Believe it or not, I started The Wine Raconteur on 4 May, 2012 and I am just shy of 2,400 articles and I am still having fun; and I now average about a thousand readers or visitors each week.   I have tried over the years different social media platforms, in my quest to become a “blogger.”  I didn’t know what I was doing then, and I still am not sure that I know what I am doing now.  On 21 March, 2017 I was cajoled into trying Instagram, and it has increased my readership, and in a couple of days I will have transcribed all of my articles from my blog on Instagram, though it usually takes two or three posts to get it all posted, because there is a character-count per entry.  It has taken over 4,800 posts with photos to do this, usually once in the morning and another post in the evening. Soon it will be in sync, and then I can post one third of a blog article every night, because my blog is posted every third night at 01:10 GST.

Normally, every evening I have also been posting a “story” photo advertising my current blog entry, while I was posting older articles in the main body and they were usually title “From My Current Blog.”  Now that I am going to be caught up, I have decided that I will post my “story” in the morning and it will now be captioned “From My Cellar.”  I normally post a photo of an open bottle with an adjacent glass of wine to show that I have really drank the wine.  I am starting to believe that there are maybe a dozen bottles of Chateau Petrus and DRC wines that are always appearing in photos, but always sealed.  Wine should be opened and enjoyed, but yes, my Bride and I like to collect wines, so you can see a really eclectic wine cellar.  On the occasions when I show an unopened bottle of wine, it is usually a new acquisition and it is photographed on a ledge in our breakfast nook.  For this new series, I am actually going to photograph the bottle in the cellar, where it is resting.  And I may add, that not every bottle is going to be stellar, but hopefully every bottle will be consumed, or as I like to say to a waitress, the bottle evaporated.

My blog from what I have gathered from other wine bloggers, has legitimate numbers and since it doesn’t generate an income, I am happy however it goes.  The reason for my catering to Instagram, is that I have not asked anyone to follow me, and I am hovering around nine-thousand followers, and if I wasn’t lazy and indifferent and really promoted it, the numbers could be staggering, but I am pleased.  I have acquired some followers that have truly become friends over the years, as we discuss wines, and I am very thankful for Google Translator App, as English is not the only language encountered on Instagram.  While the politics is lessened on Instagram, the encounters with potential scammers has increased.  From multiple daily requests to invest in cryptocurrency from “new friends.”  Daily requests from twenty-something orphans that ask for amounts of money from $50.00 to $20,000 and all seeming to use the same script.  The other annoyance are individuals that attempt to use Instagram as a dating service.  I use another search app, because after awhile you begin to notice that the photos some of them use, are of pornography actresses, so I usually write back with the truth about their photo, before I block them.  This all adds to the daily fun, as I write my blog, and it is still enjoyable, and it keeps me from laying down on the sofa watching television.  I hope this will explain the subtle changes that you may notice and thank you for your continued support.