So, do you need Facebook?
Let me preface this by saying I am not on Facebook, and when I deleted my account a few years ago, there were a few comments from people guessing when I would be back. That was something I took as a personal challenge, and now I am swearing off Facebook for life. But the big question exists: do you need Facebook to be a successful writer? That is what I am going to tackle in the post.
My answer, of course, is going to be NO! You don’t need Facebook, and in fact, it’s a good idea to get off social media and focus on writing.
The Hidden Allure of Facebook for Writers
You may have heard you need a social media presence to be a successful writer. After all, social media exposure is where you will get much of your marketing. Everyone is on social media, where you will find most of your readers.
These are a couple of the lies that either well-meaning but uneducated individuals or con artists feed writers. The fact is, while marketing is critical, and you as an author, whether traditionally published or self-published, will be responsible for marketing, it doesn’t have to be on social media, and if you choose social media, you don’t have to use all the social media platforms that are available.
The same experts may have said that Facebook is the only way or best way to network. This, again, isn’t necessarily true. Sites like LinkedIn are excellent for networking and can be a great option for marketing your book.
The Downsides of Facebook for Writers
Perhaps the biggest reason that writers do not need to be on Facebook is that it takes away time from actually writing. When you are on Facebook or any other social media, you can waste a lot of time scrolling and not working. If you find, as I did, that you are spending more time in mindlessness than in actually working, then unplugging or deleting your account might be the best option.
The big reason I got off Facebook and deleted my account, though beyond productivity, was for my mental health. Initially, when I deleted the account two years ago, I said it had to do with how much time I was wasting. Time that I can never get back and that I took away from my children. However, as the weeks without Facebook went by, I noticed an overall change in my outlook, behavior, and attitude. I started to realize that being on Facebook had made me into a negative, angry, and emotionally unstable individual, and deleting the account had led me to a better place where I was more patient and less angry.
There is a third reason why many writers are getting off Facebook, and that has to do with privacy concerns. A few years ago, news broke that Facebook was selling user information. If privacy concerns you and you still want to use social media similar to Facebook, there is MeWe, a social media company that makes privacy its number one concern.
What are the Alternatives to Facebook
If you still want a social media presence to promote your work, there are a few good alternatives to Facebook.
- LinkedIn, as I mentioned earlier, is my favorite social media tool for networking. You can meet and network with authors, writers, illustrators, and business people. LinkedIn is the Facebook of the business world.
- While MeWe has a learning curve, it is similar enough to Facebook and has been growing in popularity, although less quickly than Facebook grew, which might be a good thing. MeWe promises to maintain user privacy, so it doesn’t work great to track your traffic because it doesn’t track anything, but it is still a good option for growing your network and promoting your writing.
- GoodReads is the best place for book writers to network and promote their writing. Setting up an Author page is easy, and the platform is relatively straightforward. It is also a social media platform designed for readers and writers alike.
Author Platform and Blogging
While blogging is optional for a successful author, it can be an excellent alternative to social media, specifically Facebook. Building your author platform is essential when marketing your books, but you can spend less time on social media than you are writing.
Creating a blog or author page is a beautiful way to build your audience and promote your writing. An email newsletter can also be a highly effective way to build your audience and market new books, all without using social media.
Author Thomas Ulmstattd, in his article about social media, states that the most successful authors he works with spend virtually no time on social media.
Can You Be Successful without Social Media
Absolutely. As mentioned, marketing expert Thomas Ulmstattd suggests that authors can be highly successful and avoid social media. You need to, first and foremost, be a good writer. Spending more time honing your craft and less time on social media can help you to become a better writer.
Publishing expert Jane Friedman also suggests that if you loathe social media, then you should not use it. There is a purpose behind social media, and if you are only using it to build your audience, then you may find that you either struggle or fail, as people will think you are in it for the wrong reasons and or are being disingenuous, and that can hurt you in the long run.
The Power of Authenticity and Quality Content
Write well-produced content if you are using a blog as your source of information regularly. If you are using an email newsletter, make sure you have a regular schedule where you update your subscribers. Quantity is less important than quality, but consistency is vital. I update my blog daily. However, you can do it once a month, once a week, or even once a day, as long as you attempt to be consistent with how often you are doing it and make sure that it is quality content that you are providing your readers with.
Overcoming FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
The biggest thing that I have found out about not being on Facebook is a fear of missing out. What is happening in social media that I might be missing out on? Almost daily, I have a friend who says, “If you were on Facebook…” Naturally, there is a fear of missing out. What I don’t miss, though, is the lack of time I had with my children and the lack of time I had with my writing. I also don’t miss the negative emotions I experienced using social media.
If you have a fear of missing out, try sitting down and making a list of all the things that you wouldn’t be able to do if you were spending time on Facebook, how much time it would take away from your reading or writing, and how much would it take away from your time with your loved ones. You might find that there are many things you would rather be doing than scrolling through someone else’s posts on Facebook.
In Closing
There are several other social media options, including LinkedIn, MeWe, and Goodreads, if you need a social media fix. There are ways to promote your writing and network that don’t include Facebook, and the writing experts agree that social media can harm your writing success.
So how about you? Do you find that you want to get off Facebook, or are you happy perhaps that you never got sucked into the social media giant in the first place?
