Into the Fire

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Passionate: right or wrong. Writes love stories with a passion. Raw Romantic Redemptive

Honestly?

 

I wonder sometimes if all of the hoopla around social networking within the writing community is really necessary? I even contemplate if it's constructive. I mean most everyone who sends a "Friend Request" on Facebook will get an acceptance even though we all know most of them within the writing community do it to compile numbers for professional inspection and evaluation as to platform and potential sales. Some like Twitter but most tweets are links to other sites or ridiculous accounts of what we had for lunch or how proud we are of completing our 52nd chore on our to-do list or a plea to buy our latest book.

I'm obviously a blogger. And I truly do appreciate blogging. Some individuals and groups contribute all kinds of interesting information, premises, concepts, and conversations on their blogs. I have my preferences where I visit either daily or on their posting days.

I'm on Facebook, but it's not my favorite even though I enjoy keeping track of old friends and those who contribute more to Facebook than to their websites or blogs, so it serves a purpose for me.

How 'bout Linked-in? Google +? Yahoo Groups? And the beat goes on . . .

Is it tedious for anyone else? Does it wear thin for others. How 'bout seven of the exact status updates in a row?

It could be – probably is - just me. A lot of it's bugging me at present. Honestly.

Lord, as I continually say – and mean from my heart – I'm desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus.

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10 responses to “Honestly?”

  1. Brenda Anderson Avatar
    Brenda Anderson

    Oh, it’s quite tedious, Nicole. Facebook is constantly changing and my friends are leaving it in droves. I’ve looked at Twitter feeds and just shake my head. Still, I think it’s necessary to have a presence on social networking. I do like Goodreads & Shelfari as those sites specifically target readers.
    As for social networking’s current efficacy, all the statistics I’ve read still point to word of mouth having the greatest effect on what readers purchase. Which means, write your best book possible first.

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  2. BK Jackson Avatar
    BK Jackson

    I’m with you Nicole on the aversion to social media. However, I have come to realize that despite my dislike, I have to overcome it and learn to play the game–at least on my terms.
    My intro to FB last fall was not a good one. I signed up for it, my email account was immediately raped (yes, I know there’s some cutesy term for the harvesting of all your information but it felt like raping, not reaping to me) and the few people I joined FB to connect to I STILL Haven’t found. Apart from that, I really despise the ADD design of FB. BUSY BUSY BUSY. I’m convinced FB was designed by a hoarder–the ones who keep so much clutter around they THINK it looks attractive but in reality, it looks like a dump.
    As you can tell, I REALLY hate FB. That’s going to be my biggest obstacle to overcome.
    I just signed up for Twitter this weekend (April is my get plugged in with social media month) so don’t know enough about it. People certainly can and do abuse its use with stupid tweets, but I can also see value in carefully selected tweets.
    I love blogging best. That seems a more natural fit to me and blogging doesn’t feel like part of the evil empire of social media.
    SocMedia is April’s ACFW course, and a bunch of us are swapping links for FB/blog/Twitter to be followed, twitted, and liked–realistically, no one can possibly actually read all the data that comes from all those contacts.
    So in essence, socmedia really is just a numbers game for the agents and publishers. I’m sure occasionally out of the muck of social media some good things arise too, but mostly it’s just to “see and be seen”. Ho hum. Not exactly the goal of a recluse…

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  3. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    Thanks, ladies. Well expressed “sentiments”.

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  4. Tim George Avatar
    Tim George

    You won’t be surprised when I offer a moderately dissenting view. What’s forgotten here is how new a medium Facebook and Twitter are. Just five years ago Facebook was a wannabe and MySpace was king. Twitter was just a glimmer in social media’s eye. Now everyone’s all agog over Pinterest.
    The reason some have come to hate Facebook is the same reason they likely quit their last local women’s or men’s group – Meism i.e. Selfishness. People who only talk about themselves become an annoying hum. The same is coming to be true of Facebook marketing.
    I write for businesses using social media and constantly implore them to quit talking about themselves all the time. The most successful blogs, web sites, and Facebook pages are those that meet some kind of need, communicate valuable information, and listen more than talk.
    In my opinion, authors are killing their possible future reading audience by rattling on and on about themselves. Brandilyn Collins and James Scott Bell spent years offering helpful tips to others on their web sites without seeking anything in return. Did they want people to read their books? Of course. Don’t you? But Collins spent untold hours building her Forensics and Faith blog that asked for nothing in return and offered valuable tips for new writers.
    As in all things, it’s about moderation and giving rather than taking.

