This week has been hectic. Aside from working in town every day, writing, and trying to keep my house tidy with three kids and a husband home all week (in anticipation of visitors this weekend), I felt like something was about to give. Not wanting to neglect my Farmer’s Wife Facebook page, I threw together a quick ‘scone recipe’ post to keep things ticking over until I could come back and spend real time on the page.
I checked in on it the next morning to realise it had gone a little ‘viral’. Apparently the whole world was hungry and wanted scones last week.
I didn’t realise at the time, that with great audience engagement comes great responsibility. I had people throwing their questions at me left, right and centre in the hope that I am some western Queensland Martha Stewart who might be able to resolve a multitude of scone related concerns.
“Hi Farmer’s Wife, could you substitute the cream for quark or fat free fromage frais?”
“Just wondering if my son is anaphylactic to dairy, could I use anything other than cream?”
“What is self-raising flour called in America?”
“Could you please translate the recipe into Dutch?”
There were literally thousands of requests, many of which I was unable to answer personally. Instead, I have compiled a list of ways that you can be useful when responding to a recipe doing the social media rounds.
1. Take it or leave it. If you like the recipe and can use it then that’s great. However if you have allergies, don’t like one of the ingredients or aren’t an experimenter in the kitchen, then back away from the recipe and please leave quietly.
2. Use Google before you ask anything. Google can tell you pretty much anything you need to know. If that fails, feel free to ask, but be aware that unless you tag the writer in the post, it may get caught up and lost amongst thousands of other comments. Read through all the questions before you ask in case someone else has already asked. If you do have to ask a random ‘help’ question, there is every conceivable chance that someone on that page will have the answer, even if Google doesn’t.
3. If you are commenting in a positive way, that’s wonderful. E.g.: ‘My mother used to make these but she used to add a pinch of baking soda’ etc. It’s sometimes a big help too. Because while I don’t know what ‘quark’ is (I could Google it!) someone else may be able to help. Which leads me to…
4. Feel free to answer any questions you see other people post, especially if you know you can help. It’s a big help to me, and that’s what makes the internet wonderful; other people sharing and caring.
5. Be kind. Enough said.
On the whole, the ‘scone recipe’ was the best thing to happen to my page. Most people have been supportive and positive. Thanks to everyone who have stopped by to say hello. I am so incredibly grateful.