Are You Experiencing Social Networking Overload? [The Catch-22 of platform building]

2/12/2012

Some days, social networking is the coolest invention ever--being able to connect with people around the world that I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. And then there are other days in which I want to pull out all of my hair and pop a cap in my laptop (that's my Utah hood coming out of me).

Seriously! Who can keep up with all of this? Things change and progress everyday. Thus is the world we live in--continually growing and improving.

All I know is that I'm feeling overwhelmed and buried by a need to do EVERYTHING just in case I'm missing out somewhere. I have become a virtual Peeping Tom/Stalker checking all my sites every few minutes (no joke). I want to know what everyone is up to. I have a facebook account, a facebook author page, twitter, linkedin, goodreads, and now I have joined Triberr, where they speak of bones and bonfires and tribes (I'm still trying to figure out the ins and outs of that one). I also have google+ account, but I hardly use it.

But that's it. I refuse to join any more. I can't. I won't. I'm tapped out *throws hands in the air in defeat*. I can hardly keep up with what I am doing, and I have to hope that it will be enough.

Also, I have no idea if it is even working. I spend a lot of time tweeting, blogging, and posting and I have no idea if I'm simply just wasting my time or whether I'm actually making a difference in my little piece of the writing world.

Everyone seems to say that it's pretty friggin' important for an author to have an online presence. But if we're all building these platforms, all attempting to do the same thing, then isn't it counterproductive? We're all trying to be "special" and in the end I think we're all ending up...not. There is so much white noise out there on all these sites that in some respects it has become a broken system.

How many times have you looked at your twitter account and found post after post of, "Check out my book" or "Read this review", etc... My whole stream is full of these postings. Facebook is much the same. And for the most part, I tend to ignore them. It takes something standing out, being different and glittery, to catch my eye. But it's rare for that to happen.

But what else are we supposed to do? We need some way in which to connect with potential readers and if we don't have a facebook account or tweet every hour on the hour, then how is anyone going to know we even exist? (I want to exist! That's all I have ever wanted! Just let me exist).

And there you have it, folks. The catch-22.

We need social media sites to build a platform, because for the majority of us it's all we have in which to promote our work. Most of us don't have pockets lined with cash to place expensive ads on hot air balloons or purchase a 30 second ad during the Superbowl or hire a monkey to sell our books for us (click here for more on that). We have to work within our limitations and with what is available to us.

Even if what is available to us is kind of broken and rather annoying.What other options do we have?

For me, I will continue to blog and facebook and twitter because: #1 I love it and #2 I still think having a platform of some kind is a good thing, even if it isn't the best thing.

So what do you think? How important is a platform for an author? Is it a big ol' waste of time? And more importantly, do you think it is a failed system or does it have some benefit?

34 Comments

Lisa Rosenman link

2/12/2012 09:04:23 am

I agree on the overload, and I'm pretty new to this! But the one thing I have done is kept my Facebook personal. I have no writers on it except the ones I'm friends with. I only want Twitter and my blog to be for writing at the moment. We'll see if that works...

Angela Scott link

2/13/2012 12:38:55 am

I actually took your advice and went through and defriended some authors from my personal facebook page. For the most part, I didn't even recognize their faces or names, so we're not even interacting anyway. Those I do banter with I kept. now my personal facebook page looks SO much better and I can really interact with family and friends the way I want to. Also, strangers aren't seeing pics of my kids--that's uber important to me.

Julie Kenner link

2/12/2012 10:37:27 am

Overload can be a huge problem! I try to remember that the social media thing can actually be fun (I discovered Pinterest...and, yeah, it's cool!) And the neat thing is that I discovered it on Twitter. I'm not going to dive into Google+, and I tend to forget about Tumblr. But I'm thoroughly enjoying Twitter and Facebook. At the same time, life is life is life and my family and my writing come first, so I think it's important to prioritize and remember why you do the social media stuff. A platform, yes, but for me it's also the water cooler/break room. Now that I work at home, I think that social contact is important. And fun. And has the added benefit of building a platform.

And you've got me thinking...maybe the world is evolving to that Star Trek episode where the folks were just brains in jars. Eventually we will only exist by our tweets and status updates. If you don't exist on line, you won't exist at all. You need Klout and Karma to buy food and... hmmm..... this has some promise.....

