FRIENDLY FRUSTRATION

In my last post I talked about creating a writer's platform. Until I get a little experience in something, I usually start out by taking the advice of the pros. I've done that with this platform thing, and so far, I have to say it's making me a bit uncomfortable. One of the reasons I held off getting into marketing was that I don't believe in tooting my own horn.

It's supposed to be better for others to sing your praises. Until I get my books published, most of you have no idea if my novels will be worth praising or not. So I figured this would be a good time to make more friends.

The pros say to get involved with social media, but to just pick a few you're comfortable with and promote the heck out of yourself there. Facebook is what I'm most comfortable with, but after the problems on Facebook this week, I'm thinking seriously about cutting back on my time spent there. Seems I got on the bandwagon a little late, and now I feel like I'm sliding off. . .or being pushed off.

I've been on Facebook for close to two years now, and in that time it's gone from them pushing me to make friends - to them getting on my case because I'm trying. I wish they'd make up their minds. Seriously. No matter what page I was on there would be an ad in the sidebar trying to get me to find friends.

I was perfectly content with my slow growth of friends. I believe in quality over quantity. But because of this platform business, I recently increased sending out friend requests. Some people responded immediately and others didn't. Those lucky enough to have jobs don't have that much time to spend on Facebook answering friend requests. Apparently Facebook thinks they should be.

Last week I got a little reminder from Facebook saying that I should only be sending out requests to family members, co-workers and close friends. What??? If that's the case, then why do they have a cap of 5000 friends? Does anybody have that many family members, co-workers or close friends? Since I don't have a paying job right now, I don't have co-workers. The only ones I run into in my writing studio are my husband, dog and of course the cat. As for family. . .I have a few supporters and will be eternally grateful for them.

When it comes to friends - I've moved around a lot over the years and lost touch with most of them. Being on Facebook did help me reconnect with some, but if I'm going to be chastised for reaching out too much in any particular day, then I guess my number of friends will remain at a little over 200. Most of my friends have hundreds of friends and some of them have thousands. Just this week, one of them mentioned that he'd capped out at 5000. Really? Facebook let him do that, but I get stopped around 200. They need to change their algorithms.

Until I'm comfortable reaching out to make friends again, I'll be spending my time deciding on a web site. That was next on my list anyway. Thanks for reading. Hope to see you again in a few days.