Social Media

Another social media network popped up on the radar this week. The news came through my writing groups, my publisher... and it seems to have exploded in my writing circles.

But I have to ask myself, "Do I need another social media outlet?"

And, as it stands, who am I reaching out to? My fellow authors, for the most part.

Did I sign up? Do I have a page? Yes.

But I'm on the fence about actively pursuing it. I'll take it if it means exposure and getting my books out to a new audience. For now, it's not that.

Speaking of social media...

Has anyone seen the movie, You've Got Mail? Do you remember that first scene with Meg Ryan's character and Greg Kinnear when they are talking about technology and how it was the end of western civilation as we know it. And Greg's character kept bringing back typewriters to the apartment. I have to admit, he was right. That was the beginning...

Now it's not just, "You've got mail," it's sooo much more! :D

But where does it end? Have our online relationships lessened the value of our real life relationships? Or have they merely expanded what would otherwise be a small circle of friends?



Facebook -- Love it or Hate it?

Is Facebook betraying us all?? That's the question going around right now.

Remember months ago when you found an old friend, wanted to message them, but FB wanted you to pay a dollar to have it sent to that person's inbox rather than "other" box? And now it's Boost the post! Or buy advertising!

 Okay, well I'm in this very small range of not-really-that-important clients. I don't have a ton of Likes [452 to be exact]. I have the average of about 300 friends on my profile.... I'm on several times a day. I don't see as much as I used to. I don't see random posts from people who are friends. Some friends, I don't see at all anymore because they don't even show up in my newsfeed. It's a little sad. I heard a story recently where a FB user clicked "share" of a pages post/link and was asked to pay to share. Yeah. Crazy! I hear that if your page has thousands of likes, you are paying as much as $2K to boost a post so that ALMOST everyone on your list will see it. Notice I said almost...

I posted a link to my Newsletter, which is different from my posts here, and it has been seen by 8 of my 452 Likers. Will I boost it? I might. Because, it comes down to this. If we are business-oriented people and we want to build a platform, we don't efficiently use someone else's platform. We will eventually be bending our own goals in order to accomodate that person's platform.

So, goal for this year. Set up a webpage. I don't know exactly how much money I'll make on my books this year, but everything I make will go back into the business. And maybe I'll boost a post or two on FB, but mostly...

I want people/fans/not-fans/readers/writers to be able to find me outside of Facebook. That way, when the world ends er, I mean if Facebook goes the way of MySpace, it won't be such a travesty!

SIGN UP HERE!
Or Follow me on Twitter, if you'd Like.

Have a great weekend!
If you get a chance head over to Moira Keith's blog where she has First Line Friday going in full swing!
With Love,
Bethanne

Slaves

Maybe I'm the only one...
but there is a sense of slavery in the air.
It's there when I get on FB.
After an unfortunate confrontation on Facebook yesterday, I can't help but think. Think, think, think.

I don't like Facebook...
yeah, yeah. It's good for keeping up with family and posting pictures of family.
I get that, and being in the military--never close to our extended family--I appreciate it.

I went through my friend list yesterday and it hit me...more than half of my "friend" list are people who I haven't spoken to in over ten years, are people I'm acquaintances with, are people I'm in business with... don't worry, I fixed that.

But what is this need to know everyone's business? To be more concerned with a person's politics or our own politics [or morals] than with just loving people. We've become a society slaved by confrontation. By differences. It's not about people anymore. It's about what they believe.

Before FB, I met people face-to-face. I liked people because of our similarities... the fact that we both like romance, that we both like kids, and that we go to the same church.

So, why? Why are we, and people in general, so concerned with socialisms...politics.
Why do we use social networking as a way to be the loudest? To get a point across? Why can't we all be in the same "room" and talk about what makes us the same? Or, and here's something...

Quiet. Quiet is nice, too.
Life has become loud since everyone joined Facebook.
If you don't see me around on FB in the future, or maybe you'll see me more on my author page [which, btw, has no newsfeed], you know why. I'm looking for quiet, looking for the real in people again.