#IWSG: What if?

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IWSG: a place where writers and friends share woes or hugs.

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The other day, Facebook went down. It was such a sharp relief that it took me by surprise. Do I really feel that way about this particular social media platform?

The reason I created an account was for my authorial purposes. Many times in the past I’ve wondered, hesitated, about deleting my account because of the toxicity that people tend to exude from the silly “unfriending” over a petty topic to darker themes that make me squirm. I understand that wherever one finds people, there will always be goblins in caves, trolls under bridges, and Orcs in LotR, but ... Facebook?

I then think of the time when I took a much-needed sabbatical many years ago when I had a good fanbase—needless to say, taking the time off hurt my fanbase. Now struggle with not having one.

But, as Facebook was down, my thoughts started churning. Blogger is where I began my author origin story. Making meaningful connections with readers and other authors. Twitter came later. I’ve seen authors survive on websites, Goodreads, and Twitter. I can too, right?

But it’s that deep-seated “what if” fear that prevents me hitting delete. A crutch, maybe? I don’t use Facebook other than to stay in touch with author friends and an author group called The Writer Gals. I hope they have a different platform of which to stay connected because the more I think on it, the more tempted I am to just escape!

Do you use Facebook? Have you ever had it and deleted it? How did it impact your fanbase and sales, if at all? What other social media platforms do you use? Would you delete Facebook if it came right down to it?