A Curmudgeonly Author’s Take on Social Media

It’s been awhile since I wrote about my likes and dislikes on social media. (But see here and here and here.) During the pandemic, social media has been the only way for an indie author to market books, so I have been forced to use it and to explore some new channels.

But I’m finding it overwhelming. Many marketing gurus advise writers to become proficient in a few social media platforms and to not try to do everything. I have taken that advice to heart. I wrote a few years ago that my primary social media sites are this blog and my Facebook author page. That remains true. I have accounts on several other platforms, but I pay little attention to most of them.

Facebook. I am semi-fluent in Facebook. In addition to linking my blog posts to both my personal page and my author page, I post other material as well and I comment on other people’s posts. I am a member of many Facebook groups. I even administer a few groups and engage with members in other groups. I have a harder time with Facebook Live, but if I have to, I can find videos of events I want to watch. But I hate when other videos play in the background as I scroll down the screen.

I’ve been able to ignore most of the political vibe on Facebook. A few “friends” I turned off. Others I simply scroll past. And Facebook seems to realize that what I want most is information about writing.

I frequently check my Facebook notifications, just to be sure I’m not missing something from a group or page I follow. Usually, I just “mark all as read,” but sometimes I check out the post to which a notification links.

So I’m likely to remain active on Facebook. But I’m sure I’m missing interesting information from some friends, people I would like to stay in touch with, because of Facebook’s algorithm. I miss the days when Facebook mostly kept me updated on what my kids and close friends were doing.

LinkedIn. I probably should spend more time on LinkedIn. I’m in contact with more of my former work colleagues through LinkedIn than on Facebook, and it’s nice to know what they’re doing. And I’ve connected with strangers on LinkedIn—I’m more likely to accept a request to connect on this platform, as the people who ask seem more professional.

But nevertheless, I rarely sign on to LinkedIn more than once a week. My professional past becoming less and less relevant in my life. My former work associates are not irrelevant, and I do have writer contacts on LinkedIn, but much of what I see on LinkedIn no longer interests me as it did fifteen years ago when I still worked.

Twitter. I’ve been told that Twitter is an excellent platform to use to build relationships with other writers and with readers. But I don’t like Twitter.

There, I said it. And I’ll say it again—I do not like Twitter. There is too much vituperation and shouting on Twitter, even without Donald Trump on the site. Both liberals and conservatives spout off about anything and everything, and usually they do not pull their punches with language. It’s not a platform where I want to hang out.

I have friends and family members who are active on Twitter. Some even have long conversations with people they may or may not know. But for me, there is too much yuck to wade through to find the people I want to see.

So all I do with Twitter is link to my blog posts. Occasionally, I reply to some post I see. But the last time I did so was to comment that someone’s cloud picture resembled Dumbo. Not exactly a scintillating way to sell books.

Instagram. In contrast to Twitter, I like Instagram. The pretty pictures are eye candy, and some of them feed my soul as well. Or make me laugh.

But Instagram is becoming overwhelming. In part, this is my fault. I started with a personal account and only followed friends and family. I loved seeing pictures of their holidays and travels. Then I added a few hashtags about books like #bookstagram. Then I made my account a business account and posted some book photos I made in BookBrush. Then I followed writers I met through conferences who used Instagram better than I did. And more hashtags, like #oregontrail and #goldrush. Do you know how many posts I see now about dysentery?

I used to be able to fairly quickly scroll back to see everything from my contacts since my last Instagram sign-on. Now, it’s hard for me to find pictures from friends and family on Instagram, unless they use stories or unless I search for them by name. I sign on to Instagram daily just to be sure I see my contacts’ stories. But I don’t understand the point of stories. Why post something that disappears before most followers can see it?

When I use Instagram for marketing my books, I need to remember to add links to my buy sites. And add hashtags. And maybe a brief comment. It’s time-consuming, because Instagram is a mobile-friendly platform, and I create and download BookBrush pictures on my laptop. And then, even when I remember the buy-site links, they aren’t clickable.

Pinterest. I also like Pinterest—probably too much. It’s more eye candy, even more so than Instagram. I’m there, but I try to stay away from it, because it’s a time-suck for me. Still, if there is a social media platform I’d like to explore more, Pinterest is it.

Other Platforms. There is Tumblr. I have an account there and link my blog posts, but that’s it.

I refuse to join TikTok. Maybe I should. I hear good things from other writers about it. But do I really need another social media site to hate?

And YouTube (I have a YouTube channel, but only one video on it.) And Messenger (I’m there only because I’m on Facebook. I hate Messenger—email me if you want to contact me.) And WeChat (I don’t.) And WhatsApp (what’s that?) And Reddit (I’m not ready). And SnapChat (Instagram is enough eye candy.) And Medium and Wattpad, where some writers test their prose (I could, but it feels like more work.)

And probably a zillion other platforms that aren’t even on my radar screen. I’m busy enough. I’ll stick with what I know, until someone convinces me another social media site is worth my time. But in the meantime, you can click on the social buttons on this page, wherever you want to follow me.

Now it’s your turn. Social media—do you love it or hate it? Which sites and why?