Social Media Dichotomy
Over the course of this blog’s longevity, I have expounded on a variety of viewpoints and specific tribulations I have experienced navigating the fine art of getting your name out there. In my August 2019 post, Marketing: Not Everyone’s Cup of Tea, I detailed my head scratches and mixed messages received by various professional sources purporting to understand the nuances of branding new content creators successfully. At this point, I believe it is safe to say most of us are resigned to the mercy of fate.
My intent is to convey my own thoughts and experiences related to the array of social media platforms used to highlight our work for the masses to place arbitrary rulesets on what is acceptable content to consume.
On the flip side, I do recognize benefits of utilizing social media platforms, understanding not all the input received from content consumers and creators is arbitrary or articulated with the sole intent to create unnecessary drama. Receiving input from your peers and potential audiences should always be sought. Not doing so will certainly bathe any endeavor in the foul bath water of failure.
What I have often discovered, once over exaggeration and bravado is cast aside, are interesting and innovative approaches to creating content in a less predictable manner. I am not referring to the ill-fated notions of the reimaging or retelling eras where beloved content, which served to inspire us and provide hours of enjoyment, were obliterated under the guise of respect for the genre. I now have a nervous twitch every time I hear of well-known content creators use those two words.
In our current social climate, especially in the United States, with normalized and virtually unchallenged misinformation spewed through corporate owned news outlets, the last thing many of us want to do is highlight content we painstaking created on a platform wrought with drama, propaganda, and clear violations of free speech.
Nonetheless, social media is a tool and, like any other tool, can be wielded properly or improperly. This may illicit an eye roll or two due to how obtuse it may sound. I am amazed as to the level of prefacing we need to perform, especially in the last two years, prior to stating the obvious. I could note what a beautiful blue the sky is today and potentially offend someone due to excluding its other shades. See what I just did there?
In the examples to follow, rest assured, I stepped back and forced my befuddled mind to slow the rapidly churning mass of disbelief to assess learned experience. I am of the mindset, even if something does not go your way, you need to ask yourself, what did I learn from this situation? It is not about applying a positive or negative, merely accepting the true reality of the situation.
Instagram was a puzzling platform choice due in part to my own ignorance and the mechanics of its design. Created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in 2012, I viewed Instagram as a picture-posting website, so my quandary resided in how to create awareness of my writing where I am forced to post a picture before I can write anything. Was I going to reuse a picture of my book cover every time I created a post for a blog post or update? It would look a little ridiculous. In my head I was saying, I am a writer not a picture taker.
When I began my career as a state employee 20-years ago, I had a mentor who often said, It is all in the how. This concept helped change my perspective and career for the better; a sentiment I have applied ever since with resounding success. Once I realized how I was approaching the usage of Instagram, it became quite clear. It is not strictly about posting notifications about what you are doing and finding a picture to match. It is designed to highlight who you are as a person, so your audience can form more of a personal connection. My mind was focusing solely on the business side of marketing my content, where I failed to realize people are more apt to view your content if allowed to connect with you personally.
Twitter and I have a love-hate relationship. Prior to and during the initial stages of The Cradle of Destiny’s release, I attempted to use the platform as intended. I subscribed to various users related to writing, publishing, and like-minded content creators. Apart from staying informed of my followers’ opinions and experiences, it did little to further my own efforts. In my opinion, Twitter works most effectively when you are already well-known, aside from a few questionable and inconsistently applied rules related to stifling freedom of speech. Although Twitter is not a platform, I would normally recommend to new content creators, I have since returned to using Twitter, using my prior experience to guide my hand moving forward.
Let’s be honest. Facebook needs no introduction and serves as my least favorite of any social media platform for a variety of reasons. Although I have made a couple political statements in this post, I will not delve into the plethora of philosophical meanderings related to Facebook’s business practices. The bothersome aspect with Facebook is the need to have a personal account setup to have a business page, which is built to attach itself to a personal page rather than be independent. There are several services available to help promote your business page I have not explored, so there may be a few useful resources. If so, please feel free to let me know via the Contact section of this blog. As it stands, my Facebook business page functions as another launch point when I complete blog posts.
An unexpected resource I find particularly useful, recommended by husband, is the American social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website, Reddit (wording taken directly from its Wikipedia). When you consider the sheer volume of content Reddit can shove in your direction, I am impressed at the level of functionality provided to fine tune information suited for your tastes. It does take some time when you initially set up an account to filter communities or subreddits specific to the content you want to focus on.
The best part is how you can interact with other Reddit users. Some of the subreddits I follow are scifi, scifiwriting, writers, WriteWorld, Star Trek, Star Wars, etcetera. Many will post rough drafts of their stories for constructive feedback, thoughts on potential content ideas, and general inquiries related to a myriad of subjects. Reddit has something for everybody.
A friend of mine who greatly assisted in the editing of The Cradle of Destiny, sent me a small list of alternative platforms, which I have viewed briefly and will not go into deep detail. Diaspora has promise and my interest is peaked given I am looking to drop Facebook altogether. Minds is another needing further exploration by yours truly, but it seems to combine similar features from Instagram, and Imgur with blogging capability.
Learning how to use these tools effectively takes time and a mountain of patience. Most of all it requires the ability to think outside the box and not be too literal in your own interpretation of its use. There is a tendency in our creative endeavors to focus primarily on expediency and unrealistic definitions of what it means to be successful.
Feel free to post your questions or comments. I will respond, if need be, when I am able.
Resources:
Content (Media) Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_(media)
Diaspora: https://diasporafoundation.org/
Facebook Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook
Instagram Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram
Minds: https://www.minds.com/
Reddit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit
Twitter Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
