So, many of us have been doing our Folksy Friday posts for years - but I’ve noticed lately that there’s been a steep drop off of posts. Personally, I think it’s because the new search is making it hard for people to find items, but is there another reason?
I know it’s harder to find FF posts on IG these days now they’ve changed the ability to search by hashtag - I find the only way of finding them is either by seeing them mentioned on the ‘Promoting Folksy’ board here on the forum, or by looking at the tagged posts on the IG Folksy Sellers account)
Is the Folksy Friday idea dying out? (And if so, why do you think that’s happening)
Is there something else we could do instead? (Or could it be revived a bit)
I enjoy doing a folksy Friday board- when I have the time as it does take me a while. I don’t find any problem with using the search function to find things, I save them to my favourites and then drop them into a Canva template. The time consuming bit is tracking down everyone’s instagram pages and trying to tag everyone properly on the instagram post. I also enjoy seeing other people’s boards and being included in one myself. I think it gives us all a boost as makers to be chosen. I’m not sure if it actually results in any sales for people though as the main people who like the posts are folksy sellers themselves and not necessarily customers. I don’t really have any ideas of an alternative approach though.x
I really hope it isn’t although I have to admit to having been slack at getting these done since I started a day job in January! You’ve reminded me I need to get back into making sure I make the time to do these!
I agree - I very much hope the concept doesn’t die out. I think it’s a great idea, for all sorts of reasons (and yes, I get a real thrill whenever I’ve been lucky enough to be picked for someone’s board!!).
It takes time to do, which is one of the reasons I only pick 4 each week - and I don’t manage to do it every week. But I try to do it regularly, and it’s great fun curating a board and choosing a theme. Plus you get to discover items you may not have otherwise found. The interaction is great on most of my FF posts, and I think that’s really helpful too.
I used to do folksy Friday boards but stopped when the image file format changed. It’s probably different if you are on a phone and using apps but I’m on a (old) pc and found that I could no longer get the images from folksy to canva. For a while I was working round the problem by pinning them first and then going from Pinterest to canva but it slowed down the process significantly so I stopped.
I was / am following the # folksyfriday so I could like and comment on people’s boards even though I wasn’t doing them any more but the changes that insta made scuppered me from doing that
I’ve found the same as you Sasha and like Jayne, also find looking up everyone’s contact info for Insta and Facebook very time consuming. Plus, I’m not now convinced that anyone will see them on Insta so it doesn’t feel like a good investment of time and effort. If I see something from a Folksy maker I like, I’ll certainly share it on my Insta and Facebook, but can’t see myself doing Folksy Fridays in future, much as I enjoyed making them.
I think the inability to follow with hashtags on IG is one of the biggest issues - like you say Debbie, it makes it hard for people (ie non-sellers) to know where to find them. Although, hashtags still work on FB so at least they still work there.
Perhaps we need to come up with a revised Folksy Friday 2.0 somehow!
Guilty - I just haven’t got round to doing FF in quite a while - in part because of the time it takes but if I will be brutally honest here it’s also because out of the literally hundreds of people whose work I featured, only a handful ever reciprocated
I will agree with the all the above. To me, the changes in search have sealed the decision of not making one, as when I tried (a couple of times) the results were shocking. Never got past the second page. It takes a lot of time to put it together and tag everyone, with little or no result. Personally, I never sold anything due to a folksy friday board. The last couple of boards I’ve done were based on the theme of the day, so the items were easy to find. And since I use to have one of my items included, if I haven’t got anything to match the theme of the day, that also means there will be no board. I know some others do not include their own items, I just feel that if i’m going to spend an hour (usually a lot longer) to put it together, with such a little engagement, then it’s only fair that I will show my work as well.
If you are able to use Microsoft Edge, on the “right click menu” there is the option “Screenshot”. You click there, you select the area you want (the item picture for example) then select “copy” from the bar that appears and paste onto the canvas page you are working on. You can also save it if you want. Life saving
I’m afraid I haven’t got around to creating a board for a while since moving house, hope I’ll get around to doing one again soon. As people have said it is quite time consuming but I do enjoy creating them.
Sasha, I also use an ancient pc or an even older laptop and don’t usually have a problem with saving the images and then using them in Canva. I use Google Chrome as my browser, do a Folksy search for what I want. ‘right click’ on the image and then pick ‘save image as’ to save it. I save to a folder on one drive so all my Folksy Friday boards and pics together so I know what I’ve previously done.
