Fewer Gimmicks, Please!

After reading two excellent blog posts, "Can Facebook Hold Your Fan Page Hostage?" by Kristen Lamb, and Porter Anderson's latest installment of On the Ether (41 section 2) "BEA Self-Pub/Owen/Litte/Greenfield: Kobo's platform," I realized something's been bothering me about some of the latest trends in social media.


They feel gimmicky.

For six months I've tried (without much success) to grow my Facebook Author Page without resorting to repeated "invitations" to like it. From holding fun polls, to updates about my life, to re-posting cartoons--I've worked at making my Facebook page a happy place to land. However, it lacks the thing I love about my personal profile--the ability to have conversations. And, from Kristen's article, it looks as if it also lacks outreach. If the only people who see my posts are people already there, I don't know how it could possibly grow. I wonder if I'm just trying to ride on a gimmick anyhow? I've always enjoyed Facebook through my personal page. Maybe I should just stick with it and not work so hard on my Author page? I don't know. I want to be authentic.

Then, I read Porter's round-up which included information about "Writing Life," the self-publishing imprint offered by Kobo, and almost snorted out my Coke when I read that authors earn badges for things like writing late at night.

I left a comment on the post, and I'll re-iterate it here. I don't need a sticker saying I wrote a book. I want an audience to read and love my books.

Too often on Twitter, I'm bombarded with retweets of blog posts. I love retweeting other people's blog posts, so this doesn't bother me. However, when the Tweeter ONLY RT's blog posts, it feels gimmicky.

Conversations! I want a conversation. Yes, share that fabulous post or picture with me, but also tell me you're low on coffee or watching The View. Don't be shy! I just want to know that you're a real person and not someone scheduling every social media post in an attempt to look like a real person.

What about social media feels gimmicky to you?

Have a terrific weekend!

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