I really do have a love and hate relationship with social media.
Social media has been a disruptor in society. It’s introduced us to Kardashian clones, dieting experts and much more that we might not have wanted to see. It’s also given ordinary people a voice.
I remember the first time I heard of Facebook. It would have been around 2006/2007 which seems like a different lifetime ago.
It was.
At first it seemed like a waste of time. Why in the world would anyone care that I post a picture up? Would someone really give a damn if I posted about how wonderful or fucked up my day had been? Was it really important to rave about what a delicious breakfast I just had?
Probably not, but we do it anyway.
Surprisingly, social media continued to envelop its paws around us making the people using it its slaves.
In some respects we really are enslaved to social media as millions of people have joined the bandwagon and millions more continue to do so.
Facebook has over 2.45 billion monthly users at time of writing.
Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users
Twitter has over 321 million monthly users
Sure some of them overlap. I’m not the only one who has a Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. There’s also Pinterest which I love to sift through, then there’s something called What’s Up, StumbleUpon and others I haven’t heard of.
Many people proclaim that social media is tearing us apart. While I agree in some respects, I also have to disagree.
Social media is bringing us closer together.
It might not be in the traditional sense of ‘hey, let’s get together for a coffee, some shopping or a bbq’ – although occasionally it does. Social media keeps us aware of the happenings in the lives of people we care about or are interested in.
Social media is a connection to people we might not normally associate with. It keeps us in the loop of what’s happening around town and the world, what others are interested in, and yes, it offers opportunities to expand our social circles.
Why I love social media
1. Having family on two sides of the world makes it hard to keep in touch. While a phone call or a free Skype or Messenger call might sound like a more traditional way to stay in touch, let’s face a simple fact: we are all busy living our own lives. It’s difficult to find a suitable time to meet up for a call when you’re functioning on two different time zones. Social media makes it easier to keep in touch. I love seeing pictures family and friends post of the things they are up to. It keeps me in the loop and then when we catch up it doesn’t feel like it’s been forever.
When shit happens and disaster strikes it’s much easier to get in touch and keep people updated. One post of ‘hey I’m okay’ can give piece of mind to family and friends.
2. Another cool thing is having reminders of what you did last year or ten years ago. The memories tab on Facebook is great for that. I do love it except when I realise that it’s been years since I did something that I had really enjoyed or it makes me feel old. But shit happens. I don’t mind. Getting old is a gift.
I don’t know about you but with so much going on my memory can be shady. Social media helps with reminding me of things I might sometimes forget.
3. Most importantly social media has given people a voice. People who might not ordinarily be heard have an opinion. Okay, so this can also have a negative impact (trolls, we’ve all had to deal with them) but for the majority, having a voice can be a positive thing. Especially when it’s being used to raise awareness for worthy causes, raising funds for bushfire relief, or bringing communities together. There will always be a bad egg to ruin it for all, but as long as the majority are good, we’re going to be alright.
More power to you if you use social media for good.
Related: What I’m Currently Working On
Why I hate social media
1. FOMO. Yep, it’s a problem and I think a part of us has experienced that fear of missing out on some level. It’s natural and social media isn’t the primary cause. We are only human, and it’s in our biology to believe the grass is greener on the other side. Not always.
But long before social media we held fears of missing out. They were just fewer because we only learnt of things family and friends were doing if we took the effort and made a phone call or paid them a visit.
Did you never have that inkling of a feeling of green envy when someone boasted about their great promotion, epic holiday or romantic proposal? It’s not that you weren’t happy for them, you were, it’s just made you wonder what you were doing to make your own life epic.
But to turn FOMO on it’s head, it’s not always negative. It’s great to see people are following their dreams and having a fabulous time. We want to see happiness. Happiness breeds more happiness.
It should make us want to work harder to achieve our goals and dreams because just like you are the master of your universe, I am the master of mine.
Instead of fearing you’re missing out, you should be concentrating on doing what’s important to you. Sometimes that overlaps with what others are doing, sometime it doesn’t. It’s all good as long as you’re being true to yourself (sometimes that’s easier said than done – wink wink). Are you being true to you?
2. The pressure of writing a cool caption is another hate. OMG I’m a writer, captions should be easy. But just like blurbs in a book, they are short, sweet and damn difficult.
3. Social media promotion sucks for me. I have my author page set up and I have no idea what to post. I want to be motivational, inspirational and fun but Christ Almighty, I fail miserably. It’s the pressure. There are so many cool things out there that a) it’s hard to keep up, b) I don’t know what I’m doing. How in the world are dog and cat video’s making such a killing?
4. The advertising. Sure show me an ad or two or three but not in my entire feed. I want to see what my friends are doing not being sold to twenty/four seven.
As an author is social media necessary. I don’t know. I’m on the fence. I don’t think social media sells books. Shouting ‘buy my book’ is not cool and will only lead to unfollows. But it might have an indirect impact. It doesn’t hurt to use it as long as it doesn’t interfere with writing time.
Related: 5 Things I’ve Learnt About Twitter
So what should authors post about?
When I did a google search the top things to post about for authors were:
- 1. Share books you love
- 2. Ask for input from your fans
- 3. Post a picture of your working space
- 4. Give a quick update on your current work in progress
- 5. Share a snippet of intriguing dialogue from your story
- 6. Promote something you love (not your own books/business)
- 7. Create a giveaway
- 8. Reveal something about yourself that fans might find interesting (don’t be rude or crude)
- 9. Publish a picture of your pets
- 10. Share a funny meme
I’ve been trying to figure out a caption for a photo I want to put up on Instagram. My mind drew blanks. Many of them. So I googled it. Yep, you can google ‘cool captions for ….’ (Diet, travel, Couples, guys, weddings, holidays, pets) and you will get lots of ideas. Yep, people, you can google just about anything these days and get an answer. (Disclaimer: Don’t always trust everything you read!!!).
Social media does have a purpose in our life and I don’t see it going anywhere. Yes it will evolve and some of the platforms we see today will disappear just like MySpace did. But social media is so mainstream now that it would take nothing short of the internet disappearing for its business to be disrupted.
Finally, there are dangers to using too much social media. And it’s not just sore fingers from scrolling down the screen. Over sharing can be harmful. Not everyone cares what you ate for dinner. Some people, strangers even, might care too much. Posting everything on social media can attract all sorts of loonies. I know that people have asked to be ‘friends’ on my personal Facebook account who I’ve never met or heard of, we don’t even have friends in common. So beware of your list of ‘friends’ and don’t just accept anyone into your circle.
I have a rule for my personal Facebook account, if I I’ve never met you, then we’re not going to be friends on Facebook.
It’s a different story on my author Facebook account.
Keeping things a little bit separate is healthy. It keeps the crazies at bay and allows us to retain a little bit of privacy.
Just like anything, you have to find what works for you.
Once thing is certain, social media and the days of oversharing are not going to be disappearing anytime soon.
How helpful they are for authors depends on their intentions. A large following doesn’t necessarily mean high book sales.
Enjoy social media for what it’s worth and just keep writing books, ensuring that each one is better than the one before it. Sooner or later, with the right word of mouth, advertising and growing product list, sales will come in.
That’s my theory at least.
Happy writing friends!
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