by Edie Melson, @EdieMelson
It’s getting on to the end of October and I just couldn’t resist a tongue-in-cheek post about something scary. After spending the fall traveling and teaching social media I have plenty of fears to share. Lest you think this is me pointing fingers, let me reassure you. EVERY single one of the things listed has been something I’ve done/struggled with at some point.
Remember, none of us is born knowing how to do this stuff. So lets laugh at our phobias together!
17 Scariest Things About Social Media
- Having to have a picture taken to use as an avatar.Someone please reassure me that I’m not the only person who hates having her picture taken!
- Trying to figure out the point of Twitter. HINT: Use Hootsuite. The columns can help you pull out what’s relevant. Otherwise you’re stuck trying to pull something meaningful from the home feed.
- The pressure of taking beautiful pictures for Instagram.I’m an amateur photographer, but at times it feels like so much pressure to make sure something is Instagram-worthy.
- Working to make my social media names match across platforms.Okay, this one wasn’t much of an issue for me – except for the fact that my memory is bad. For a while I was using Edie Melson and Edie G Melson.
- Refusing friend requests on Facebook. I can’t help it. I feel guilty and agonize over many of these. We have lots of friends in common, but I don’t actually know them. I’ve learned the hard way to pass on requests from people I don’t know.
- Receiving friend requests on Facebook. Have you seen some of the creepers that hang out on FB? They are sometimes the stuff of nightmares! LOL!
- Political rants.’nuff said
- Taking a FB quiz and discovering your steampunk name is Dame Beatrice Kettlebottom. Seriously. It was a huge disappointment and definitely something I did NOT share on FB.
- Discovering my life isn’t beautiful enough to be on Pinterest.Where do these people find the time—not to mention the money to do this stuff???
- Finding out Facebook is changing their Edgerank algorithm yet again.It seems like they have a think tank whose only goal is to think of as many ways as possible to sabotage our efforts?
- Realizing you used the word your instead of you’re in a grammar rant.I really try to avoid posing when I’m frustrated. This is the reason why.
- Posting a beautiful meme with the perfect quote and discovering you’ve got the attribution wrong.Yep, it happened to me. All I can say is be sure to check and double-check who said what you’re sharing.
- Sharing a light-hearted update and getting angry and/or weird comments. When this happens I can’t decide if what I said was unclear or the people commenting are just a little dense.
- Learning how to use hashtags.Now that I know how, they’re great. But learning the best ways took time.
- Anything to do with snap chat. If someone says Snap Chat to me, I mentally stuff my fingers in my ears and try to ignore anything that’s said.
- Trying to Find the Time to actually DO social media. My schedule is slammed full and some days it seems I can’t add one more thing.
- The scariest thing ever with social media is refusing to do it and missing out on a book contract because you have no platform!I lost a book contract in the mid-nineties because I didn’t have a platform. That’s one of the reasons I made sure it would never happen again. But truthfully, I hear stories about this happening on a weekly basis.
This is my list. What scares you the most about social media. Leave your answers in the comments section below!
Maiden of Iron by Edie Melson
A Steampunk Fable
When Marion’s brother is killed in a duel fighting for her honor, their father, the Engineering Guildmaster withdraws refusing to speak with anyone. It’s now up to Marion to save the guild’s children and reclaim the family honor. But will a chance encounter with the prince of thieves be an answered prayer or will he just steal her heart and abandon them all?
Edie Melson—author, blogger, speaker—has a passion to help those who are struggling find the God-given strength they need to triumph through difficult circumstances. She’s written numerous books, including her most recent, fiction, Alone, and nonfiction, While My Child is Away. Her popular blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands each month and is a Writer’s Digest Top 101 Websites for Writers.In addition you can find her sharing articles on the military family blog at Guideposts.org. She’s also the director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and the Vice President of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, as well as the Social Media Director for Southern Writers Magazine, Social Media Mentor at My Book Therapy, and the Senior Editor for NovelRocket.com.