Book Blogger or Booktuber

Bookish Musings is a feature here at Beautiful Bookish Butterflies that allows one of us to share our thoughts and opinions, talk and discuss things happening in the book and blogging community or share a personal book related issue we have. Today, Amanda is talking about the Pro's and Cons to starting a Book Blog or a Booktube Channel. Many people consider which would be best for them and I've known a few people, including myself, whom would have loved to know the pro's and cons before hand, so lets takes a look.

Pro's to Starting a Blog

1. Confidence in Your Appearance is Not Important: This is something I know from previous experience that swayed me to creating a blog, and it's that I could hide behind a brand of sorts. For me personally, when I'm on Book Badger, doing these reviews, these posts, these discussions, I'm not me, I'm another, much more confident, and much more excitable person who shares her love for books like she shouting it from the roof, but when I'm making videos on Youtube, I become a lot more aware of my physical appearance.
2. You have Full Control: Designing a blog can take time, and getting it exactly how you would like it takes even more time, but with some tutorials, some practice and some good old fashioned hard work, you can get your blog exactly how you want it, saying exactly what you want, and you feel very proud once you've done it, believe me. However, nothing is perfect, and if you run off Blogger, like I do, and don't have your own bought domain, you can get your blog taken away from you, but that doesn't happen often, and if you're afraid of that, there's always WordPress too.
3. Access to Editing Your Posts Anywhere - That's right. With being on Blogger, I've been able to download the free Blogger App to my phone, and it allows me to edit my own posts, view my blog, and visit other blogs too, all while I'm on a very boring, very long bus journey. Pretty good eh?
4. Editing Can Be Quicker: We've all seen those YouTuber's, the ones who spend around 5 minutes editing and boom, perfect video, or those ones who spend hours in the day editing it until it's perfect. I'd like to think I'm somewhere in the middle; depending on the video, I can take up to 2 hours if I'm looking for as perfect as I can get it, and 30 minutes if I'm less bothered. Size plays a part in that too.

Con's to Starting a Blog

1. Can Take Time to Get Started: This is a very obvious con, but with everything, you need time to learn, to get to the ropes, and even then, you're still learning everyday. When you first start, either on WordPress or Blogger, you're bound to feel deflated by how disappointing your standard template is, I know I was, but I personally decided to get cracking and setting up and name and style in order to feel much more comfortable and at home. I'm not going to lie to you, I've been through 2 big re-designs in the three months I've been blogging, and the latest one, the current one, took me around 2 weeks to get exactly how I wanted it. It's not easy, and it won't be quick, but if you're dedicated and stick at it, it'll be worth it in the end. I would also advise you don't spend large amounts of money on your blogs design until you've been blogging for around 6 months to a year. This is the time period most people give up, and you don't want to spend lots of money on something that will go to waste, do you?
2. Typing Can Be Time Consuming: I myself am quite a quick typer, or at least, I'd like to think that I am, and I love trying on my laptop. It's almost therapeutic for me, and I'm sure there's others out there who feel the same, but if typing for long periods of time really isn't your thing, then I don't think starting a blog is really something you'd want to do. I can be very demanding, and can really get you down at times too.
3. Emotional Emotions : This is something I struggled with, I think I can convey my emotions pretty well now after spending too much time online, but some people struggle with finding the best way to express their emotions without sounding EXCITED or ANGRY. Either one of those could have been used for shouting in joy and shouting in rage, and yet they look exactly the same. While the words can help, finding the best way to convey your emotions is an important thing when it comes to blogging.

Pro's to Starting a Youtube Channel

1. Your Audience Can See You - If you don't struggle with your confidence, then this is a definite positive to starting a Youtube Channel. I myself still struggled a little, and that's why I don't make very many, I'm afraid I'll be judged harshly on my appearance rather than my content, but if being upfront and having a face-to-face communication with your audience is what you want, then Youtube could possibly be your thing.
2. Can Showcase Subjects Better - For me personally, my videos are mainly hauls and wrap-ups, and I can show my audience what I've been reading or bought much better on a video than what I can in a post, details can be clearer, colour differences can be shown, thickness and condition can be proven too. For this reason, I tend to separate my wrap-ups into digital books and news, and physical books and what I read.
3. Less Effort For Your Audience - This is also very obvious, but it's so much easier for you to subscribe to a channel and have the updates come streaming to you, than it is to follow someone, search for them, then search for the content, trust me, I know, but if you want to make it easier for your audience, then YouTube's a very good option.
4. Can Take Retakes - This is very much the same as being able to edit posts, but of course, it can take less time to say a different sense than what it could take to type up a fresh new sentence or paragraph.

Cons to Starting a Youtube Channel

1. Confidence Issues - As I mentioned in the pros for a blog, if you're a little weary about what people may think of you, then that can really knock the idea of starting a Youtube Channel, however, while it is a con, I wouldn't tell anyone not to, because it's a great way to up your confidence; I would know.
2. Editing Time - This was also mentioned earlier, but editing can take some time, especially if you're not used to it. You can overwhelmed by how much you want to edit your video, and move things, and include things you've forgotten. There are different versions of editing software out there that can make it easier or quicker or simpler, but in general, you're going to edit, where-as when you're writing a blog post, you can edit as you go along, thus saving some time.
3. Quality of Videos - This final con has been talked about so many times on Youtube, but it still stands true. There are plenty of people making videos about things that they're passionate about, and while their content may be fantastic, some people are put off by the quality of the video. You may feel knocked by this, and you may feel you don't need to change what you can do and what you have. If people are really interested, they will watch your videos. Don't let peoples judgement stop you from doing what you want to do.

I understand if this post hasn't helped you in your decision, they're are equal amounts for both, but generally, I think the decision is down to what type of person you are. Personally, I think I work better on my blog, because I don't need to pretend to be anything or anyone I'm not. I may struggle with what I can show my audience, but I do my best otherwise. I struggle with having the confidence to record when other people are at home, and so I don't get the chance much. For me, my blog is first and my channel is second, but in the end, what you do depends on what you're comfortable with. Never feel pressured.
Blogging is for you, nobody else. It's your decision, not there's.
Do what makes you happy.