I Still Don't Do Social Media

Yes, I have a MySpace account (that I don't use), a Facebook account, an Instagram account, and a Twitter account but I don't actively use them for personal use. No, I don't have TikTok, /reddit, Pintrest, or Threads. The only social media accounts that I interact with at any level of consistency are my author pages on FB and IG and our podcast page on FB and IG that I co-host with one of my sons. Beyond that, social media really doesn't interest of excite me.

I check FB a few times a day out of boredom to see what silly memes some of my friends post, random news articles about F1 racing, movies, or video games. I try not to get pulled into all the online drama people like to post. I don't "copy this to your wall". On the rare occasion that I play one of those little games where an app analyzes your profile page or your answers about movies to determine your inner animal or what generation I was born in I don't post the results, though most of them are wrong and not worthy of posting either. I'm just not one of those people who feel the compulsion to share every detail of my life online, which might seem odd given that I'm sharing parts of my life through this blog.

My wife, on the other hand, is one of those people who will post pictures of food and/or drinks anytime she eats out or is hanging out with friends. She tends to post a lot on social media, albeit part of her job involves marketing which requires her to be involved in posting to social media and/or sharing business related content. Her job was perfect for her given that she was something of a social media addict long before getting paid to use social media as part of her job.

She's the extrovert and I'm the introvert. That dynamic is just as true online as it is offline and I don't ever really see it changing.

She recently shared with me a story about another author who did a TikTok video for his book and went from no sales to best seller almost overnight when his video went viral. "We need to make a TikTok for your books, babe," she tried telling me. Well, don't hold your breath. I don't have a TikTok account and I have no plans to get one, much less to be in a TikTok video. I'm a writer, not a performer. I create fictional stories, not viral marketing ideas or videos.

And while I understand the potential value of having exposure on all of the major social media platforms my resistance really comes down to time. I don't have the time to manage a dozen social media profiles. I don't have the time to craft and develop content across the various platforms out there. FB and Twitter are largely text platforms that also support pics and vids but don't require them. IG requires a pic of certain dimensions. Pintrest usually leverages pictures. /reddit requires an understanding of all the various subreds that you can join and the different posting requirements for each. Tiktok is largely videos. And I have no clue what Threads is nor am I particularly interested in finding out.

With so many different variables and requirements for each platform in existence, it would take all of my time to manage content for each platform to maintain a regular and consistent posting strategy, something I struggle with from time to time now only leveraging FB and IG for the most part. I simply just don't have the time, or desire, to manage that many social media accounts. I work a full-time 40-hour a week job. I enjoy spending time with my wife and our children. I have friends that I like to do things with regularly. I am writing more books. I'm coding applications for side projects. I love playing video games. I don't want to spend every waking hour of my free time shackled to social media.

True, there are social media management companies out there that can do all of that stuff for me but those fees are outside of my current budget. Social media managers cost thousands of dollars a year and right now I don't sell enough books to be able to afford that. Sure, it might be a catch-22. I don't sell enough books to pay for a social media manager while a social media manager could increase my sells  but there is still the matter of the available capital for the initial investment. I have to have the money to hire the social media manager upfront for them to work their magic to increase my sales. Social media managers don't work on commission or promises.

So with no budget to hire someone to do it all and no desire to give up any and all of my free time just to post on every social media platform out there I'm left with where I'm at today. And I'm fine with that. I may not drive a lot of sales from social media but at least I'm not beholden or addicted to social media to the point that it prevents me from doing what I enjoy.