Making and Keeping Connections

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Our Friday Fox asked, “How has your use of social media changed over the years?”

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m online A LOT. Much of that time, I’m on one social media outlet or another. Sometimes I’m engaging as my personal self, other times as my author self, so I’ll break this discussion down into those two areas of my life.

Personal Use of Social Media

When I first started my Facebook account, it was mostly a way to find out about things my friends and family were doing. But then I discovered I could connect with people I hadn’t seen in a long time – high school and college friends, former co-workers, even distant relatives. I’ve had siblings and grandkids move far away, so I’m delighted to be able to continue to get a glimpse of their lives.  Eventually, a few of my overseas cousins started accounts, so now I’m able to communicate with them, thanks to online translators and my limited Japanese.

As a teacher and a musician, I’m able to connect with groups focused on these areas. It’s wonderful to be able to discuss with another teacher various resources and teaching techniques. I’m also thrilled to swap stories with other musicians and discuss the merits of various interpretations of musical passages, the best way to adjust my reeds to create the best sound, or the best suppliers for the things I need.

Recently, I joined a committee to start planning my high school class’ 50th reunion. We’ve been meeting monthly, and one of our monumental tasks is to LOCATE everyone (We haven’t had a reunion in twenty years!). Social media has been a real help. Between Facebook, Instagram, Classmates, and Linked In, we’ve managed to locate about seventy  percent of the 200 people in our class. Many of us have left West Michigan for warmer climates, and too many have passed on, but we’re hoping that we’ll have a good turnout this fall.

Social Media for My Writing Self

About twelve years ago, I finally achieved my dream of having some of my writing published. I joined a few online groups that made me see the value in making connections with readers as well as other writers. My time online then doubled, because I was interacting not only as myself, but as an author. I do share a bit of my family on my author page, but I try to be careful about the information I post. I also started using other social media platforms, with varying degrees of success. I like Instagram, because it’s simply sharing pictures and making comments. I use Twitter a little, but not as much as I used to. I discovered that I was able to use my connections on social media to not only advertise my books, but to help me write them. When I needed medical information to make a certain scene work, a nurse kindly helped me work through various possibilities. When I needed info about the real estate industry, I posted a question on my author page and almost immediately a distant relative connected me with a realtor. I’ve had people help me choose names of people and places, decide where to set a story, and figure out what’s keeping a couple from having their happily-ever-after. It’s like having a resource library at my fingertips!

Another thing that keeps me using social media is my PR work for my publishers. I try to find ways to help promote other people’s books by posting on the publisher’s accounts regularly, planning various events, and helping out new authors who aren’t familiar with social media. I’m having a lot of fun with this, and I’m learning a lot of new skills, like creating digital graphics and creating events. But there’s still SO much more to learn, especially if I want to reach my goal of self-publishing some of my homeless stories. When I manage that, I’ll try paid advertising on social media, and that will mean more time online.

I guess I’d better rest up!

How do you use social media?

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