Wednesday, May 6, 2015

a race for me #IWSG

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Something that I have lost after having Babykins, is my online mojo (about the time when Darkspell first released). Several friends told me that I had great online presence. It was great here in Blogland as well as Facebook. Now, I find myself struggling against my previous numbers and, when I think about it, I feel disheartened. 



photo by Paulo via flickr

I try not to think about how many of my friends have 15 to 20 (even more) Facebook likes for saying something witty. My friends like everything they say, but when I say something, I get about 3 or 4 likes if I am lucky--and *not* from the lollipop guild, either.

I wonder ... what will it take for me to turn their heads--something that will wow them? I bet so, because they swarm over the ones who have struck "gold" in one way or another.


Has this happened to you? How do you deal with it? Which is your preferred platform and why? What is your mantra?

29 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't. I just write and enjoy that, and if other people "like" it, all the better. If not, that's okay. I didn't write it for them, anyhow.

Annalisa Crawford said...

I happily don't compare myself to anyone else on line. The numbers don't bother me at all. That doesn't help you, I know - but I just accept there are some people I can't compete against.

Jan Morrison said...

Hi Elizabeth - I would encourage you not to pander after likes or comments. Write what is true for you and try not to let your feelings get hurt. I find that people fill up with likes and comments if they act remotely victimized. I don't want those sort of likes and comments so I don't bother. It is the same on other sorts of sites (I'm on a sketching site - same thing).
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Shakespeare.
My English teacher wrote that in my book in grade seven.

Chrys Fey said...

Yes, it has! I see how many likes other authors get for their posts on their pages and I think...wait, I post things like that too. I do the same thing with my personal (non-Chrys) FB page. Does that mean we're jealous creatures? Uh oh! lol

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Yuch. Facebook. I admit I use it but I don't feel it's a tool I want to spend more time upon. My blog is my preferred social platform and next to that is twitter.

Robin said...

I have a lot of friends who easily rack up 50+ likes for every single thing they post on Facebook. I can post something and get, like you, 3-4 likes. It used to bother me. Then I realized that these folks who get all these likes post constantly on Facebook. I think it takes up hours of their life every day. I spend maybe 15 minutes on there a day. I'm not putting in the time to get the Likes, because I don't have it to give to Facebook. Now I don't care about how many Likes I get. I don't want to give hours of my life to Facebook in exchange for a bunch of people tapping the Like button.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Not on Facebook because it would be more than I could handle.
It does take dedication. And time. Not A to Z Challenge time, though. Longer than a month and I would implode. But just a steady dedication at a balanced level.

Hart Johnson said...

As a matter of fact it HAS. I did my time with serial publishing and didn't take a BREAK so much as slowed way down with my blogging and it really hurt. I have never recovered. In fact maybe it was the break before that for a death in the family that started my downward numbers. I think it is harder to build than it used to me, which makes it so getting back to it is like swimming against a strong current.

Chemist Ken said...

I'm not very savvy about social media myself. I'm still dabbling it it. Usually I only get a few likes myself, if I'm lucky. But I don't post very often.

Karen Mortensen said...

It is hard not to get disheartened about these things. I have gotten this many times over blogging. Not as many comments as before. I seem to get more responce with Facebook. I guess it is way easier to do Facebook than blogging. I mean people can do Facebook on their phones. I will do my best to support you here.

Anonymous said...

I struggle with social media. I'm not an outgoing person by nature, so being really social isn't easy for me. I do okay with my blog, but I haven't done a lot with much else. I created an author Facebook page, but Facebook tends to scare me, and I haven't developed it as much as I should. I want to do more with my Goodreads account, because I'm more comfortable with that one. My time is also somewhat limited, so I haven't expanded into Twitter, other than linking my blog to it. I may or may not pursue that. I haven't decided yet. With my blog, I try to post things I would enjoy reading or that I think would be helpful to others. I try not to pay too much attention to statistics, because I know that would stress me out, and I don't need that. I think it's important to stay true to yourself and post what's important to you, in your own unique way.

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Oh, how I *love* this mantra! I need to get back to that. *sigh*

Elizabeth Mueller said...

You know, that is the sort of thinking that is uplifting. I need to apply that to online as well as real life. How refreshing!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

How encouraging! You're right. Thank you. <3

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Eeep! x( I would say I hope not, but... *ahem* Probably... *sigh*

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Susan! I've been mulling over this as well. I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts as to why you don't like FB. I'll have to chase you down and ask why...

Elizabeth Mueller said...

lol. Well said, Robin! xD

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Sounds like you have it down to a science!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

I'm sorry to hear that, Hart. When I returned to blogging after my hiatus, Blogdom had changed drastically!

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Online stuff is an entirely different animal than the real life stuff. I like the real life stuff, but that, too, takes a lot of time...

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Karen, thank you! It's true. I think it might be a bit vain, vying for comments and likes. It feels a bit narcissistic, don't you think? O.O

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Or even a bit low-selfesteemish? *shrugs*

Elizabeth Mueller said...

I need to just be happy with being true to myself and not worry of replies or responses. true... Thank you for your thoughts! :)

AJ Lauer said...

Yeah.. I dunno.. the whole 'platform' thing.. I just find myself worrying when I'm doing social media that I should be writing instead. And I'm uncertain whether or not that is true.. But maybe like Alex said, to be steady about it and it will eventually pan out? *sigh*

cheerfuloptimistic said...

I do some writing online (mostly blogging, some fanfiction), and I've always thought I'm writing mostly for myself. It would be nice to get more attention for it, but that in of itself shouldn't be the goal.

Diana Wilder said...

I'd say to forget the former numbers. You have something more precious than numbers...and they would have fallen off in the general scheme of things. Ebb and flow. As others have said, if you are yourself, that's all you need. There are always people who will love you or else say 'meh'. That won't change. If you're the best you that you can be, that's enough for anyone who matters, and they'll come.

Elizabeth Mueller said...

True. Sounds like words of wisdom to me, too. :)

Elizabeth Mueller said...

In the writing itself, yeah. But only to *you* because you are the brand of your own books and how else to get yourself known? But there is a fine line and I don't want to cross it because it becomes destructive.

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Great advice! Thanks... <3