Suzanna's thoughts, opinions, and experiences with social media

 

For our new feature on Operation Awesome, the team is taking a week to share our thoughts, opinions, and experiences on topics we were asked about last year. The first we're tackling is Social Media. Specifically, we were asked how to connect with readers and librarians, which social media platform to use (such as Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, etc), and how to use social media effectively without spending all our time doing it.

Honestly, I have had difficulty with using social media. I use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I also have a blog through Wordpress. I recently acquired Snapchat. In the past I used Tumblr for writing and art.

Find what you enjoy about each platform. On Facebook, I enjoy the writing communities and connecting with my writing friends from my undergraduate writing program and attending AWP conferences through friendships and groups. My friends are readers and some are librarians. They often post what they are reading.

On Instagram, I share pictures of my artwork and occasional baking experiments. I enjoy searching for reference material with hashtags for projects. Acrylic pour painting is so fun to watch on Instagram and YouTube. It is easier for me to connect with artists on Instagram.

With Twitter I enjoy the limitations of 140 characters. I follow Matt Bell, one of my writing instructors in my undergraduate program, writers I have met through The Magnolia Review, and other people in the writing community. I enjoy the ease of retweeting and scrolling through the feed and celebrating people's publishing and writing news.

My best tip for Social Media is to check in the morning after email and once in the evening, occasionally at lunch for notifications and interacting with others. I once lived without internet for a year and only checked my Social Media when I was on campus twice a week. I wrote significantly more that year and made lists of what I needed to do when I had access to internet. So that is your fun Suzanna fact for the day.

While not considered explicitly Social Media, I also use Discord to stay in touch with my National Novel Writing Month region groups, and I also use Goodreads to track my reading challenges and see what my friends are reading.

What do you enjoy about each platform on Social Media?