Moving away from third party social media platforms
Social media is great for a lot of things. I tend to be drawn to the more visual platforms, like Pinterest. I have a gazillion boards over there, and I can easily lose track of time while browsing the homepage. So Pinterest is staying and I’ll be focusing on building my series boards. (If you want to learn some of my other interests just as “Lola the person,” that’s a good place to stalk find out about me. =D)
I also like Twitter, mostly because I find out a lot of interesting industry-related things on it. From a professional standpoint, it’s cool. But from a fiction author’s standpoint, I find it a bit high maintenance to maintain. Since I’m still working a day job, I only get so many hours a week to work on writing and maintaining everything else. I’ve tried automating my Twitter messages, but it’s 1) time-consuming coming up with that many tweets; and 2) it feels fake to me. I’d rather be around to personally reply to people, and I use the apps on my phone a lot. But right now, Twitter is just too much of a hassle for me to maintain, so it’s getting cut. Sorry, Tweeps! =( Thanks if you followed me over there and/or tweeted to me. I’m still going to be using Pinterest, Facebook, Google +, and most of all, my blog.)
As I’ve said before, Google + feels a lot like Facebook, without the censoring. That’s actually one of the main reasons why I realized the only platform I can count on is something that is 100% under my control. I get Facebook–and every other social media platform–is a business. They have to make money, and ads are smart. But when they continuously reduce the ability for my readers to see the posts they’ve already opted to see, and require I pay for ads in order to “expand my reach/boost my posts” (again, to people who have already opted into my posts by liking my page) it downright pisses me off. I’m not playing this bullshit game. I know as a consumer, if I opt into a newsletter/page/etc., I want to see the content because it’s convenient. I don’t have to hunt it down. By doing what they’re doing, Facebook is making it harder for me to view what I already said I wanted to see. I have to hunt for it. And I don’t have time for that, and I doubt anyone else does either.
So you’ll be seeing a lot more from my blog. I’m still figuring out how I want to handle it, like posting schedule, contests, etc. I don’t want it to be full of garbage. I want you guys to genuinely have fun and be entertained while you’re reading through it. So it might be another week or two before I really get cracking at my blog. (Part of this is due to the mandatory overtime I’ve had to work at my day job. In this economy, I feel blessed to even have a job, and I thank God for it every day, but it has cut into my Lola time. Which puts me behind. =(
What I’d really like to do is create an app that delivers Lola fun stuff. That would be badass. I’m looking into it, but it’s still a little ways away before I’m ready to launch one. I might call on a few of you to beta test it, if you’re interested, when the time comes. =D
You’re probably wondering about Goodreads… The answer is, I know some authors are really active on there and like reviews and all, but I feel uncomfortable being there. It’s not because I’m afraid of my reviews or anything, but rather because I feel like Goodreads is very much “reader space” and not “author space.” I don’t want readers to censor their reviews in fear of me looking over their shoulders. So sorry I haven’t been very active on there (and don’t plan to be in the future). I used it all the time as a reader, but as an author, the place makes me uncomfortable.
In closing… my platforms will be changing within the next few weeks as I figure out exactly what I want to do with them. I’ve been experimenting, mostly floundering, but I do want a few places to just connect with you guys. Writing is always my number one goal, but I do realize I can’t just disappear into a hole and emerge whenever I have a book. =D Cuz that’s just rude. Writers tend to do that, though. A lot of us, from what I’m gathering, are rather reclusive. I myself am an introvert. (Sorry to disappoint those of you who were expecting me to be secretly moonlighting as a phone sex operator, like Anne Hathaway in Valentine’s Day. =D) I’m not a homebody by any means, but I do have a tendency of getting lost in my imagination and not realizing life is just kind of happening around me.
***
Do you guys use social media? If so, which platforms? I ask because I need to be where you are–and not worry about the ones where you aren’t.