2/13/2012 12:41:53 am

Star Trek--that would be kinda scary :)

I love the idea of using social media as a water-cooler break room. I LOVE that. The pressure to build a platform is ridiculous, so right there that pressure would go away. Nice.

I haven't looked into Pintrest or Tumbler--not gonna do it. Also, I have Google+ but I just feel too overwhelmed to do anything with it.

Joanne Troppello link

2/12/2012 01:13:10 pm

I agree that networking and marketing in all the social media outlets can be overwhelming. I've been going through this overload lately, too. However, I do agree with you that having a platform and online presence is necessary...though sometimes it does seem like a lot of work with little results.

2/13/2012 12:44:47 am

That's exactly the way I feel-- a lot of work with little results. But I do like the above comment in which she said to view it as a water-cooler/break room. I like that idea better than viewing it as platform building. It sounds funner that way :)

carole gill link

2/12/2012 06:46:59 pm

I'm not new to this any more and boy, do I agree with you.
For one thing I detest getting a link in a direct message when you only followed someone back!

As for the time consuming factor, sure we need to be out there (pimping) we have to be noticed, we must remain being noticed, too or we might as well move on to something else.

There are no easy answers, i think you just have to give a certain amount of time for your daily (pimping)!

Try not to let it scare you (it does, me)! just keep going with it.

I don't believe for one second you can ever just stop.
but if you find you can, please let me know!
great post by the way!

2/13/2012 01:08:07 am

It's an endless circle for sure. We have to pimp, I don't see any other way around it, yet I hate the whole idea of doing the same thing everyone else is doing. But whatcha going do?

If I find the magic way, I will let you know for sure :)

Donna K. Fitch link

2/12/2012 08:55:04 pm

So with you! It's so overwhelming. I've decided to focus on Twitter for a month (following advice by Scott Stratten (UNMarketing--a really useful book) and see how it works out. Spreading myself too thin when I have limited time is just, as you say, frustrating.

Callie Hutton link

2/12/2012 08:59:14 pm

I have the requisite FB Fan Page, Twitter, Goodreads, and my own blog on my website. Does it help? Who knows. I also have a FB page in my real name that is for friends and family. A think I sold more books on that FB page than the others combined. We need to stop marketing to each other (although we probably buy more books than most of the general public), and find a way to reach more of the non-writer readers. But until we hit it in the big time, with a book tour, we're stuck with what we have. It's better than nothing. Although I'd rather spend my precious time on writing the next book.

Rebecca Enzor link

2/12/2012 10:52:52 pm

Definitely overloaded. Twitter moves so fast and has so many links that I can barely keep up. FB just sucks in general. I've never really "gotten" the social side of goodreads (I just use it to track my books). I love Google+ to bits and bits and bits and that's just about the only social network you can find me on anymore. And my blog, of course, but sometimes that feels more like yelling out into the ether than actually have a discussion with anyone.

Ishta Mercurio-Wentworth link

2/12/2012 11:18:13 pm

I think it's important to have a platform so that your readers can find you online, but the real success seems to happen when the platform is so distinctive that it stands out.

And of course, having a book that will knock everyone's socks off is more important than anything.

Christopher link

2/13/2012 12:46:47 am

You are reading my mind. I had this exact conversation with my wife last night.

"How many times have you looked at your twitter account and found post after post of, "Check out my book" or "Read this review", etc... My whole stream is full of these postings."
Oh my gosh you hit the nail on the head. Several times I've considered doing a major 'unfollow' because it seems like the only people I see tweets from are other writers hawking their books to me.

Having an online platform only works if the people that follow or Facebook 'like' you are readers/consumers. I like that I've met new people, but the ones worth spending time on make up only 3%. Everyone else just transmit 'me, me, me, mine, mine, mine, buy, buy, buy'.

Word of mouth sells books, but with everyone all shouting about their book who's left to actually buy something?

Like you I have a blog, twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and Google+. And Like you 95% of my sales were from people that know me. For the most part all this internet presence is doing nothing. It's like having a 'time-share' party and the only people in the room are real estate agents trying to sell their time-shares, too.

