I have been pondering what is the best way for us to share information about our hobby online. Some options I have seen are:
- Videos (Recorded or Live)
- YouTube, Twitch, Bit Chute, Facebook
- Blogs
- Blogger, WordPress
- Web Sites
- The Miniature Page, Your own site
- Forums
- Groups.IO, Yahoo Groups, Manufacturers forums
- Newsletters
- Club produced
- Podcasts
- SoundCloud
- Other Social Media
- Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
As you can see there are lots of options and I am involved in all of them (except podcasts). Should we focus on one or multiple? Is there really just one?
The reason I am pondering this question is I feel I am spread all over the place and would like to simplify where to post hobby information.
Videos
This can be an interesting outlet. You can share gameplays, conventions, painting sessions, rules reviews, club action, historic sites, museums, etc. This can be fairly straightforward to make or more complex. I just use my camera, do some simple editing, and post to YouTube. I also try some video from my 360° camera.
Blogs
This allows you to share hobby information as a combination of text and photos. There are options to link to other sites or videos. I like blogs for the ability to combine a variety media sources (text, photos and videos) into each blog post. I enjoy coming up with a draft topic and adding my initial thoughts, then coming back a few times to make revisions, and then publishing the topic.
Web Sites
Visiting a website like The Miniatures Page is an option to share your opinions or information, but this is limited by what the site has to offer.
A personal web site is typically a static set of pages where you control the layout and content. This is a good option if you want to have complete control over the whole framework of your content. But on the other hand avoid this option if you want something simple. A personal web sites is good when you want to centralize all your content into a single location; You can host all your files together rather than spread out on various sites. You are not as limited by the rules other sites have about content.
Forums
This is a good option for very specific topics, such as a certain miniature scale or wargame ruleset. A good place to get an answer for a question or share information. Usually there are multiple forums that you will browse.
Newsletter
A newsletter is a snapshot in time summarizing what has happened since the last newsletter and what is upcoming. Other content can be included photos, book reviews, historic site visits, or all sorts of historic topics. I like it for recording news in the hobby for historic purposes. The newsletters can be read years later to read what was happening back in the day. I guess this is like a magazine.
Podcasts
I have tried listening to gaming podcasts in the past and could not get into them. I think our hobby is very visual and just listening to a discussion doesn't grab me like Facebook groups or YouTube. Maybe a one off focused Podcast about a topic about the hobby that interests me would be more interesting. I remember listening to a Podcast interview with Sam Mustafa that was interesting. The general gaming Podcasts are just too general.
Other Social Media
Some other Social Media platforms like Instagram or Twitter just don't interest me. They lack any real content apart from a few photos or links to the real content. I'd argue they are a waste of time. Facebook on the other hand has many good Groups to join and share information.
For me, I have found Facebook groups the best resource. All sorts of wargaming groups to join and gain all sorts of insight in each group. What you share will be appreciated. You will get to hear from all sorts of well known wargamers as well.
As a "Content Creator" which option is the best to focus on to get your wargaming content out to the wargaming community? I wish there was a single option, but I don't think there is. For example, if you focus on Facebook, you are missing a large percentage of wargamers who are not on Facebook. To really hit wargamers I guess you have to be everywhere, which means you will be spending more time posting content. As part of the hobby, if you enjoy the various options go for it, otherwise I recommend focusing on either a blog or YouTube.
Newsletter
A newsletter is a snapshot in time summarizing what has happened since the last newsletter and what is upcoming. Other content can be included photos, book reviews, historic site visits, or all sorts of historic topics. I like it for recording news in the hobby for historic purposes. The newsletters can be read years later to read what was happening back in the day. I guess this is like a magazine.
Podcasts
I have tried listening to gaming podcasts in the past and could not get into them. I think our hobby is very visual and just listening to a discussion doesn't grab me like Facebook groups or YouTube. Maybe a one off focused Podcast about a topic about the hobby that interests me would be more interesting. I remember listening to a Podcast interview with Sam Mustafa that was interesting. The general gaming Podcasts are just too general.
Other Social Media
Some other Social Media platforms like Instagram or Twitter just don't interest me. They lack any real content apart from a few photos or links to the real content. I'd argue they are a waste of time. Facebook on the other hand has many good Groups to join and share information.
For me, I have found Facebook groups the best resource. All sorts of wargaming groups to join and gain all sorts of insight in each group. What you share will be appreciated. You will get to hear from all sorts of well known wargamers as well.
As a "Content Creator" which option is the best to focus on to get your wargaming content out to the wargaming community? I wish there was a single option, but I don't think there is. For example, if you focus on Facebook, you are missing a large percentage of wargamers who are not on Facebook. To really hit wargamers I guess you have to be everywhere, which means you will be spending more time posting content. As part of the hobby, if you enjoy the various options go for it, otherwise I recommend focusing on either a blog or YouTube.
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