There’s been so much talk recently about how the social media platform X is no longer a valid marketing tool for self-published authors like myself. Talk of changing algorithms, link bans and hash tags becoming a no-no. So many authors are saying their followers have dropped off a cliff, they’re getting zero engagements and they getting followed by the dreaded author-bots.
So much to consider and so much to unpack. Back when I started using Twitter, it was a very different place. It felt special and something removed from the regular trolling and keyboard warrior antics you’d see elsewhere. Now it’s anything but and it’s only sheer bloodymindedness that keeps me on the platform. If I were to follow what my morals tell me, I’d leave it today. I’m sick and tired of the tirade of US politics and hateful propaganda that I’m forced to see. And yes, I know I could tell it to not show me certain posts with certain words, but I’m sure Elon would find a way round.
I stay because there are a handful of people on the platform I’ve made genuine connections with, and also a little out of morbid curiosity – it’s interesting if nothing else. I never really used the platform successfully to market my books. Even when it was a very different place, I felt like I was shouting into the void. I’m glad I didn’t spend hours curating tweets, only to have the rug pulled from under me years and thousands of followers later. If you’re one of those people, I really do feel for you.
But what of other platforms? Facebook has just had its 20th anniversary as I write, and already it’s regarded as the preserve of ‘old people’ and behind the times. Other social media platforms shift and change at a rapid rate and it’s become apparent to me that they only way to keep up is to invest time that I just haven’t got. Instead, I’ll keep writing this blog and update my own website, because that’s something I do have control of.
So to end on a positive – lets subscribe to each other’s blogs and sign up to each other’s newsletters. We’re stronger together.
Simon Says 