Cutting Back on Social Media for Writing’s Sake
How many articles have you read about how to utilize social media in your work? In getting your name out there? I know I’ve read at least a dozen a month for a few years–and that’s probably an underestimation.
So what would make me choose to take a step back from social media?
It seems ridiculous to do such, especially right after I started implementing a new Instagram colour scheme. And my ifttt.com does so much work for me, trickling my original post from one social media platform to the next one to the next, that I have half the work. But do I?
Here’s what I know: I have a problem. I’ve spent hours online looking for the perfect photos to set the mood for my novels–for my less than 400 followers–not for me.
I see every coffee cup or book stack as an opportunity for Instagram content and every shadow as the perfect lighting to photograph my latest book. If my hair looks cute, and I’m not planning to go out, part of me is disappointed in the lack of a photo-op.
I’m disabled, so that happens a lot. I’ve studied hashtags like they are dates for a history exam. And sure, I went from 100 to 300+ followers, but that’s taken over two years. Clearly, I’m good at making pretty images, but not so good at social media–not like I thought I would be.
Even if I had 6 million followers, would it be worth it? I’ve spent so many hours making my social media accounts pretty, planning my next marketing step, and scrolling endlessly through everyone’s feeds. FOMO (the fear of missing out) is too real.
My current manuscript is only 30% written. Which is more important?
I’m a writer. Shouldn’t I be, oh, I don’t know, writing? I’m not a fan of the word should, but in this case, I’ll let it slide.
I had a few moments that started to clear the fog. One of the most sobering was a few months ago when my husband mentioned that I needed to shut my laptop down at 9 p.m. I’d been working all day, he told me. Mentally, I answered, “It’s for the business.” It was a slap. I’m on disability because I can’t work. He was joking, of course. I hadn’t been on the computer all day, nor had I been working the entire time I was on it, but he was right. I was “working” too much. And the “work” was impacting me in ways I was blaming on one of my many invisible illnesses. They were just flaring up, I figured. Never did I stop to think about the culprit of the flare-ups.
Hm.
I let it sink in, noticed the lack of energy and time and creativity–the list goes on and on.
Okay, I needed a change. That much was obvious.
So what have I done?
I’ve deleted Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest from my phone, so I’m not tempted to wander to them when I’ve got downtime. Downtime is not boredom. I need to remind myself of that. There are too many things to do in the world to claim boredom.
I put out a post that told everyone I’d only be semi-regularly responding to comments on Instagram or emails. This one was important because I’d never stopped to think how much time I spend just clearing notifications for apps. Little bits of time that add up, especially when I feel socially obligation to like something someone shared with me or thank them for a post. It’s a time-suck.
I set up the Screen Time app to time me out at 30 minutes per day on Instagram. (I’m happy to say that I’ve never needed that.) I use the Preview app to set up times–twice a week–that I’ll post photos from my life. I no longer look for stock images. If you follow me on Instagram or my Facebook Fan Page, you’ll see a writer, her life, and her process. And you’ll see it a few times a week.
I went from spending hours and hours of my day on social media to having hours of free time.
Suddenly, I could work on that manuscript–make it take a month or two less. I could write another Medium article, read books, do a puzzle, sit outside with nothing but myself and a camera. Dear reader, do you know how refreshing it is to sit in the fall air and occasionally take pictures of pretty leaves for no one but yourself? To know that they can be blurry or the light can be wrong, that you can just hit delete, but you had fun?
I used to. But I’d lost that.
What does this mean for my business, though? Hilariously, my Instagram follower count has risen. After all, I’ve tried, giving up has worked the best. My book is selling more by word of mouth than the internet–which for some won’t be the case, but there are ways to set up advertising and posts via Hootesuite so you can still step away. The Medium articles I write are doing well despite the lack of major advertising. My work is back to being the focus. Stepping away seems to be the right thing for me and my business.
Also, I’m happier.
I guess what I’m saying is that life’s about a lot more things than just social media and appearances. Before you get swept up in the #writerslife of others, make sure you’re having your own.