When I then open the Folksy Friday template in Canva, I then pick ‘uploads’ and then ‘upload files’. I know Folksy images save as AVIF but Canva can upload those without me having to convert or whatever first.
I think I’ve made it all sound a bit complicated sorry. It’s actually really easy. I save the images with the shop/maker’s name and also ‘heart’ them too so easier to find them on Insta and also on Folksy if I need to check I’ve got the right person on Insta I can then just check in my favourites.
Lou x
I agree with there being a drop off in FF posts on IG. I’ve only missed a handful of Fridays in over 12 months as I quite like making the boards but there are hardly any that show in my feed now.
I know when the kerfuffle with the search changing happened I gave up for a week trying to search for what I wanted but it’s got better now to find what I want.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a sale from a FF board although I’ve bought myself from makers and items found when doing my initial search and when seeing something on another board and then going to have a browse that makers shop.
It’s disappointing to not be able to follow hashtags now on IG but I’ll still do a search for the folksyfriday tag most weeks.
I’ve got no ideas as to what to do to increase the number of folk taking part though.
L x
Thanks but my problem is/ was canva not uploading the avif files. It might be an issue between canva and my version of fire fox but I’m not convinced it’s worth the effort to investigate just for folksy fridays.
I’ve only ever done a few FF boards, but like others found them very time consuming to make and tag everyone in. But my main reason for not doing them is because I use Instagram so little that if I do a FF every week then my page would feature mostly other people’s items and hardly any of my own!
@SashaGarrett I used to do my Folksy Fridays on BeFunky but switched to Canva after the image change because I actually found it easier!
If you have two windows open, you can just drag and drop the images from Folksy to the template with no saving required.
I’m not sure whether Canva always let you upload avif/webp files (the dragging and dropping seems to work slightly differently to uploading) but they definitely do now on desktop.
If you still have a problem with it maybe it’s that avif doesn’t work with your version of Firefox rather than with Canva (I normally use Chrome and I think most recent browsers can use avif now, but if you’re on an outdated browser that may be why).
I do think the change to hashtags has made it harder because it’s not as easy to find Folksy Fridays people have just posted to interact with. It’s why tagging in the folksyhq account (on the image not just in the caption) is recommended, so people can easily check the tagged photos on the folksyhq page to find them, but not everyone seems to do that.
I don’t think it’s just about getting sales on the items directly featured either, but more general brand awareness for Folksy. Showing your followers (who might not know Folksy) the wide variety of items available here, and that even on a specific theme there can be loads of choice, so hopefully when they have something to shop for, they’ll have the Folksy name in their head and will have a look here.
I don’t do them very often any more because I struggle for time, but still find it nice to share one occasionally. There’s no expectation to do them every week.
Hi Kim, I struggle with canva, is it possibly something that a dummies guide on how to use with an android tablet (ok that may be too specific but perhaps on android) could be done on in the future. I spend ages trying to figure it out then walk away but really could do to use it. No idea why it causes such a headache but it does.
I only post 4 things on my Folksy Fridays because I just wouldn’t have the time to list 8 like most people - I figure I’d rather do 4 on a (nearly) weekly basis, than struggle to do 8 and keep missing weeks because I’m too busy. And honestly, I think that’s fine - every little helps!
I’m wondering if, for those that say they don’t have time/don’t want to do FF’s, maybe they could try to commit to seeking out and liking (or preferably commenting) on the posts that are there. I’m sure all of you do on this discussion, but if we could encourage everyone else to like/comment on just 5 FF boards that would make a real difference. Make a concerted effort, set a goal: 5 a week - doesn’t matter where, IG, FB wherever. Would only take a couple of minutes a week.
What you say makes sense Sarah. Back when I started to do FFs, it use to take me literally hours and a few less items would have made it more manageable until I got quicker!
As you suggest, there’s lots of ways that sellers can join in with Folksy Friday even if they don’t actually do a board. I know that after putting in the effort, I am always grateful when someone shares/likes/comments, otherwise I think what’s the point.
but perhaps on android) could be done on in the future. I spend ages trying to figure it out then walk away but really could do to use it. No idea why it causes such a headache but it does.