I didn’t think I was one who would fear missing out on something, but there is one place where I’m straddling being involved and not doing anything. I wrote and published my first book in 2008. In the fall of 2009, I took the leap to join social media. Facebook was new, as was Twitter. Several social media platforms were around back then that no longer exist, like Google+. I remember when it was called Web 2.0. Honestly, I never really figured out how to use all the features with social media. But I could post something, and those who followed me actually had it show up in their feed.
I remember when I deleted my Twitter account. It had changed from what it was at the beginning, and I had hard time keeping up with it. I worked full time, did lots of stuff outside of work, and never caught on to having my smartphone always in my hand, always checking notifications, always having my eyes on the screen. I still don’t have any of that, and I don’t believe I’m missing out. I prefer the present moment, the sunrise/sunset, situational awareness while walking my dog or riding my horse or going to/from a store. But being an author meant I had to have an “online presence”.
I worked really hard to gain a following on Facebook. Then my account was hacked. There was no help from the tech giant. I let people know what happened, opened another account, and invited them over. By then, not much was seen organically by people who wanted to see what I posted. With just a handful of people on my personal profile, I dutifully posted on my author page. Crickets. Then my account was closed. Hacked. Again. It took me 4 months to get it back. I had to search for my author page. Since no one saw my posts, no one knew I hadn’t been on in 4 months. It has been another 6 months since I recovered my account, yet I haven’t posted. Nor have I closed my account.
I know about the data scraping, about training their AI, about no one knowing I’ve been gone since they don’t see my posts and my comments are lost among others on their posts. Yet I haven’t deleted my account. Is it because for years authors were told to have an online presence? Am I still an author if I’m not online? If no one has heard from me in almost a year, and I don’t go to the platforms to scroll, why is it so hard to delete my account? If I don’t or can’t do the pay to play game, what am I missing out on?
I’ve tried multiple times in various ways to build a following on social media. Since I’ve been gone, things continue to change. I don’t know that I would be able to navigate on the platforms at this point. I think most users are uploading videos. Or professional graphics. I know some are very successful in their engagements. If most social media has been gone from my life for a year, then I shouldn’t be afraid of missing out, as I haven’t been there. And the sun still rises, I still walk my dog and ride my horse and write my stories. Maybe not being online all the time has ensured I’m not missing out on what’s important to me.
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