Social media is sometimes overwhelming. As an author I am constantly bombarded with invitations to new sites, organizations, or circles of cyber friends. I finally fell into the black hole of Pinterest the other day and found much of my time over the weekend spent clicking on pictures of things I will never see, eat, or own. Sure it’s fun and entertaining, but not necessarily worthy of twelve hours of attention a day.Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, Google, and a bazillion others have taken over our brains and time when what we really need to do is write––not click. But the truth is, in this world of technology and instant access, we need these sites, interactions, and cyber friendships to be able to promote ourselves, build our fan base, and sell more books. So, finding that perfect compromise between social promo and actual writing is a hard place to fall into.
Learning to use these sites and getting connected often takes so much time that I feel like my day is shot and I might as well get on my bike and ride off into the sunset. I wish I were better at social media but usually feel as though I’m failing at putting myself out there, being that “brand” that will take the reading world by storm. In fact, most often I feel as though I’m shouting into the vast expanse of outer space. Sure there are a few million other people shouting too, but space is pretty darn gargantuan and all that shouting just amounts to a monotonous hum in the universe.
Obviously I’m falling short and need professional help.
So, look for me in the vast unreached places and let’s connect. At least then there will be two more voices yelling into the bottomless pit of social media and maybe we can stir up an echo.
Author Website: http://www.barbaraellenbrink.com
Twitter: BarbaraEBrink
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraEllenBrink
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ninjarider/
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I tend to use FBk more than Twitter. I am not used to that even after years of joining. Pinterest is a no no for me. I joined Tumblr last year and used it once. I use G+ sometimes, but FB is a place where I have learned more, and gained more support. I enjoy my blog, and post there once a week. This now leaves me time for writing.
Fortunately in some ways, the power situation in our village gives me downtime on the Internet. This way I do get more writing time.
I think I tend to be one of those people in denial: if I just don’t participate, I can pretend all those things don’t exist. Then, I won’t have to make all those hard choices in time and usage!
You have my sympathy!
(And let’s encourage each other in real life contact. If we don’t have time for breakfast/coffee out, then we’ve crossed the line!!!)
I know what you mean, Glynis. We definitely need more time to write and some days the other stuff leaves me with little time for that. Maybe I need a power outage too:)
That’s true, Elaine. Must take more time to smell the coffee and chat with friends in real life:)
OK, well, I’m not even sure how to pronounce “Pinterest”. Is that a word? What does it mean?
Allie,
My daughter informed me I wasn’t pronouncing it correctly either:) It is a site where you collect and “pin” pictures, links, whatever, into your personal collection of interests. You should go there and check it out. I’ll send you an invitation so you can see it for yourself.
I had a similar experience where social media time ran into my writing time. I now focus on Twitter and blogging and limit my time online. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for stopping by, Sandra! Good luck staying focused on writing:)
Black hole of Pinterest! Too funny!
Thanks for stopping by, Deanna! Yes, I find Pinterest to be quite a large black hole. A wormhole really. You get in there and the entrance closes up on you. You can’t get out. You just keep finding new things to see, and people to follow, until time as you once knew it has ceased to exist.