Monday 4 February 2013

Social media mania attack! Is this all really necessary?

I don't know about you but I'm starting to freak out a little about all the sites and cyber-crack I have to keep track of and update regularly ...

For my personal stuff:
Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Facebook page
Goodreads
Amazon US & UK author page
AuthorSB page
Kindle Direct
Createspace
Kobo
YouTube
Email (personal)
Email (Show & Tell in a Nutshell support)
Email (day job)
There are more that i'm not listing, because I've abandoned them!

Vine Leaves Literary Journal:
Website
Twitter
Facebook page
Duotrope
NewPages.com
The ReviewReview
PW.org
EWR
email (submissions)
email (reviews)
email (editorial)
email (donations)
Mailchimp (thank dog that's Dawn's responsibility - yes, I said dog on purpose)

Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop:
Blog
Facebook page
NewPages
ShawGuides
And lots of other sites I need to advertise it on and I totally can't keep track ...

And you want me to sign up to Pinterest?!?!?

Have you ever suffered from a slight case of social media mania? Do we really need all this ... stuff?

18 comments:

  1. I agree. It's gotten completely out of control!

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  2. If you go for it all (and what's coming down the track), you'll spend every moment of your spare time in front of a computer. One has to be selective and discerning in the information age - or become frazzled.

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  3. I agree that you can only do so much. I just read Chuck Sambuchino's CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM (interviewing him and giving away a copy next Wednesday) and it really has gotten me thinking of the importance of platform and social networking. I'm not planning to go on Pinterest but I will join Twitter and am looking at using it and Facebook better. And making more blogger connections as some bloggers seem to be suffering from fatigue. I agree, Jessica, it takes a lot of time. Too much.

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  4. Couldn't agree more! And I'm not on half those things you've listed. haha. But I know that if I wish to publish (and I do!) it will get worse for me too.

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  5. My lord. I haven't even heard of most of these.

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  6. I have a similar list. It’s very easy to get disheartened. I’m just gearing up for the new book and a part of me really cannot be bothered. It’ll get done because it has to get done but I want to know when this writing malarkey turned into work. It’s deciding where to invest your time that’s so hard. I read how others go about promoting themselves and the successes they’re experiencing and I wonder just what the hell will work for me. Joining Pinterest is certainly not going to be one of them. I take my hat off to you, that’s all I can say. Oh, to be young and not want to go back to bed an hour after you’ve supposedly woken up.

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  7. I couldn't agree with you more. Although as per Pinterest...that cyber 'space' is where I go to escape, if only for a few minutes. I don't have to spend more than 5 to 10 minutes there to find inspiration or to take my mind off something that's hampering me from writing.

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  8. omg, I did Pinterest about a year ago, and I'm just... I don't go there. LOL! It is like FIVE HOURS just disappear every time--LOL! :D But you're so right. Social media is over the top. I think pick one you like and stick with it.

    Funny stuff~ <3

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  9. LOL, right? I have blog, website, email, twitter, facebook, goodreads, and amazon as my main hangouts. There are others, but honestly, it's too much and not enough bang for my virtual buck.

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  10. I get tired, too. But when I let something go, I generally regret it. This level of involvement comes with rewards, like having a name people recognize when you attend a writing conference or want to pimp your new favorite book. When I was gone for most of a year last year, I came back to discover my blog had become a ghost town and everything in social media had shifted so that I had to relearn some things. It's kind of crazy how fast things change. So yes it's hard to keep up, but I do think it's the new normal.

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  11. Yes. In some ways it's akin to a bunch of mafia protection rackets, with business models predicated on a fear of not using their services...anyway, I'd better be off to make some more cupcakes to post on Pinterest.

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  12. Just say no!
    People give me grief for not being on Facebook, but it's all I can do to keep up right now.

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  13. At one point 4 years ago I was on 25 social sites. No wonder I was burnt out after 2 years of trying to keep up with everything.

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  14. Yep, it can get downright ridiculous. If we aren't careful, it ends up where we aren't controlling all that stuff as much as it's controlling us.

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  15. I'd hate to count up all of my sites. Far too many, half of them I probably don't even visit or update or I've just forgotten about them.

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  16. I consider it just a different form or Marketing. Yes, there is a lot of overlap, but if there's a pocket of potential readers out there I might miss because I don't partake...then shame on me.

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  17. Fantastic point. I know, I know: It will increase traffic to my site. But at a certain point, I have to do a cost/benefit analysis.

    I need time to write.

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  18. Hi Jess - I couldn't do it .. I blog and that's about it - I must venture into FB more often, and I have a Twitter account .. but don't use it!! How you all cope I have no idea ... absolutely none ..

    Good luck with which ever way you go - change them, reduce them, add to them ... people (not bloggers!) can't have anything else to do ...

    Cheers sounds like you need a drink! ... look after yourself - Hilary

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