One of the inescapable things about being a writer is that if you’re aiming to be published and sell any copies of your book, then you need a platform. There are plenty of ways to do this, from having a helpful website/blog, to running an Instagram with attractive book photos. Social media is one of the biggest places for platform building. Most writers have accounts on multiple social media sites and this is the best place to find all the readers and writers hanging out having cool bookish conversations and making new friends.
However, if you’re an introvert, like me, then spending a lot of time on social media interacting with hundreds of people might sound a bit daunting. We introverts only have a limited amount of social energy, and social media is very good at draining that incredibly quickly. Spend too much time on social media, and, no matter how lovely the people are, or how positive the interactions might be, I will invariably end up overwhelmed and in dire need of some solitude. Maybe you can relate.
However, it is possible to use social media effectively, create an online presence, and still take care of yourself as an introvert who needs your own space. I’ve picked up a few strategies that have been really helping me in my own social media use, and thought I’d share some of them today in the hopes that maybe they might help you too. If you have any tips of your own, feel free to leave them in the comments, because I am always eager to find better ways of managing social media and introversion.
You Don’t Have To Share Everything
It is absolutely not essential to share every piece of your life on social media. Take a look at C.G. Drews@Paperfury on Twitter. She has built her account off fun writing tweets that are hilarious, relatable, and shareable, and also tell you very little about her personal life. Even her profile picture doesn’t show her face. She tweets about books and writing rather than sharing her life and she is incredibly successful. Don’t feel you have to share everything if you don’t feel comfortable doing so. You’re allowed to keep things private.
THE WRITING PROCESS
• use magic to craft exciting universes and lives
• rewrite
• rewrite…again
• whisper “what is going on” in slight panic
• make a crown out of bones
• turn into smoke and haunt a castle
• write more and more
• now you have a book— CG Drews (@PaperFury) May 29, 2018
Prepare In Advance
I struggle when I have to come up with something to post on social media every single day. It turns into a huge obligation to be social all the time, and that is tiring. To combat that, i tend to prepare as much ahead of time as I can. I pre-make quote graphics and blog images, have a file of photos to share on Instagram when I don’t feel like taking anything new, and even save tweet ideas to share later when I don’t feel Twitter-ish. Preparing social media posts ahead of time takes a lot of the pressure off. It means you don’t have to be sociable. You can drop something online and leave without having to think too hard.
Let Yourself Have Days Off
Taking a day off from being on social media is ok, You don’t have to be super active all the time. Sometimes you just need to take a day to rest and recharge your introvert batteries. That’s alright. People online don’t mind if you’re not on for a couple of days. So if everything is getting overwhelming and even pre-prepared posts aren’t relieving the pressure, take a day off. It’s alright. Sometimes you need to be away from people. Social media needs to be working for you benefit, not the other way around.
Curate Your Feed
Social media can be draining enough as it is without it also being such a negative place that you dread going on there. Curate your feed. Make sure that you like what you see every day. Follow people you enjoy interacting with, or that you like hearing from. Don’t be afraid of unfollowing people who always post negative things and drag your moods down, draining your social energy Social media should be a nice place where you can interact with like-minded people and where you actually like seeing other people’s posts.. Wouldn’t you rather spend the energy you have for socialising on things that uplift or inspire you?
These are a few of the ways I, as an introvert, deal with social media without overwhelming myself. The baseline is though, social media is just a tool. You can use it however you want,. It should never be ruling or taking over your life. Building a platform is important, but so is taking care of yourself. So, to my fellow introverts, I hope some of these ideas are helpful to you. And I’d love to hear some of your social media strategies too. What suggestions do you have for me? Let’s chat!
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