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If you're a member of Community Building Stack, please check out the alternative version of this question at https://communitybuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/3005/establishing-yourself-in-regular-and-nsfw-communities

As an individual, like most of us, I have a wide range of interests, all of which can potentially be turned into a nice little niche blog, or community webzine.

So lets assume I have:

Website 1 : A magazine style website split into 5 sub sections ( music, fasion, horror, alt models, fetish ). Each subsection having it's own Twitter Page, like vice.com.

Website 2 : A personal photography blog featuing my own daily photographs, plus a journal of learning different elements of photography/photoshop. + Twitter Page

Website 3 : A graphic horror website feauting art and photography - Clean & NSFW content. + Twitter Page

So now I have 3 websites, 7 Sections and 7 Twitter Pages, which I will only really want to use for posting details of site updates and answering questions made by readers or followers.

In reality though, I'm running all of these 7 sections as one individual, so it makes sense to me to have a universal Twitter page where I can connect with everyone who I may feature on any number of my sites. This means I don't need to keep logging into multiple accounts to connect with people in different areas, essentially meaning that I can be talking to a band and a photoshop expert at the same time as talking to a fetish model and a horror photographer.

Thing is though, can you successfully build a working relationship with so many different people on the same account. For example, followers who want to talk with me about my involvement in music may be offended by my involvement with NSFW or graphic horror content producers. On the other hand, some people interested in my journey into photography may like to see what I like in fetish or fashion.

I guess this comes down to the fact that social sites like Twitter don't allow you to keep some of your interests hidden from those who they do not apply to. Although this really isn't about hiding or keeping secrets, it's about having the freedom to be yourself, and connect with those you want to work with, without losing contacts based on some areas of your interests.

Do any of you have a broad range of writing topics and use one universal account, or do you split yourself into 2-3 different personas to communicate with different people, at the same time as keeping multiple social pages for your brands (in my case, the 7 website sections)?

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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it belongs in Community Building.SE.
    – Cyn
    Dec 8, 2018 at 16:12
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    @Cyn I'm not sure this is off topic. How is this question different from the multitude of questions about various aspects of publishing? The medium is different, but qualitatively, isn't it still it doesn't feel too far away to me. Dec 8, 2018 at 17:49
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    @Cyn A question isn't off topic just because it's on topic elsewhere. A question needs to be off topic in its own right where it's asked to qualify for closure where it is; that is irrespective of whether some other site would accept the question. If indeed the question is off topic where it's been asked, it may be a candidate for migrating elsewhere, if there's a better home in the network for it. Note the sequence of events here.
    – user
    Dec 8, 2018 at 21:48
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    Question has migrated here. Please check it out! communitybuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/3005/…
    – Cyn
    Dec 21, 2018 at 15:03
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    Okay, I've nominated the question for reopening. I've changed my mind about the fit, though your rewrite helped a lot with that.
    – Cyn
    Dec 21, 2018 at 15:25

1 Answer 1

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You may have different motives for sharing your different interests:

  1. collect and share Hobbies with various friends, family, co-workers.
  2. keep a Journal for creative growth as an artist, writer, and philosopher.
  3. build a public persona as a Marketing Brand.
  4. connect with a music/sex community/subculture.

Public vs Private is meaningless online. It's all public.

You have already realized that some of these topics are general interest and some are NSFW. That's a very practical division, especially with recent laws designed to hamper sex workers/human trafficking – adult web content is again being shuffled around like a gypsy encampment. Violating shifting rules under one account could lead to losing access to your other accounts. This is more than just hiding the fetish magazines when grandma visits. Your NSFW content may need a completely different login and email, which may violate a site's TOS.

I had 2 accounts on Pinterest, an old personal account of random things I hadn't used in 4-5 years, the second was on-going research for a graphic novel that included "look-walls" of costume ideas, hair styles, body types, locations, etc. The personal account used my real name, the graphic novel account was the name of the novel (and set to private). Pinterest discovered I had 2 accounts and deleted all of my current research, and moved the random personal stuff, quilts and cat photos, to the account named for my graphic novel. I was not allowed to merge the accounts or save the data, and there was no explanation why one was over-written with the other (or even why this would be a problem in the first place). After deleting almost 2 years of current research, they made the quilts and cat pics public under that professional brand name. Then Pinterest sent an email informing me that I'd violated their TOS with 2 accounts but they'd "fixed" it for me (and don't do it again). There was no contact person listed in the email, or the website. Needless to say I'll never use their services again, but the "exposure" of my personal life is laughable considering most people's need to separate private and public interests.

If you need to separate your content because it could compromise you, use separate platforms entirely, with different login and contact email. At best, social media corporations are a conspiracy of dunces, at worst they actively sabotage your privacy with TOS changes designed to un-privatize your user data. Any online account can be compromised, but sharing on a social media platform is sharing for public exposure by design.

What do you get out of it?

Some of your 10 blogs will be neglected, for different reasons but mostly because you aren't getting enough feedback to make them feel worthwhile. We can't help but "score" social media posts based on likes and comments. Blogging takes effort, so does curating a public persona. Some of these topics will not appeal to the general public, and some are intended to tap public interest. Some are designed to connect with a local community while some are designed to self-promote your photography. Most people you'll want to connect with will not be turned off by sexual content per se, but by "mixed messages" of professional/personal, or self-promotion in a community space.

