:32

    Good idea, I should be around for it. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP27 February 2016 at 15:36

      That's great Flighty - you've been a great #britishflowers stalwart so it'll be great to have your twitterchat AND blogging experience to draw on :)

      Delete
  3. Anna27 February 2016 at 16:40

    Sounds fun VP. It will be good to meet new(er) bloggers as well as chat with old friends. Never got round to joining All Horts despite intending to. Will be there as long as I don't doze off after our Sunday roast dinner.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Caro29 February 2016 at 19:32

    *sigh* I was really looking forward to this but forgot to set a reminder on my phone. I was enjoying a quiet evening after an afternoon's digging when I suddenly remembered - at 10 past 8. It looked like a good session, lots of good ideas to build on. Will definitely be there next time!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP1 March 2016 at 15:58

      That's a shame Caro - see you at the next one!

      Delete
  5. Andrew OBrien1 March 2016 at 14:51

    Hurrah for all of us! It was good, wasn't it? I'm looking forward to the next one now, lots to do before then! Thanks for posting Michelle. ;oP x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP1 March 2016 at 15:59

      It was good... and hectic! Hard to keep up sometimes, but I'm sure it'll get better once we get the hang of it. Thanks for setting it up Andrew :)

      Delete
  6. Janet/Plantaliscious2 March 2016 at 20:52

    I missed the Twitter chat, but it's nice to see some more nattering going on.

    ReplyDelete

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