 (I may get some backlash writing this, but I must speak my mind--I must. So if you feel the need to fight me, then lets do it in a pillow fight kinda way :) "That's all I can stands, and I can't stands no more"--Popeye I'm up to my eyeballs in crazy social media, and author/writer online shenanigans, I tell ya! And yesterday, I completely lost it! No one knew I lost it (I'm a master of disguise), but I did, and let me tell you why... About a year ago, I thoroughly enjoyed Facebook. In fact, I loved it! I loved chit-chatting with distant friends and family members. I played a few games, and I commented on friends baby photos and even poked a few people. I had an awesome farm with a big house and plenty of pumpkin patches on Farmville (yep, I played that game for a very long time, and I ain't afraid to admit it). Then, when I delved more heavily into my writer/author career, everything changed. I was told by various advice-giving sites that to increase my online presence and create a better platform, I needed to befriend other writers. So I did. It started off slowly, a few authors at first, and then a little more. It was nice and rather pleasant. I enjoyed discussing writerly type things with them and loved the support we all gave one another, because we all know that the life of a writer can be rather lonely.  Then I was told, join Twitter--Twitter was where the action was, and my platform would be bigger by joining. And since we all know that bigger equals better (ask an Texan) I jumped on board. I loved it even MORE than I loved Facebook! It was cool! It was instant! I was meeting other writer/author peeps from all around the world, people I wouldn't have met any other way. It was awesome! We asked about each others works in progress, about each others families, and even had some inside jokes. We shared and we interacted. But then I was told having only a few writer friends on Facebook and Twitter wasn't enough--I needed MORE.  I wasn't popular (Klout told me this--dang you Klout!) Ack! Not popular? Shoot! For a little nerdy girl who played the clarinet all throughout her Jr. High and High School years, and was the Vice President of the FBLA club (Future Business Leaders of America--yeah, you heard me), the idea of, once again, not being popular brought back horrible memories causing me to start clicking away on everyone and anyone on Twitter who looked remotely interesting. I followed and followed and followed...(see where this is going?) and as people returned the gesture, I became even more addicted to the process. WAH-HA-HA-HA!!  Then someone on Twitter (not exactly who, since there are just SO many of you there) mentioned using Triberr to extend my reach. Extend my reach...that sounded FANTASTIC. So I joined one tribe and then another and then a another. I bought 40 dollars worth of bones so I could join various tribes, thinking this was the way to go. Right now, I'm a member of 8 tribes and have well over 160 tribe mates. Pretty cool, huh? Well...I'm not so sure anymore (I will tell you the reason why in a minute).  Then, to top it all off, I joined various Karma chains--I like you, you like me kind of thing. I created a Facebook Author Page and stared LIKING other author's facebook pages and loved watching my number of LIKES on my page increase. "People like me! People like me!" It was super cool...for a bit. Now here I am, with a twitter reach (per the statistics on Triberr) of over 300,000 people. I have over 6K followers on Twitter. I have nearly 400 LIKES on my author facebook page, and I feel less connected to people, and less happy, than I was a year ago. You wanna know why? Because quantity (sorry, Texans) doesn't equal quality. I think in the process of trying to become popular, trying to increase my online presence, trying to get my name out there, I shot myself in the foot. At least, this is my experience. Maybe it's just me, and maybe I went about the process all wrong. Yes, the hits on my blog have doubled. That's great. But the number of comments I receive to my blog posts have dwindled. How can this be? It doesn't make sense! But it does. It really does. I'm blasting my twitter followers with random tweets from tribe members--in other words, spamming them. I've been told on Triberr that I shouldn't be reading the posts I tweet, not to pick and choose, but to select them ALL, or I will be kicked out of the tribe for not playing fair. Heck, I wanna play fair. Since I'm tweeting all of these random tweets and links for tribe members, my own blog post links are becoming lost. No one trusts me anymore it seems. My followers don't know which links are mine and which are going to take them off to some other blog which very well could be full of erotica posts and other kinds of weirdness (not that I'm calling erotica writers weird, because I'm not). But do you see where I'm going?  And, by LIKING so many author pages and using my personal account on Facebook to do so, I have littered my stream with so much promotional, random information, that I no longer see posts from family members announcing they're expecting a new bundle of joy. (I actually ran into a family member, noticed her belly was rather large and decided to be brave and ask her if she was expecting. She was 7 months pregnant! She asked me how I didn't know this since she was posting weekly pics of herself). I'm missing out.
