Twitter. Facebook. Instagram. Tumblr. Linked In. Stumbleupon. Google+. Pinterest.
The options to stay connected with friends, family, readers, your tribe, your peeps, your BFFs and your fellow sojourners
seems to be exploding exponentially every month.
Keeping up some of them is daunting enough, forget trying to do all of them. Or at lease doing all of them well.
Social media has been around for a while now. And the subject, at least for writers in my circles, has been beat to a bloody pulp.
Yet we still worry if we’re doing enough. Are we protecting our family’s privacy? To tag or not to tag? Personal Facebook page or Author page?
For me, I’ve had to rethink some strategies and I’ve settled on a few guidelines that work for me.
I’ve chosen two social media outlets to focus my time and efforts on. For now, it’s Facebook and Twitter. I drop in occasionally on Instagram and Pinterest. I maintain a Google+ and Linded In profile but do little there.
Some authors believe the point of social media is to sell books. While that would be nice, for me it’s about connecting. Making friends, learning things, finding new authors. In other words, it’s about people, not numbers.
Life now moves at a frenetic pace but as humans on this planet, we’re still wired for personal connections. The internet and social media makes it both harder and easier to stay connected. Easier because we can chat with an acquaintance in another country on a whim. Harder because sometimes it’s easier to chat about Downton Abbey with a stranger halfway around the world than it is to resolve a personal conflict with a family member.
But when you’re sick with the mother of all flu bugs and can’t leave the bed, it’s not @BringBackSybil_43 who’s going to fix you pudding and chicken soup.
Social media is amazing, but it’s no substitute for good old-fashioned personal relations.
What do you think? Are you overwhelmed with social media options? Or are you a social media-aholic?
Writer of Sweet Small Town Stories of Love and Family 