Understanding the goals, what you expect out of it, is the best way to meter expectations, but also to prioritize your time and effort. Every communication online will draw criticism and assumptions, as well as opportunities to present your ideas and sell your art. You are not just presenting your taste, you are building a public image.

If it's not public, it doesn't need to be one of your "10 blogs".

Re-assess your 10 blogs by target audience and career goals

The real issue with your 10 blogs is not the NSFW content, but that you are siloing your interests by compartmentalizing everything. Chances are, there aren't actually 10 different audiences here – I suspect there are only 2: a "community" and "professional" audience.

Crossover is a good thing because it helps new people find you, and also orient to your "tribe". Based on your other interests I will guess that you will not be writing about the local bluegrass, folkmusic, or hiphop festival. I am also assuming your nature photography isn't daffodils and buttercups.

It looks like you really want to target a local community with a "scene 'zine" while also promoting your own art and lifestyle. Photography of gnarly trees, alternative models, stories of paranormal and macabre all reinforce a thematic style which reflects your persona as a curator and artist. It's not really about the 10 different blogs, it's about you – and your take on the local music scene, and art, and subculture – but really it's about promoting yourself as a social media influencer.

(If I've got it wrong and you are reviewing the local bluegrass festival then you need separate blogs.)

one Scene/Community Blog, and one Professional Portfolio

Consider a single blog that functions like a 'zine for your community/scene. Invite your fetish models to write for it (along with their SFW photos). Review local music shows (with their photos) so those bands will also promote your blog/'zine. Wordpress.com offers community logins so a blog can be shared with other writers, I'm not sure about Blogger. You don't need to aspire to become a publisher from Day 1, but leave room for this to grow and include other people. You may have friends in your community that would contribute, even if you actually have to do most of the work. Appeal broadly within your scene and tie it all under one moniker that is bigger than just yourself.

Try to come up with crossover ideas that are a Venn diagram of the original 10 blog ideas. These will be original content that elevates the blog with a clever, unique perspective. You want happy crossovers, like a latex fashionshoot in nature (it could happen), promoting body-positive health in the fetish community, interviews with local bands telling their personal ghost stories, and of course SFW fetish photography that incorporates themes of sex and the macabre. That last one isn't for Grandma, but it would probably be of interest to anyone in your lifestyle "tribe". Inspired content and satire can hold new readers who came for an event review. Multiple voices and tone will appeal to more people.

To prevent a conflict of interest, create a separate portfolio website just for you. Spend the money on your own domain URL to present your art and photography without concerns for a community. This is your professional space to promote just yourself. You can also present ideas that you like that don't necessarily fit with the scene blog (all your buttercup and daffodil photos).

You can decide how to present your NSFW content on your own site where you control the censorship rules, behind a paywall or in a print-to-order book. As you shoot/edit in the future, create SFW versions that meet the lowest social media requirements (no female nipples, etc). The SFW versions can be shared and promoted as a draw to both your portfolio and the scene blog.

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  • Thanks for the detailed answer. I actually had a music zine and found there was a so much more I could talk about that was directly related ( tattoos, motorbikes, fashion, alcohol, etc ), so you're right that I should try to group things together here on my new site. Problem is that I do have other ( more personal ) areas to post in, such as fishing, and yes, actual nature like birds and wildlife, so I feel that a few side blogs will be nessessary. However, this is really more about running a root social media presence - Me following & connecting with people of ALL interests - Where I can ...
    – Wayne FA
    Dec 9, 2018 at 10:34
  • introduce myself as the owner of the 'zine', as a photographer, and as someone with multiple personal hobbies. I'm not big on social media to start with, so I'd prefer a single personal account to engage with everyone, but is it really acceptable to engage with local fishing and wildlife enthusiasts on the same account that you engage with producers of graphic horror art, and models who do NSFW content. I do what I do and I like what I like, and I personally feel it nessessary to just be yourself on social media sites, but people seem to be so one dimesional on them today. You'd hope that ...
    – Wayne FA
    Dec 9, 2018 at 10:35
  • people would look at your profile and think "he's into all that gory horror and fetish stuff, but he does some fantastic work in the local community", but in reality it's like, "I know he does good work locally, but he's a complete wierdo who we should probably avoid".
    – Wayne FA
    Dec 9, 2018 at 10:35
  • @WayneFA, so the plan is to trick narrow-minded people into liking you? It makes sense to narrow focus when you are on a niche community site, but this is your space. If you perpetuate it here, you've only yourself to blame. But if you are creating an "influencer brand" it isn't about you anyway, it's advertising for your social persona(s). Meanwhile "Lifestyle" topics are about practicality and your personal experiences of everyday living, which is the opposite of the niche, silo'ed, topics which remain narrow and targeted. This is about what YOU want to say. We're not a marketing site.
    – wetcircuit
    Dec 9, 2018 at 12:59
  • @WayneFA, hiding the parts of you that you feel don't fit your "brand" is one thing, but by trying to please an imaginary wider superficial audience in a generic way, means you will not connect in any meaningful way with people who are more like yourself. Are you presenting you as a real person? Or you as a brand of cornflakes that appeals to lowest common denominator? Which is more important to you: quantity or quality? There is no guarantee that "playing safe" will gain you a larger following than being your multi-faceted self. Sounds like a shared experience you could blog about, actually.
    – wetcircuit
    Dec 9, 2018 at 13:06

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