Twitter is much the same way. I can literally scan tweets for pages and not find one tweet that is interactive. Not one. As I said before, I like chit-chatting. When someone says, "Hey, how's the weather?" or "My dog just ate my cookie!" I will reply. This is how I build relationships. This is how I make friends. This is how I love my social media life. So onto the ninja smackdown... Yesterday, I unfollowed probably 1000 people on twitter and I plan to do more today--mostly unfollowing people who only post links and have no interaction with their followers at all. It amazes me when you scan someones tweets and see link after link after link and nothing else. I also went through my facebook stream and clicked HIDE ALL on many author posts. It amazed me how much this cleared out my stream and how many posts from people that I actually wanted to hear from came into view. I had had enough! KARATE CHOP! I can't keep up with all of it anyway--Pintrest, Goodreads, Google+, etc.... It's TOO much! Now, don't get me wrong, I know I'm just as to blame, doing some of the same things I unfollowed other people for doing, and I promise to be better. I will be picky on Triberr. If the post interests me, or think it will be beneficial for my followers to read, then I will share it. Otherwise, no. If that gets me kicked out of tribes, so be it. On Facebook, if an author/writer interacts with me, then I will click like on their author page and become a fan. Otherwise, no. TALK TO ME! Don't blast me with links and promotional junk 24/7! And I will promise to return the favor. If this causes my quantity to falter and people to unfollow me, so be it. I'm looking for quality anyway. Quality is far better than quantity anytime. My experience proves it. I just had to learn it the hard way. So let the pillow fight begin! How is your experience with social media? What ticks you off and what do you think works best? Let me know. I want to do my part and fix myself.
58 Comments
Megan Trennett
4/4/2012 02:14:15 am
I know how you feel. My sister got me on to pintrest at Christmas for crafting reasons. But after it blew up I lost interest. Despite everyone saying you should join all these social network sites I just can't do it. Twitter is more than I can handle sometimes. 4/4/2012 03:44:46 am
So far, Pintrest is kind of fun, but I'm most likely not utilizing it right (so that's why it's fun). I hardly go on there much anyway. Since cleaning up my twitter stream, things are looking better, less like a chore. 4/4/2012 02:18:59 am
I really should pay more attention to the social media aspect of my 'career'. but I don't. I'll log into Triberr once per day, but that's it. I could be interacting a lot more on Twitter and Fb, but again, those are a timesuck. Really hard to balance, living, writing and making social calls. 4/4/2012 03:46:18 am
You're so right--twitter and facebook and whatnot are all time sucks. There has to be a balance for sure or nothing would ever get done.I'm supposed to be editing right now, just saying :) 4/4/2012 02:38:22 am
I agree with you Angela, and I fear the time crunch thing. I've kept my triberr mate total low for that very reason (about 38 total in three tribes). And the posts only go out every 90 minutes, and I try to read/scan every post that I send out because I like the writing of my mates. Wouldn't be in a tribe where I didn't. The social media barrage is conflicting that way, and I still interact with a great core group across these sites that are encouraging. Find these good peeps and get your writing done. Take care of yourself first is a good lesson. 4/4/2012 03:48:13 am
Thirty-eight tribe mates is plenty. The 130+ is doing me in. I may need to drop from a few tribes and stick with the ones that I do find myself tweeting more often. 4/4/2012 02:39:01 am
God LOVE YOU! I nearly did the same blast yesterday right there at a Triberr bonfire. I hate being bullied and I felt that way. I will NOT tweet some poorly written, badly spelled, nonsensical rubbish. I WILL tweet things that represent me as a writer and a person. That's it. If they kick me out for that, then it's their loss. We should form our own rebel tribe! 4/4/2012 03:53:34 am
Rebel Tribe! Rebel Tribe! 4/4/2012 06:55:51 am
I feel your pain. I've noticed more and more that it's hard to find conversations on Twitter. I do use Tweetdeck and have lists, so I'm able to follow friends easier, but it's still tough. I do feel like I'm constantly sending out links, most of which aren't mine. But I do only Tweet posts from Triberr (or wherever) that I enjoy/relate to. 4/4/2012 11:19:18 pm
I have no idea if all of this sells books WHAT SO EVER. I'm truly starting to believe it sells some, but not a lot. Especially since everyone is doing it. It's become less effective. Where are those readers? I'd love to know :) 4/4/2012 06:58:06 am
