In September 2020, I wondered, “Is it possible to operate without social media?”
I was hoping so, because after watching a couple of documentaries on the evils of social media, I’d had enough and wanted off. Well, I’d had enough of the toxic drama that kept spilling into my periphery from the election and coronavirus crap.
So…I took a hiatus. Or maybe it was a detox.
Whatever it was, it was amazing.
My break from Insta was short-lived. I gravitated back to it in November. Or was it late October? I don’t really remember now.
I just know that I missed Insta and felt like I could control one social, so I let it back into my life.
But Twitter and Facebook were different matters. I pretty much made a clean break.
Until recently.
Netflix Life and a lot of my fellow writers there use Twitter. I wanted to be more social with them, but…it was Twitter. That used to be my most favorite social until Insta came along.
Facebook has always been okay too. Or was. They’ve made so many changes though. And I always worry they’re just going to decide to up and erase my pages someday or something. I’ve had so many friends have that happen to them.
Then there’s the time factor. Not being on socials (and quitting A Haunt Mess, which is a post for a different day) allowed me to write like a madwoman again, both for Haunt Jaunts and Netflix Life. It also allowed me time to apply for a new Fan Sided site: Trip Sided. (Which I did and got accepted to!)
I didn’t want to risk falling down the rabbit hole of distraction by rejoining the social media world again, but…
Something was niggling at my conscience to reconsider.
But I was tormented because it had felt amazing to unplug.
Also, it hasn’t really hurt my stats like I wondered if it might. If anything, because I was free to focus on better SEO and publishing more posts, not only did my blog traffic actually improve, but my AdSense revenue increased as well. My YouTube views and podcast listens also remained steady.
There was really no reason for me to return to socials, so why was I struggling so much with whether I should or not?
I don’t know, but I asked Spirit (my word for the higher power I believe in): “Can you help me out and give me some sort of sign or answer?”
That’s when Alex Matsuo from The Spooky Stuff sent me a Facebook message with a link to a post she’d written listing 30 of the most influential people in the paranormal. To my shock, she’d included me in it!
I mean, come on. The names on the list are some of my fave para peeps ever. There were a lot of new-to-me names too, but…
This is the kind of thing that’s perfect for social sharing.
So, just like that, I had my answer and found myself back in the fray.
Sort of.
I know what mistakes I made before, and which ones I won’t repeat going forward.
Also, as if to confirm I’d done the right thing, I discovered that some really awesome people had enthusiastically shared some of my Netflix Life posts on Twitter…and I didn’t even know because I hadn’t been checking mentions or anything. One was even a fellow NL writer, Renee Hansen, who I adore because we seem to have the same viewing tastes. But I hadn’t ever really communicated with her or reached out to let her know I admired her work, but come to find out she had commented and shared one of my Emily in Paris posts months ago!
And now I’ve found a whole Sanditon squad when I Tweeted a post I’d written about it for Netflix Life. All of a sudden I gained over 30 new followers and people to follow back in one day! I haven’t had that many new followers in years!
Which felt amazing. That was the kind of Twitter I’d known and fallen in love with when I started HJ in 2009.
So, for now, it feels like the right decision to return.
And thus starts a second honeymoon phase with socials. Let’s see if I better manage my time (and sanity) this go around.