You're not alone. There's a lot of writers following the same steps and getting the same results.

2/14/2012 08:53:04 pm

I hear you Christopher, I really do. We're all pimping our books to other authors (who are usually big readers as well) but that's not the best strategy. I love your real estate analogy. It's perfect--I wish it weren't true.

I guess the best thing we can do is to try new things and take a gamble. Hopefully something will work out that's different than everyone else is doing.

Best of luck.

Anthony Wessel link

2/13/2012 01:09:45 am

Authors, many great points and social overload is an issue. What I did not read was what is your goal for you platform or marketing plan.

IMHO, what I see from my side of the fence (especially if you are enrolled in KDP select) is that the goal for an author is to get their book to the Top 100 of any sub-genre category on Amazon. It really appears (Amazon won't say) that once a book gets to the Top 100 it starts showing up on the "Customers who bought this item also bought" list. If you want to make money and sell books, this is the pinacle.

In most cases this will only happen with an aggresive marketing and advertising plan which probably includes "free days" and pricing at $0.99. The real key is within hours of hitting the Top 100 list is to raise your price to something like $2.99, continue marketing your book, and take your profit (you deserve it).

At some point it will fall off the list and you will have to start all over again.

Good luck to all authors, especially the indie's.

karen link

2/13/2012 02:15:07 am

I can so relate to this. I posted links on one of my blogs where people can find me and yet a lot of times, I'm just not anywhere, because trying to keep up with everyone and everything leads to overload!

P. Kirby link

2/13/2012 02:52:53 am

I spend most of my time on FB and Twitter and I try to update my blog twice a week. I drop by Goodreads once or twice a week to update my reading list/post a review. That's where I spend the bulk of my time.

But, to be honest, I don't do that much outright "promo." Why? Well, to be honest, because I don't pay attention to most other authors' promos. (Hint: The best way to engage my attention is to talk about something other than your book. Sad, but true.)

The bulk of my friends on my personal FB are authors, but the ones I interact the most with, the ones whose names stick with me, are those who don't endlessly flog their books.

Basically, I'm more likely to buy a book from the funny lady with the crazy kids, than She Who Blog Tours Endlessly.

A.E. Martin link

2/13/2012 03:17:22 am

I think platform is important no matter what stage you're at, getting yourself out there can never hurt in my opinion.

Btw, there's a game of tag I tagged you in, check it out on my blog =)

2/14/2012 08:56:04 pm

Will do!

Michael Offutt link

2/13/2012 03:19:22 am

It can be easy to get overwhelmed. I just blog and use twitter. That's it.

2/14/2012 08:55:24 pm

And it seems to work well for you.

Let me know, when your book comes out, if it translates into sales. I'd be curious. Or are you keeping your twitter and blogging more fun and personal, non-promotional?

Michelle Hughes link

2/13/2012 04:15:30 am

I am definitely on social networking overload. I can't keep up these days. My twitter list hit over 10,000 and even with list management, I'm missing friends that I want to RT. Add facebook, Tribber, Goodreads, and google groups and I honestly just want to go back to the days of doing normal book signings.

J.A. Beard link

2/14/2012 07:15:10 am

I decided a while back on a couple of things:

Not joining anymore new sites just because they are he latest greatest "thing" without leaving my old ones
Spending only a set limit per day on social networking
Not involving myself in places I'm not otherwise liking

I was starting to get overwhelmed, but this has helped me keep it under control.

Darlene Steelman link

2/14/2012 11:19:12 am

Platform is pretty important.. I was originally tooting my own horn way too much. These days, I toot my own horn once and then I go on and toot as many other horns as I can.
You are so right about the overload. I swore I was through and then along came Triberr.. which is supposed to make things easier.. but, I am pulling out more hair than ever!
Thanks for posting.

Georgia Saunders link

2/14/2012 01:11:17 pm

Looks like you struck a social media nerve with this post. I do think there is a point of diminishing returns in using social media. You seem to have found a good balance. Thanks for a thought-provoking post many of us self-promoting authors can relate to.
"don't hardly use it" ?? I know you're going for a "Utah hood" touch, but a double negative like that doesn't belong in a pro writer's post. It was like a punch in the nose.