I know how you feel. I have refrained from starting a blog for much the same reasons you are deleting tribes. When social networking takes up so much time we, as writers, don’t get the writing time we need, what’s the point? 4/4/2012 11:23:56 pm
It's all about word of mouth--any way you can get your name out there, do it. I feel this is essential. Social media does get your name out there, but we do have to watch how we do it. If it's all spammy, then we ruin our followers trust. 4/4/2012 07:33:14 am
I've decided to keep Facebook totally out of the picture, writing-wise. Facebook is just for me and my friends. Twitter and my blog is enough for me for writing. 4/4/2012 07:45:32 am
I like your idea of keeping Facebook for friends and family only--and gamers, can't for get them. 4/4/2012 11:25:47 pm
I honestly wish I had done that. Now I'm in the process of cleaning up my mess. Stick to your gut and only do what you know you can and want to do. Don't feel pressured into doing more. 4/4/2012 08:39:26 am
ya, Triberr is powerful like that. You have to take it easy and slowly. 4/4/2012 11:28:17 pm
I love the idea of Triberr and what it can do. I just think I got myself into a deep mess with so many tribe mates (some of my tribes keeping adding more and more and more). 4/4/2012 09:00:59 am
Sign me up for the rebel tribe, and I don't even know what Triberr is really! I just found out last week that I'm a troglogyte, a late adapter. Until last week I only had a personal facebook page where I only friended people I know and like in real life. No fan page, no liking random people, no twitter, and no "following blogs" (instead, I visit each of the 50 or so blogs of fellow writers that I regularly read every single week, reading their posts, and commenting (if I have anything to say about what they said)). So old fashioned and so one year ago! So finally I let myself be bullied into the social media craze - I created a second personal FB profile so I could friend everyone in the world but still keep my private life private. I created a fan page. I signed up for Twitter. I lalready hate twitter and I've been on it two days. Six tweets an hour from some people just filled with spam, spam, spam. This whole "if you follow me I'll follow you" just to drive up blog follower or twitter follower numbers smacks of the "if you buy my book I'll buy your book" way to artificially drive up sales #s and amazon rankings. It's fake and artificial and an illusion of popularity and yes, it totally smacks of high school. I'm going back to bat cave and focus on writing. People can poke me on facebook if they want me to stick my head out :-p 4/4/2012 11:33:15 pm
Definitely keep your private facebook seperate from anything else you do. As for the "I follow you, you follow me"--it is completely fake, and as far as I'm concerned, a waste of time. If all my fans are other writers/authors trying to increase their LIKES, then what's the point?
Great post! I feel the same way - except, I have yet to figure out how to enjoy Twitter and talk to people. It just doesn't make sense to me. I probably have people unfollow me all the time for not talking to them - but I just don't know how. My twitter is very automated! (Triberr and feeds from Facebook) Slap on the hand huh? :-) 4/4/2012 11:40:15 pm
I think a lot of people have trouble with Twitter. I think it's a great marketing tool and gives us the ability to reach out to people from all over this big planet of ours. Twitter used to be my favorite social media hangout, and I plan to get it back to the way I had liked it in the beginning. 4/4/2012 12:59:12 pm
Hear hear! I have had the same problem, everyone is talking about numbers, but to me that misses the "social" part of social media. Having 500,000 followers and spamming them with promos is just not fun. I'd rather have a small group of fellow authors I can interact with. I would high five you for this post if we weren't online...with no hands...:) 4/4/2012 11:42:08 pm
Virtual high five, it is! 4/4/2012 07:52:19 pm
Hi Angela, 4/4/2012 11:48:17 pm
I agree that bloated numbers aren't all that. They're not. On facebook, for instance, I have almost 400 fans on my author page. I would say 350 of those are other writer/authors. And of the 350 who actually interact with me and leave comments to posts--maybe 10. So I don't see the point of littering my personal facebook page by liking other author page, that truly mean nothing to me, and therefore missing out on the friends and family that do. 4/4/2012 10:32:19 pm
Yep, same here. Social media overload. I love interacting with people and I've made great connections. 4/4/2012 11:51:32 pm
You're absolutely right--it's all about balance. I tipped my scales in the direction of insanity, and so now I'm trying to right them again and find that balance that works for me. If that means deleting thousands of people off my twitter stream and jumping out of tribes, then that's what I'm going to do. I want to get back to when social media was fun. 4/4/2012 10:56:24 pm
