I'm Leaving Social Media

Substack is more valuable for my purposes and I'm going to focus my efforts here.

I’ve been threatening to do this since last year, but never pulled the trigger. After all, change and a departure from the familiar even if the familiar is driving one batty, can be difficult. So, here’s the why and the plan forward.

Facebook is annoying

I’ve been on Facebook for over ten years now. I was turned down by Moody Publishers for my first novel because I didn’t have a social media following, which is why I went for the gusto. The publishing landscape, however, has changed since then, and I will be self-publishing this time around. Facebook has changed a lot since then, as well. When I first started building my presence there as an author, it made a lot of sense because Facebook was actually a good product.

Alas, as has happened with many other large corporations, Facebook has undergone an SJW convergence. If you don’t know what a convergence is, read Vox Day’s book SJWs Always Lie to understand. In a nutshell, it’s when a corporation gets taken over by extreme leftist ideologues, more intent on the intersectionality mission than creating a workable product. In general, the convergence occurs, incompetent people are hired based solely on their politics or victimhood status, and the company goes down the drain. In other words: “Go woke, go broke.”

This has happened with Facebook, minus the failure of the company…so far. Discussion and debate concerning controversial topics such as Covid has been stifled, and the website and apps don’t work as efficiently as they once did. I have over 800 followers on Facebook. My posts get seen by perhaps 5-10% of them. I have even boosted some of my posts with my own money on Facebook with negligible results. Here on Substack, my emails get opened by over 50% of subscribers. That’s a huge difference.

And given that huge difference, I just don’t feel like beating my head against the wall anymore. Between the convergence and Zuckerberg’s grandiose and increasingly bizarre Meta scheme, I think Facebook will be sunk in a few more years. Might as well get while the getting is good.

Social media sucks my time away

I am a writer. And yet, I find myself struggling to get writing time in.

One of the reasons for that is having to set aside mental space thinking up the next social media post to get people interested in following me, and hopefully, read what I write! To be successful on social media, I’m told, one must be on all or most of the big sites and post several times throughout the day. Also, post at the right time of day so people will see it! Oh, and make sure to post a photo with whatever you’ve written or nobody will see it. Also, include three drops of unicorn blood and pledge the life of your firstborn in service to the algorithm.

It all just seems so desperate and sad anymore.

I want to spend my time writing and thinking about the plot of my novel, not trying to keep relevant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by posting three times a day on all of them. Or coming up with Facebook reels and stories or whatever other time waster they’ve devised to keep me spinning on their little hamster wheel.

To add insult to injury to writers everywhere, Facebook really downgrades links. If I want to post a link to something I’ve written (remember, writing is my main thing, right?) on my blog or here, I have to jump through a bunch of hoops to make sure at least a few people see it. I can’t just put the link in the post, I have to write something about the link, include a photo of some sort, and then put the link in comments to get around the algorithm. Otherwise, no one sees it. I’m just sick of the rigamarole.

And since I have discovered Substack, it seems within my grasp to quit the tyranny of the social media sites once and for all. Instead, I will be doing what I need to do while also keeping people engaged with what I’m doing—writing.

“But I love your sewing posts!”

Perhaps 40 out of 800 chimed in on Facebook yesterday when I mentioned what I had in mind. Folks like to see photos of my sewing projects, my cooking and baking and gardening.

That’s where Substack chats comes in! It’s a new feature that’s been offered to me, and I am so glad! I can send photos and links and all the good stuff to you guys and you can message back if you’re of a mind to do so. I will be sending an invite to all my subscribers with instructions to get set up with chat. It’s quite easy. You just download the Substack app, enable push notifications, and you’re all set. So never fear! The sewing photos will continue as well as the random funny thought or a quick word about the goings on in my day—all on one platform.

So here’s the plan

I’m not going to delete all my social media profiles. I will keep them so that people can look me up. But all future posts will funnel people here for my newsletter, audiobook and chat.

Beginning this week, I will only post two or three times a week on Facebook and I will pin a post directing people here so it’s the first thing folks see when they land on my profile. I will delete the app from my phone so I am less likely to get on Facebook and will have fewer distractions from writing. That’s the plan for the next four weeks.

Starting in March, I will scale back to posting once a month on Facebook and will continue that until I have no further use for it or until Facebook goes under, whichever happens first.

I will send subscribers lots of fun content via chat with the following themes—sewing, making, cooking, baking, recipes, hair, makeup, thrifting, gardening, pets…and any other announcements I might have to make!

In addition, Substack has a video feature! So, I may start putting out videos of me singing pretty songs for people to enjoy…once I’ve learned how to get good audio.

And, most importantly…I will do a lot more writing!

Sweet relief

Since I made this decision, I have felt a big weight lift. Perhaps that sounds weird. I’ve been told for such a long time that social media was the best way to market as an unknown author. I believed it and grudgingly went to work.

Now? I just don’t care. I hate social media. There. I said it. If I only write to 155 subscribers from here to doomsday, I’m good with it. But I believe my email list will grow and expand, and I can forge a different path outside of conventional wisdom. Honestly, I can’t wait.

See how big I’m smiling?

“How can I help?”

You can help by sharing my newsletter with people you think might enjoy it! Forward it to friends of yours. If sewing or gluten free baking comes up in a conversation with a friend you can say, “Hey, I know this girl who writes about stuff like that. Look up Amanda Barber on Substack. She’s writing a novel!” Word of mouth is the best advertising.

Housekeeping

First of all, an apology. I meant to send the next chapter of The Pursuit of Elizabeth Millhouse at 7:00 AM of Wednesday last week, and you may have noticed that it did not go out until 10:30 or something. I messed up when I scheduled the email. So sorry about that! At any rate, I will do better this Wednesday when I send out Chapter 4. Thanks to another kind soul, I gained another paid subscriber last week. So exciting. If you wish to join the merry band listening to my novel, simply upgrade from free to paid. It’s 8.00 per month or 80.00 per year. All funds generated through Substack will be used to get the novel back in print and publish 27 once it’s finished.

That’s all for now. Until next time, folks…