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| Photo credit: magicatwork on Flickr |
Over time, I’ve learned some things. And so I thought I’d share these lessons with you.
- YouTube isn’t as scary as I thought. When I posted my very first vlog, I was terrified. I’d been camera-shy for years—and in fact, when I first started social media-ing, I couldn’t post a picture of myself even on my super-protected personal FB page because it freaked me out so much. It took a long time to get a handle on my anxiety, then finally build up to being okay with sharing pictures online, and then finally posting that vlog.
And now? Now I love vlogging. It’s been so fun, and I’ve gotten comfortable in front of the camera (as long as I’m in an isolated room with no one watching, that is), and I’ve gotten a lot of really awesome feedback. There have been a few isolated bleh comments here and there, but the delete button is a very nice thing. And I haven’t had to use it often. So yay. - There are way more books out there than I can ever hope to read. Goodreads and Twitter are like the best worst thing to ever happen to my TBR list. I currently have 337 books on my TBR shelf and the more I read, the more the list grows. It’s a good problem to have, though, and I’m certainly not complaining. (Though if Hermione could lend me her time-turner, I might be able to make a dent in that list…)
- People are generally nice. By and large, I’ve found, people are nice. There are definitely some jerks, creeps, and gross people out there, but the vast majority of people I’ve interacted with online have been genuinely wonderful. And interacting with those lovely people makes putting up with the occasional blah person more than worth it.
- Being yourself is the best policy. While I mostly talk about writing and books online, I’ve been known randomly nerd out about X-Men, or whatever TV show I’m currently hooked on, or some random movie I just saw and loved. I’ll squee about Korrasami and jump up and down about the Deadpool movie and drool over Edward Kenway and Ezio Auditore then go back to talking about writing. And you know? It’s really fun seeing just how many people following me are also secret nerds who I share fandoms with.
The way I see it, it’s too exhausting to try to be someone you’re not online. And why bother, when plenty of people will love you for you better? - It can be time consuming and overwhelming. I am all over the internet. Just about every major social media site (except Google +) I use at least semi-regularly. And unsurprisingly, it takes up a hell of a lot of time. Sometimes, when I’m overwhelmed with work, I have to take a step back and ignore the smaller social media sites and cut down on the amount of time I spend on even my favorite sites. Sometimes I only log onto Twitter and make sure my blog is updated and leave it at that. Eventually, I will probably need to take a break entirely, but the point is every site is a commitment, and those commitments can add up quickly. I really do enjoy the stuff I do online, but sometimes I have to remind myself that taking care of me and making sure I work on deadline material is more important.
What have you learned from being online?
Twitter-sized bite:
.@Ava_Jae shares five lessons she's learned from being online. What would you add to the list? (Click to tweet)
12 comments:
I am still figuring out all the social media things. Until this winter, I didn't have Twitter or GoodReads, and I definitely didn't have any kind of public Facebook presence. There are still a lot of aspects of social media I struggle to 'get' and I never feel totally up to date with all the contests. Definitely working on it, though.
I'm so glad you're sharing more about yourself, Ava. I can still remember when your books avatar on Twitter first came down! ;-) But I'm there with you - I'm such an introvert that it's taken me a while to start sharing my more personal side rather than just writing and books.
These are great lessons, and some I've been proud to learn myself over the last few years. I was also initially concerned about posting my face on the internet, because my first few years on the web I was a safety-nazi. The way that web education videos work is that they tell you you WILL get stalked, you WILL be abused, you WILL be murdered, and then you will DIE. I mean, death is on the do-list, but farther along down the line and hopefully legally, and so I was a little uptight the first few years—since then, like you, I've learned that most of the people on the Internet are kind and awesome people, and they like seeing that I am just the same. It's a reassuring thing to know! :D
I think it's a gradual process. I started out with just a Twitter, then I added the blog, then Goodreads, then tumblr, then Facebook, then...Pinterest? Except I didn't do much with Pinterest. Then YouTube and now most recently Instagram. So yeah, it took several years of playing around and slowly adding to really get comfortable with each. And I don't think there's any rush whatsoever. :)
Thanks, Susan! Yes, the day I changed my icon was the day I also uploaded the vlog! Doubly scary, but in retrospect, a pretty great day (and almost a year ago now! Feels longer, somehow). But yes, I definitely agree. It took me a while to start sharing more personal stuff, but I'm glad I've been doing so. Baby steps. :)
I can't even laugh at your description because yeah, I was basically exactly like that lol. But I do agree that the realization that most people are actually super nice normal people was super reassuring—and now I love the interwebs. :)
Amen to number 5! I'm running into the same problem. I started up so many profiles for marketing but it's a pain to keep up with them all the time. It's one of the reasons instagram is growing in my heart, cuz I can use it to post to multiple channels at once straight from the app.
You nailed it, social media can be like a third job (first is the one that pays the bills, second is writing novels). I try and give myself a little schedule, like tweet 2x day, tumble 2x day, blog 2x week, goodreads every time I finish a book. And of course, connect with like-minded readers and writers by checking out their stuff & commenting! Doesn't always work out like that, which brings me to the other important lesson I've learned: forgive yourself. You can't do everything and stay sane.
Yes! I do love being able to cross-post so easily from Instagram. I find that I just do whichever ones I'm most interested in most, which helps prioritize. The nice thing about social media is you do your best if you're enjoying it! :)
It totally can be a job on its own! And I agree—I try not to give myself strict schedules (except for the blog), but if you have to slow down or take a break from one (or more) channels, that's okay too. You need to focus on what's more important—the writing.
Kudos on #1! Glad you overcame the scariness of the camera--your vlog has a really fun, natural flow, and you have some great stuff to say. Keep that up!
#3 is a lesson I'm constantly learning. I tend to be generally curmudgeonly and pessimistic about humanity, so I am always surprised and a little humbled when I come in contact with humanity and they actually turn out to be really awesome and sweet and nice. Taking a risk and being yourself around other people is usually worth it.
Thanks so much, Braden! The camera thing was a scary milestone, but I'm so glad I went with it. It's been really fun to play around with. :)
And I completely agree about taking risks and being yourself around others—not everyone's going to like you, but in the end I'd rather be disliked by some people for being me than liked by many and having to pretend to be someone I'm not.
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