Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
Lately I’ve had several conversations with people who joke about their perfect yet largely fictitious Facebook personas. Wendy blogged about this very thing last week in My Facebook Life. It seems to me that many of us are expending valuable energy creating whole lives and personalities for ourselves online—not that we’re making things up, per se, but that we carefully craft exactly what we want to put out there, and exactly what we prefer to keep private. I’m beginning to wonder what this might be costing us in terms of both time and mental energy.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that our social media presence can be used against us. I’ve heard about readers criticizing authors for spending too much time on Twitter when they’re supposed to be writing that long-awaited next book. Authors criticize agents for writing too many blog posts and tweets rather than responding to their queries. An editor may post about taking a vacation, but heaven forbid somebody out there is waiting for an answer from that editor—how DARE they take a vacation when they owe me something?
No matter how carefully we manage our social media presence, we can run into problems because of it. There’s a downside to being so “transparent” online, as misleading as that apparent “transparency” is.
What do you think? Have you experienced this from either side? Have you responded negatively to someone’s Twitter post because you don’t think that person is spending their time doing what YOU think they should do? Have you had someone criticize you because of something you said on social media?
Are we all just too available and open for criticism here?
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Very interesting topic. Social Media has it’s pros and cons via too much exposure or not enough, false information, or exaggerated profiles. In my professional opinion as a frequent facebook user, What you post gives everyone who you open your privacy settings to a good idea of what kind of person you really are. (Even if exaggerated.) Do I worry about who looks at my profile or status updates, of course not. As a christian, I know better than to post lies or too much private info like…Let’s see…hmmm addresses, intimate details that are inappropriate,etc. Now, as far as marketing strategy is concerned, not so bad of an idea. The downside to marketing via social media is that everyone is doing it. Facebook has become within a year or so, a ongoing means of marketing for many debut authors. And now even the most reclusive celebrities have taken to facebook for publicity or simply sharing ideas. I guess it depends on what you as an individual is trying to do when using social media for personal or business interest. Thanks Mrs. Gardner. Bless you and everyone at Books and Such Lit.
Those little snapshots of time (social media posts) can become generalized impressions. Seems like that is true outside of social media as well.
Good point, Carol. We need to be careful not to make assumptions about someone, especially based on such a small amount of information. If I live in a small town and I see the same woman at the grocery store now and then and she looks all put together every time, that doesn’t mean that her life is all put together. That’s just the little bit I see of her.
So true Meghan.
The challenge in using social media is to make the transition from a personal to a professional approach. What our friends and family want to know about our lives is one thing; what readers want is something else entirely.
Readers are de facto clients, and they feel they have something of a vested interest in our persona, and by extension in what we do. It’s a form of hero worship, in that we want people we admire to hew to our perceptions. We don’t want Brad Pitt to have crow’s feet, or a bald spot.
Becoming professional means that you are part of the product. If your picture’s on the dust jacket – they’re buying a part of you.
Building a synthetic persona is clearly wrong, but there is a simple social media rule that might work well for most –
Treat social media as a book signing. If you’d talk about something with a stranger for whom you’re writing a dedication on the flyleaf – then it’s probably fine for Facebook.
I agree with @Andrew’s point. If you’re on social media for a professional purpose, then be professional about it. And being professional means being true to your brand (which, hopefully, is a lot like being the real you).
I don’t want to be so overexposed I’m reduced to being a mosquito in the tent of life.
I keep wondering about a FB author page. The thing is, I’ll be the same there as I am on my regular page. I prefer to direct people to my blog, and eventually, my website.
I’ve heard differing opinions on the use of 2 FB pages. Anyone with thoughts on that?
Hope you don’t mind me putting my oar in, Jennifer, but I prefer to have 2 FB pages. My author page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cheryl-C-Malandrinos/170542359697682 is solely for information that will appeal to my audience. My main motivation for doing this is because I have so many blogs, and my main account has a ton of book promotion stuff I don’t feel always applies to my readers. That said, my author page has only 70 likes, whereas my regular page has 726 friends. Am I reaching enough people with my author page? Probably not; but I do feel those who have liked it are truly interested in my writing.
I have both a personal page and an author page. I keep my personal page private, just to people I know or have met. I don’t post pictures of my kids on my author page, but I do on my personal page making sure the security is set to friends only. Also with a public page you can utilize the analytics, which I’ve found helpful to see which posts reach the most people and at what times of day. You also can pay to promote things on your public page. You can also auto-schedule posts which has helped me when I’m traveling or would like to disconnect a little. Those are just my thoughts on it!
