Knowing Things I Don't Need To Know By S.C. Wynne
Good morning!!
As an author I'm sort of forced to have a presence on social media. I don't know that that small group I interact with on SM exactly translates into sales big enough to pay all my bills, but it does help keep my name out there for anyone who might be interested in what I write. (Most of my sales come from thousands of people I'll never meet.) But I can admit, it looks weird when a full time author has zero social media presence. So, I do make the effort and it can sometimes be fun.
But it also puts a lot of pressure on me.
I'm not a hugely social person. I know, blah, blah, blah, the poor anti-social author forced to socialize. lol But I'm not a shut-in or anything. I can be very social, and I do love hanging out with certain people. But I'm not someone who has ever needed tons of friends. I tend to choose carefully those I let get close. Not because I'm so amazing, but because I find social interaction exhausting if I'm not around people who truly get me. I'm an acquired taste, and I'm well aware of that. :D
One thing I've noticed about social media that mystifies me is just HOW open some people are. I occasionally see things on Facebook or Twitter that I don't think I should see. On Facebook, I once saw a photo of a person's dead spouse minutes after they had died. I did not need to see that! Under no circumstances did I ever need to SEE THAT. To me, that is too much. I get sharing your life with your friends and followers, but not to that extent.
I find it depressing to see everyone posting about people who have died, pets who have died, bleeding wounds, rants about their marriages or friendships imploding. Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm the weird one and that is exactly what social media is for? I know that sharing parts of yourself builds intimacy in a relationship, but is it realistic to think your three thousand Facebook friends are truly your friends? Or at least, friends who you're close enough to share that intimate stuff with? I'm probably that close with twenty people total, lol, not three thousand.
But it's a fine line. To be close to people, you do have to share parts of yourself. Not only the good parts, but some weaknesses too. People can't relate to you or be open with you if you put on a facade of perfection. I understand that. But when you use your social media for promoting yourself as a business, should you still be quite so open?
I'm not sure I want to know all the dirty details of someone whose books I enjoy. I never like to know too much about celebrities I enjoy because it kind of ruins the fantasy for me. I prefer to think of them as the character they write, or act as. I don't want to know that they have bad breath or acne. lol
Does that make me shallow? Weird? Immature?
What do you think? Do you think people should just share it ALL? Every bad thing, awful thing, personal thing?
S.C.
www.scwynne.com
As an author I'm sort of forced to have a presence on social media. I don't know that that small group I interact with on SM exactly translates into sales big enough to pay all my bills, but it does help keep my name out there for anyone who might be interested in what I write. (Most of my sales come from thousands of people I'll never meet.) But I can admit, it looks weird when a full time author has zero social media presence. So, I do make the effort and it can sometimes be fun.
But it also puts a lot of pressure on me.
I'm not a hugely social person. I know, blah, blah, blah, the poor anti-social author forced to socialize. lol But I'm not a shut-in or anything. I can be very social, and I do love hanging out with certain people. But I'm not someone who has ever needed tons of friends. I tend to choose carefully those I let get close. Not because I'm so amazing, but because I find social interaction exhausting if I'm not around people who truly get me. I'm an acquired taste, and I'm well aware of that. :D
One thing I've noticed about social media that mystifies me is just HOW open some people are. I occasionally see things on Facebook or Twitter that I don't think I should see. On Facebook, I once saw a photo of a person's dead spouse minutes after they had died. I did not need to see that! Under no circumstances did I ever need to SEE THAT. To me, that is too much. I get sharing your life with your friends and followers, but not to that extent.
I find it depressing to see everyone posting about people who have died, pets who have died, bleeding wounds, rants about their marriages or friendships imploding. Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm the weird one and that is exactly what social media is for? I know that sharing parts of yourself builds intimacy in a relationship, but is it realistic to think your three thousand Facebook friends are truly your friends? Or at least, friends who you're close enough to share that intimate stuff with? I'm probably that close with twenty people total, lol, not three thousand.
But it's a fine line. To be close to people, you do have to share parts of yourself. Not only the good parts, but some weaknesses too. People can't relate to you or be open with you if you put on a facade of perfection. I understand that. But when you use your social media for promoting yourself as a business, should you still be quite so open?
I'm not sure I want to know all the dirty details of someone whose books I enjoy. I never like to know too much about celebrities I enjoy because it kind of ruins the fantasy for me. I prefer to think of them as the character they write, or act as. I don't want to know that they have bad breath or acne. lol
Does that make me shallow? Weird? Immature?
What do you think? Do you think people should just share it ALL? Every bad thing, awful thing, personal thing?
S.C.
www.scwynne.com
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