2/14/2012 09:07:34 pm

You called me a pro! Thanks :)

"don't hardly use it"--those kind of things tend to happen here, since I edit my own blogs. Because I edit myself, there are many times I come off looking dumb and foolish, making silly mistakes.
Also, because I tend to keep this blog light and conversational, I don't tend to fret over the misplaced coma or coma splices or whatnot. Mistakes will happen.

Am I a writer/author? Yes. Am I a grammarian? Heck no! Am I human? Oh, yes! Very much so.

So sorry about the punch in the nose. I didn't even notice it, since I think I tend to speak with double negatives and toss in "at" at the end of sentences as well, "Where's the bathroom at?" kind of thing.

I will correct the post so no more punches to the nose. I apologize profusely for punching yours.

Celeste Neumann link

2/14/2012 10:31:38 pm

You're right. Sometimes it's overwhelming. And then there's the political "stuff" on top of this goopy topic. For instance I live in Germany, where SOPA is reality. So is consumer data protection. At the moment FB and the national data protection agencies are having legal battles at users' expense over FB fanpages, so quit FB because I already got "deep-fried" by some nameless lawyer for uploading private photos from my own camera that I failed to copyright. That's right: if you fail to copyright your own photos in Germany, you can get sued for that.
Other than that, I have spent a lot of time organizing things like my Google Reader. Only "Author/Writer Experience" blogs are on the venue for today. Saturday I will catch up with my beloved collection of vanity blogs.
I quit Twitter. I gave up. It drove me crazy to log in once a week (I don't own a portable device for Twitter), only to find there were about 200 messages to catch up on, and about 85 of them were from the same person. I had the feeling this particular person did nothing all day long but comb the web and re-tweet everything she laid eyes on.
I had a similar experience on Google+. I have this one friend who virtually bombards me with latest news about the injustice suffered by liberals/minorities in the U.S., the Middle East and Africa. I sort-of banned him to a circle entitled "political stuff", because, frankly receiving 20 reposted news stories daily about mutilated children in Africa is not good for my psyche. I do feel sorry for them, and I find it frustrating I can't do much to help them other than donate, and I don't always have a thick skin when it comes to stuff like that.

Karen de Lange link

3/3/2012 07:26:55 am

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels this way! When I only have a couple of hours a day (at best) that I can devote to writing, it really can sting to have to keep up on the networking side of things, too. I did recently have a Twitter clear-out - if more than 50% of tweets I saw from anybody was them promoting their own book, they were out. It keeps me on my toes to prevent me doing the same thing.
Thanks for posting!

Nadine Singel link

3/3/2012 07:46:46 am

Who would've thought that good ole' fashion email is now heading down the path of the horse and buggy. Oh...so quaint.

Charlotte Rains Dixon link

4/4/2012 11:22:37 pm

I'm certain that social media helps (I'll find out for sure next year when my novel is published). It is clear to me that being on Twitter (my favorite) drives traffic to my blog. Some days I love this fact and others I hate it. But love it or hate it, I think its here to stay.

4/5/2012 12:09:38 am

I love twitter and yes, it does drive a lot of traffic to my blog. That's the number one traffic driver by far. But I've got to figure something out between all the promo stuff and whatnot. There has to be a better balance.

Nadine Singel

7/9/2012 01:45:50 pm

Twitter is sort of a double-edged sword for me. It'd be nice to tweet something out of the realm of "buy my book", but the personal and candid fun stuff ends up on search engines. So if you don't care that you just tweeted that your weird Uncle Al just won a hot dog eating contest...then have at it.

I just don't like to Google my name and find all of my tweets stacked up for all the world to see...something a little unsettling about that. I'm sure there's some privacy setting that can be changed but then it sort of defeats the purpose. You're right about overload. Some days I just want to hang the "Gone Fishin'" sign on my computer.

7/9/2012 01:46:03 pm

7/9/2012 01:46:22 pm

Are You Experiencing Social Networking Overload? [The Catch-22 of platform building]

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Are You Experiencing Social Networking Overload? [The Catch-22 of platform building]

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