That is great advice Amelia, I like the balance of two. I maintain two as well.
For the most part, Rachelle, I’ve seen civility and politeness. But I have been criticized, and mostly I’ve seen way too much criticism of others. Sometimes social media is a great way to connect with people. Other times it’s a skin-thickening boot camp.
Skin-Thickening boot camp. I love that.
Actually, I could have used that a few years ago 🙂
I personally like social media, but it could be the fact that it’s very much ingrained in people my age. In many ways, it’s how we connect…which may be a good or bad thing! But in all honesty, unless someone is hogging the twitter or facebook stream, I never would criticize their usage of social media. We all need little breaks during the workday, and I know for me it comes in the form of little 5-minute scrolls of the world outside my living room. 🙂
Yep. I’m with you on this one, Lindsay. Although I do have a writer page because I prefer not to invite strangers to my own page more to protect the privacy of my kids. 🙂
My thinking: There’s always going to be people who judge and criticize me. I have had to get over that. I figure if I’m totally “me” and honest and people don’t like it, there’s nothing I can do about that. If I’m always trying to sound a certain way or be perfect enough for certain readers, well that’s too much work and I think people see through that anyway 🙂
I can’t believe people judge others for being on vacation, or blogging/tweeting when they haven’t gotten back to you. Hello, that’s part of their job, too!
I agree with you. Angela.
Those who spend time complaining need to take a vacation to a beach, soak in the sun and chilax. They’ll feel much better.
I also commented on Wendy’s post. I don’t have a social media persona. I’m pretty much an open book — and I do get criticized for it. Usually it doesn’t bother me, but some have cut pretty deep. I think it’s more important to be real – don’t be afraid to show your warts and scars and when you mess up – HUGE – because your story and experiences help other people. Which is the real reason I’m blogging and have public FB posts anyway.
If you’re doing all that for some other reason, then I imagine the comments, the lack of privacy, etc. wear the shiny off real quick.
And if anybody has any questions about social media, Lisa runs an awesome FB class for authors. There’s also classes for twitter, blogging, if you’re interested, over at WANA, International.
Thank you, Jennette
Thanks, Jennette! WANA Rocks!
You’re welcome!
It does! 🙂
Social media is here to stay unless the power goes out. Dealing with the extent to which I share is very personal to me. Common courtesy we all learned as children can easily be applied online. As a writer I spend so much time at my desk on my work-in-progress with no time to leave disparaging remarks on someone’s Facebook page.
Do I notice others comments ~ yes. I am human. But my life doesn’t depend on what happens or doesn’t happen on Facebook. I do realize from reading the news feed that for some people it actually does. I think overexposure is a choice.
Thought-provoking article, Rachelle. I still wish we could go back to the days prior to 24/7 news, but I know it’s not happening.
I can’t say I’ve never been criticized on FB, but I tend to follow/friend like-minded people most of the time, so I don’t run into it often.
Great post! I have seen/heard from others who have been criticized, but haven’t experienced it yet.
I think we have to be careful with social media. We can’t spew our irrational or angry thoughts without some kind of negative consequences. So perhaps we feel we aren’t being true, since we aren’t being exactly honest with how we feel. As authors we need to be professional in all aspects of social media, it is more than just a place to connect and hang out. The world is watching us, and even more so if we claim we are Christians.
Well, my time has run out, and I’ve got the kids now, so no more coherent thoughts. Ha!
It isn’t really about being true to how we feel.
It’s about being true to the principles by which we live and write, and thereby true to the Almighty.
Yes, exactly! Because if I was true to how I was feeling emotionally, fleshy, oh my goodness, we’d have a mess on our hands. Ha!
Precisely Andrew.
My dog has his own Furry-Facebook page and even he guards his brand of “Dog Food” closely.
When it comes to social media, I’ve developed a rule based on personal experience:
“If a stalker got a hold of the information I’m putting up, could they use that information to harm me or my family?”
I have no problem putting up information that relates to my professional brand. Personal info does not belong in my professional brand. I’ve made that mistake in the past and paid a heavy price.
Interesting fodder for thought! Social media does keep us busy, and often it can provide an avenue for criticism. I recently read a couple articles on how to not be annoying on social media, the gist of them encouraging writers to offer something beneficial, funny, uplifting or educational for the reader when they post, tweet, share, etc.
Thanks for this post!