Great post, Angela. I agree. For me, Triberr was the final straw. I'm still not sure whether I'll stick around. I do often feel bogged down by being *too* popular. Klout says I'm one of the most influential people in "books." I was a dweeb in high school, too. Now I'm starting to appreciate just how hard it is to be liked. I mean, darn. I focus my attention where the interaction is most authentic. And for me that's Facebook and GoodReads. I'm still on every other site, but on these two, I actually feel like I'm engaging with friends rather than promoting or being promoted to. Yup, Triberr kind of pushed me over the edge as well. I don't know that I'll stick around much longer. Still mulling... 4/4/2012 11:03:30 pm
I just have to jump back in here and ask about Goodreads. I'd like to really get involved there, because I think one of the hardest thing to do is reach READERS. Social media is great, but 95% of who we're marketing to is other writers. Yes, they read, but we need to reach further. Can you give me some Goodreads tips? Thanks! 4/4/2012 11:03:38 pm
I just have to jump back in here and ask about Goodreads. I'd like to really get involved there, because I think one of the hardest thing to do is reach READERS. Social media is great, but 95% of who we're marketing to is other writers. Yes, they read, but we need to reach further. Can you give me some Goodreads tips? Thanks! 4/4/2012 11:03:51 pm
I just have to jump back in here and ask about Goodreads. I'd like to really get involved there, because I think one of the hardest thing to do is reach READERS. Social media is great, but 95% of who we're marketing to is other writers. Yes, they read, but we need to reach further. Can you give me some Goodreads tips? Thanks! 4/4/2012 11:15:21 pm
Hi Stacey. On Facebook, I use both my page and my profile. You're welcome to friend/ fan me there to see what I do and how people interact. 4/5/2012 12:02:00 am
I really liked the idea of Triberr--the reach. That concept is awesome. BUT, it comes with a price, or so I'm finding out. I'm in too many tribes with too many tribe mates. I'm blasting my followers with links--which is something I swore I would NEVER do. It was stuff I hated and now, here I am, doing it myself. 4/5/2012 12:05:29 am
Hijack away, Emlyn! Hijack away anytime :)
Yep, this is exactly why my platform is only through Blogging and Twitter. I know I can't handle more than that, so I'm not even going to try. 4/5/2012 03:59:01 am
That's a good rule of thumb, Juliana. I'm starting to weed things out and go back to that ideal, because what I'm doing now isn't working. 4/5/2012 02:13:33 am
I'm in one tribe of trusted writer friends on Triberr and I love tweeting their posts regularly, but I wouldn't want to be in random ones. It all gets a bit overwhelming, but Twitter is still my favorite SM site. 4/5/2012 04:01:19 am
I dove too deep, I think. I dived right into all the sites, thinking I had to do EVERYTHING. I can't. So now I'm tweaking and fixing the social media sites I love best (twitter) to get it back to where I want it to be. 4/5/2012 03:47:36 am
Love this! My stress level dropped way down when I decided to market smarter, not more, and only do things that felt good to me. Excellent post and comments from everyone. 4/5/2012 05:32:13 am
In principle I agree with you. I do try to read the posts I'm sending from Triberr to make sure they pertain to authors, writing or books. However, I don't use Twitter for private conversations, and I think posts about purely personal "stuff" (like what someone had for dinner, unless they happen to be eating at Buckingham Palace or some other fancy place few of us will ever get to visit) is a waste of space. I use Twitter and Triberr to learn and that is why I read your blog, which I found and will Tweet to my followers through Triberr. I'm not sure I'm using social media to its best advantage as an author, or even as an individual, so I am open to new ideas and trying new things. But I think the best anyone can do is share the things they hope others will find equally as interesting. And what I had for dinner last night will never make the list, unless I receive an invitation from the Queen. 4/6/2012 12:58:09 am
I only have my blog and twitter. I never post links. Are we still on for a lunch tomorrow? 4/6/2012 01:24:48 am
I agree with everything you've said. And while I really enjoy interacting with fellow writers, I'd love to get to wherever the readers are. There needs to be away to concentrate all of this social media, to be effective, instead of spreading out all over the internet. Besides, how can you know if you're reaching more people if the same people are also doing what you're doing? I love technology, but it needs to function. It needs to work. If it doesn't, then what good is it?