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  5. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    I agree with you, Tim. My point is are we doing it to communicate, promote, and feature? Or are we doing it to push, shove, and remind? Are we doing it for business and pleasure or just for one or the other? And if for both, how are we approaching the process?
    Let’s take the four of us who’ve responded here. I’m primarily a blogger. Mostly I just repost on other outlets and occasionally comment on friends’ posts. None of us saturate each medium. I frankly enjoy what each of you contributes to these different outlets.
    I think promotion/marketing is a tough gig in publishing. The push and shove methodology seems to prevail these days, and, frankly, it’s uncomfortable and a turn-off for me. When those who should know what works figure it out, I’ll look forward to it because the overbearing saturation makes me curl up in the fetal position. 😉

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  6. BK Jackson Avatar
    BK Jackson

    When I think about how I might use FB/Twitter etc. primarily I’m thinking of the times when I read an article or blog post that excites me, or a book–that’s the kind of stuff I forward. Or I truly feel I’ve discovered something on the writers journey that’s worth passing along (and since all of us writers think we’ve had amazing revelations, it’d have to be a darn good one).
    Seeing as I don’t yet have any books on the market, self-promotion seems idiotic to me at this time. And to be honest, even if I DID have books on the market, I would still find it hard to self-promote.
    So the question for me then becomes, till that day, how do I use social media to help promote others? Even that’s a hard task because I can only read so many books.
    Sigh. It all boils to that “never enough hours in the day” thing.

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  7. Karin Avatar
    Karin

    Whether or not social media sites are valuable (or will be valuable in the long run) for marketing purposes really doesn’t matter much to me anymore. The whole question of value comes second. What comes first is the question of time. I’m currently on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Goodreads–and I run a blog which I haven’t been able to post to since the middle of last month.
    I deleted my Pinterest account and I’ve avoided getting involved in Linked-In and Branch Out, though I get endless invitations. I had to draw the line. I see these social media sites as the province of, mostly, full-time writers. Those of us who work full time outside the home and try to squirrel away an hour or so a week for writing can’t afford all this sideline stuff. At least that’s the conclusion I’ve come to. What good is it to spend several hours a week on social media and have no time left for writing? I don’t even like some of these sites. I enjoy Facebook, but Twitter’s a pain.
    I’m rambling here, but your post reminded me that it’s time to get back to what I love doing and let the other stuff slide for a while. I have limited free time in any given week, so I’d better use it wisely. Thanks for a thought-provoking post, Nicole.

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  8. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    Karin, I have the luxury, and I do mean luxury, of staying at home with lots of free time. However, I’m still responsible to the Lord for that “free” time. And I’ve abused it on occasion, wasting what precious time I have left on this earth to my shame.
    I can do the blog posts and repost them without “wasting” my time – most of the time. Beyond that I’m having a hard time justifying a lot more of social media. I visit Facebook, repost on Twitter, and take in some blogs (all of yours here included), but if it’s just “to be seen”: no more. Let’s face it, most of us are a black dot in the universe. Our only value is in the Lord, not in man’s opinion of our social networking.
    This opinion doesn’t stem from any bitterness or resentment. It comes from that inner inkling that there are better ways to use the commodity of time. And deciding what I appreciate from the media – and what I don’t.
    Thank you all for your valuable and appreciated opinions. Love you guys.

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  9. Jessica Thomas Avatar
    Jessica Thomas

    I love Facebook because it lets me stay in touch with old coworkers, classmates, and extended family members that I wouldn’t otherwise. For that reason, I’ve been hesitant to turn it into a “platform building” tool. I very rarely agree or ask to be friends with someone I don’t know.
    Twitter is different. I follow mostly authors, and most of the posts in my feed are advertisements for books, or links to blog posts. I was linking to my own blog posts until I realized every tweet tweet in my feed was an advertisement and I decided I didn’t want to contribute to that. I don’t tweet much, and they’re random.
    Eventually, when I have some books out and people give a hoot, they may find my random comments interesting. But I have to get the books out first.
    To be perfectly honest, I don’t think many people care what a no name author has to say. For an author to really build a platform on these social media tools, they have to spend many hours a week working at it.

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  10. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    And to what end if, as you say, the no-name author has yet to catch the eye of professionals and/or readers? Kind of a Catch-22 all the way around. And haven’t we all seen/experienced those no-names “pressing” in comments on authors’ blogs, Facebook, etc.? Striving to get recognition and gain a platform. Being a no-name, as I am, is something I must accept – at least for a season. I would agree, Jess, that not many people care what no-names have to say. In a way I feel just the opposite. Some really cool and talented people (such as the ones who often comment here) are currently no-names. Hopefully not for long.

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