I’ve spent the last few days pondering my future with Facebook. Frankly, I’ve never been overly comfortable sharing much personal info about me or my family on FB, and I can’t remember the last time I posted something on my personal page.
Marketing gurus keep telling me that having an Author Page on FB is an essential, as it’s the best way to connect with potential readers. So I have a page, and I post these blogs there weekly, plus any new publishing announcements, etc. It’s open to the public, but after all the brouhaha about Cambridge Analytica and our not-so-private social networking lives, I’m in a conundrum as to whether to keep any FB presence.
I’ve never posted my real birthdate and I’ve started deleting unwanted apps, but this is probably too little too late. I also have a sneaking suspicion that other companies, aside from Cambridge Analytica, are still busy hoarding our personal info to sell to whomever wants to sell us something or persuade us politically.
These days I’m also on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Goodreads. All the others I’ve let fallen by the wayside or closed, as I just don’t have the time to keep them up to date. So, I’m wondering what all of you authors and artists are doing about your social networking presence. Have recent developments changed your approach to networking? Are you inclined to look elsewhere than FB to develop new connections, or do you think that FB will pose tighter restrictions on how information is acquired and sold, and allow you to delete shared material, as they claim they will?
Please, let me know your thoughts, oh and by the way, because the gurus say I should, here’s my FB Author’s page and a few other links, although I’m sure this is more info than you really need or want. But just in case… 🙂
www.facebook.com/pages/Casey-Holland-Transit-Security-Mysteries/139005706175139
Website: www.debrapurdykong.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DebraPurdyKong
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/1391841.Debra_Purdy_Kong
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/profile/public-profile-settings?trk=prof-edit-edit-public_profile
Mystery Deb 
It is a concern but I still like being on Facebook. I need to be able to keep in touch with my family. I don’t find it as good as it once was but I will continue to be on it from time to time. One has to be careful not to spend too much time on social media.
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Thank you for commenting, Darlene. Yes, i agree that the benefit to stay in touch with friends and family is important. I also am not addicted to social media. I had no trouble leaving it behind when I was in Mexico. I’m thinking that being more diligent in general is the key.
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It’s a tricky balance. I’m not sure how I plan to go forward.
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Yeah, I totally understand. It’s what we don’t know that concerns me. I find it hard to believe that Cambridge Analytic is the only company in the world who has behaved this way. The others just haven’t been caught yet.
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I keep up a presence on my Facebook author page but I don’t invest a lot of my time. Same for my personal page. Five minutes of interaction twice a day, that’s it. I thought my follower numbers might go down in the wake from the scandal, but so far they’ve held steady.
I’ve read that authors have had success advertising on Facebook because of it’s ability to target really well, but that targeting is exactly why Facebook is in trouble right now. And since Facebook severely restricted the reach for pages that didn’t pay-to-play, few of the 362 followers who liked my page are getting my posts. It’ll keep it in my platform for now and see what happens.
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Thanks for sharing, JP. I invest even less time than you, and lately it still feels like too much. I’ve never advertised on FB & certainly don’t feel inspired to now…We’ll see what the future brings.
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I think if we put anything on line at any site we’ll be subject to this. It’s a matter of how much you want anyone to know.
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Agreed!
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I’ve never done Facebook or Twitter, just Goodreads and my blog. I have a moribund LinkedIn account, and got sucked into Pinterest when I was trolling through photos for inspiration. I’ve heard that Google has huge amounts of data on everyone who uses it, so that might be the elephant in the corner (or is it a gorilla?)
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I have LinkedIn too, Audrey. Other than posting my blogs I don’t really interact there. Yes, you’re right I think Google already knows pretty much everything it needs to. A sobering thought!
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