Lyshawk - Helle
4/7/2012 06:07:59 am
I totally understand you. It's a friggin maze of people I don't talke to. Do your ninja and rest assured that friends will understand:-) 4/9/2012 07:55:54 am
I'm not even on Twitter yet, but it sounds like Triberr is something I definitely want to avoid. Thanks for the heads up. 4/10/2012 02:01:44 am
Man, I can only juggle Twitter and my blog. I have FB but not completely for author related stuff. With working full-time and writing and posting on my blog, plus the umpteen other things on my plate, I just can't do anymore. So I stick with what I've got. 4/12/2012 08:42:07 am
Hi Angela 4/12/2012 08:49:35 am
Angela, I am quickly discovering social media can take over my life. I need to turn it all off and write, but if I want to sell books, I need to be out there. This is a bigger juggling act than working full time and having children involved in dozens of activities! Bless us all! Kathy I'm only a member of one tribe, of about 20 members. I won't join another tribe because of what you mentioned. I don't want to be spamming my followers. Our tribe actually encourages culling the posts and not retweeting *everything*. My followers don't seem to mind since I keep to only one an hour and only the type of posts (I'm a book reviewer) that they would get from me. That's why they're following me, after all. (Well, they're probably following me so I'll eventually review their book, but that's another story.) My followers often RT my tribe mates' posts, so I know they like them. If your tribes are insisting that you post *everything* they're missing the point of Triberr and you're better off without them. 4/16/2012 08:46:20 am
My biggest SM site is Blogger. Then comes Goodreads and Youtube. I don't do much with those and YouTube is just because there are so many amazing video bloggers out there and independent artists (go Alex Goot and All Caps!). I recently signed up for Tumblr and am already thinking of getting rid of it. No Facebook. No Twitter. No Pinterest. No Triberr (whatever that is). I'm know I'm late to this post but I just finished Wanted: Dead or Undead and loved it. I can understand you reaching out to other writers but I believe you are reaching out to the wrong crowd. You want to blog and Tweet and Facebook with your readers. You want to develop a strong following amoung them. Other writers have done this with simply a blog. If a person enjoys your writing they will search for a way to connect to stay informed of when the next book is coming or how the next book is coming along. That's why I followed up with your website address at the end of the book. Once you develop a good following they want to know how the next book is coming along periodically. Is it still on track for the scheduled pub date and so on. One particular author start a zombie series and the first couple of books where weak on spelling and so on but by the 3rd book he enlisted several of his hard core supporters to help edit his books and the improved greatly. His writing did also with all the suggestions. He no longer follows a hard core story line but lets the writing just flow and it's much smoother now. You are a great story teller and that is the essence of a good writer. Spelling and grammer are distant skills that matter little if the story stinks. I have one other suggestion. Get off of weebly and start your own website as a blog. Much more professional. 5/5/2012 02:26:26 am
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Having been told off for 'jamming the feed with chit-chat' (Twitter), spending 'too much time on here when you should be writing' (Facebook) and receiving a virtual slap on the wrist for reviewing another author's book (Goodreads), I was beginning to think that I would be better scrapping them all! If all this 'social networking' stuff is just about sending links and gaining followers, then count me out! I write because I LOVE IT, I try to sell a few books so that I can keep writing and all the rest confuses me completely. Congratulations on sticking your head above the parapet and saying what a lot of others are thinking! Very best wishes. :-) 5/8/2012 05:14:24 am
I totally agree with you. It's like everyone out there is talking, but no one is listening. Everyone's barking a link, but is anyone reading the content? And the interaction seems to have dwindled. I am saddened by this development. I hopped onto Triberr but didn't find it very satisfying, so I bailed. I'm going for quality over quantity. 5/15/2012 03:17:16 am
I feel so much better! *exhaling* And I didn't even have to write it! Which is to say, I feel your pain. I've barely begun building my new platform and, well... can you say vertigo?
Kyndal Smyth
5/27/2012 03:39:48 am
Great, honest post! Tons of people play the popular game on Twitter. "Following" and "unfollowing" to get more followers. I try not to play into it too much. I like to socialize in a more in depth way- get to know people and really have a connection! I go through my Facebook every so often and delete those "friends" that are never really present in my life or vice versa.
Wow, it's like you read my mind. Although I have to admit I found the link to this post via Twitter. Leave a Reply. |
Now Available!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Click for more info about Mallory Rock, Cover Designer
Click for more info about Megan Harris, Editor
POPULAR BLOG POSTS
Write under a pen name? What are you hiding from?
The Jekyll and Hyde Aspect of Editing
What kinds of WEIRD stuff have you researched for your WIP?
Wow. Some book reviewers can be NASTY! Check it out
Do you view other writers as friends or foes? (Conquering the green-eyed monster)
3 reasons most writers give up & 3 reasons why YOU shouldn't
My Twitter Pet Peeves
How can I promote my book without ticking off the masses?
10 Ways to promote your book and get surefire results!
Write under a pen name? What are you hiding from?
The Jekyll and Hyde Aspect of Editing
What kinds of WEIRD stuff have you researched for your WIP?
Wow. Some book reviewers can be NASTY! Check it out
Do you view other writers as friends or foes? (Conquering the green-eyed monster)
3 reasons most writers give up & 3 reasons why YOU shouldn't
My Twitter Pet Peeves
How can I promote my book without ticking off the masses?
10 Ways to promote your book and get surefire results!
Fun Stuff
