censorship | From the Writer's Desk

Is This the End of Social Media?

Social media has cerainly changed a lot, especially in the past few months, but I’m not sure if it’s for the better.

Twitter

Back when I first started writing books, one of my author friends told me about Twitter. Twitter was a relatively new platform at the time. It took me awhile to wrap my brain around it, but I soon discovered that my friend was right. Twitter was the perfect place to post links to my blogs. I especially liked the hashtags. I used them as keywords to guide readers to specific posts. The hashtags helped me build a following as well. Likewise, if there was a topic of interest to me, all I had to do was type a few hashtags into a search and presto. I could easily find what I was looking for.

Twitter, unfortunately, had a downside. They started censoring people. Granted, none of my blogs are about politics or other controversial subjects. I write contemporary romance novels. The last thing I want to do was risk alienating half of my readers by posting about politics. However, as a writer and an artist, I firmly believe that people should be able express themselves freely, as long as they don’t threaten or bully others.

From Twitter to X

As we all know, Elon Musk bought Twitter a few years ago. The first thing he announced was no more censorship. I applauded this. People on both sides of the argument have the right to state their beliefs. Unfortunately, Elon also said no more hashtags. This was very disappointing. Hashtags were a means for people to have a more personalized Twitter experience.

Before Elon, I’d get a bump in blog traffic whenever I posted a link on Twitter. I also posted links to free samples from my books. I typically posted them on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings. As a result, I’d see a bump in sales. Now it’s all changed. My Twitter feed is nothing but politics. Rarely do I see a tweet about someone’s book launch or their newest book cover. Nor am I getting the bumps from my Tweets that I used to get. So, I’ve stopped posting on Twitter. Nowadays it’s just politics, politics, and more politics, Some of us are interested in things besides politics.

Facebook

I’ve been on Facebook for over a decade. It used to be a lot of fun. People shared photos of their kids or grandkids. They shared their vacations, family weddings, graduations, new babies, and so forth. I also reconnected with old friends and relatives I hadn’t heard from in years. Then Facebook came up with it’s own means of censorship. Facebook jail.

If you so much as said so much as boo to someone, Facebook jail. Did you share your latest blog post about your favorite hobby to all your groups about the same hobby? Uh-oh! Facebook jail. Facebook “community standards” were constantly changing. What was okay to post two years ago isn’t okay to post today. This means that humor meme you shared two years ago, which met community standards at the time it was posted and hasn’t been seen by anyone in two years, suddenly landed you inFacebook jail. And how did Facebook know it was there? Some Facebook censor, with too much time on their hands, went on a fishing expedition. This is the kind of crap that turns users off, so they close out their accounts and leave.

From Facebook to Adbook

Then came Facebook ads. At first they were few and far between. Most advertisers were small, mom and pop businesses. Sometimes I’d buy a t-shirt, or a piece of costume jewelry. I also believe in supporting small businesses whenever possible. Unfortunately, big corporations have all discovered Facebook, and they’ve taken over the platform. My feed used to be my friends’ posts. Now it’s ad after ad after ad, or posts from business pages I don’t follow. Where are the posts from the pages I chose to follow? Why am I not seeing their posts? It’s a mystery to me.

I used to post several times a day on Facebook. Then I dropped down to one or two posts a day. Now I rarely post at all. Today all I’m seeing in my feed is stuff I don’t want to see. I want to see my friends’ posts, but they’re hidden among all the ads. As a result, I’m spending less time on Facebook. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’m spending more of my time to doing productive things. Apparently, I’m not the only one. Many of the people I know off Facebook are telling me they’re spending less time there as well.

Final Thoughts

Social media was a way for the average person to have a voice and connect with people with similar interests. Now it’s been hijacked by big corporations. As a result, the average user is leaving. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the big corporations start noticing that fewer eyes are looking at all their ads. Hopefully, they’ll get a clue and quietly disappear, but I’m not holding my breath. After all, Zuckerberg has to pay for that multi-million dollar mansion in Maui. I’ll keep using social media to share my blog posts, but I’m using Instant Messenger more frequently to keep in touch with my Facebook friends. I also have a newsletter so I can keep in touch with my readers.

I tried Instagram a few years ago to promote my art photography. I didn’t much care for it. Instagram was mostly kids, sharing silly stuff. My target audience is adult women who are avid readers. Somehow I can’t see serious book lovers on such a platform. It’s also owned by Meta. If Meta allowed big corporations to hijack Facebook, then I have no doubt that they’ve taken over Instagram as well. While I don’t see and end to social media, I am of the belief that social media, as we used to know it, is fading away, and we’ll be spending our time someplace else. Like doing things with family and friends, the way we used to do, back in the day.

Gayle Martin

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Is the Social Media Fad Ending?

As authors we’ve all been told social media is our best marketing tool, and it is. However, the Internet is always changing. Nowadays, at least by my observation, social media seems to be waning in popularity. My main social media accounts are Facebook and Twitter. I’ve been using both for years. A few months ago I started using Instagram, but so far I’m giving it a big, fat, meh.

I’ve spent most of my social media time on Facebook. It used to be a lot of fun, and, for a time, Facebook was a popular fad. Everyone was on Facebook. Those who weren’t just weren’t cool. People posted photos of their kids and grandkids and talked about their hobbies and interests. I shared my book covers on Facebook and I’d post about the current book I was writing. I also started a business page under my pen name, Marina Martindale, which has hundreds of followers. So, what changed?

For me, social media started changing when people began posting their politics. It created an us vs them atmosphere, which was both divisive and hostile. As an author and artist, I’ve worked hard to build a following. Therefore, I keep my politics out of social media because I don’t want to alienate any of my fans. Facebook and Twitter, however, added their own fuel to the proverbial fire when they took sides and started censoring people on one side, but not the other. Strange business model. I’ve never understood the concept of pissing off half of your customer base. But hey, that’s just me.

The Covid pandemic has made the one-sidedness, and the censorship, so much worse. Here’s a fun fact for you. Doctors don’t always agree. Remember the old ad jingle about four out of five dentists agree? So where was the fifth dentist? Don’t ask on Facebook or Twitter. They will censor you just for asking. Nowadays Facebook will put you in “Facebook jail,” if you so much as say, “boo!”

We Americans are accustomed to speaking our minds, and everyone has the right to their own opinion. We don’t take kindly to censorship, and many walking away from social media as a result.

By my own observation, I’m seeing fewer posts on Facebook from friends who used to post frequently. Others have closed out their accounts entirely. I’m seeing less traffic on my business pages. I’ve also stopped advertising on Facebook because my ads no longer have the reach they once had. Now in case you’re wondering, I’m not alone. My marketing guru tells me she’s seeing the same issue with other clients. Like any other fad, Facebook, along with other social media platforms, has apparently run its course. What was once new and exciting has become, “Been there, done that, and you can stick your censorship where the sun doesn’t shine.”

Once a customer walks away from a business, they’re gone. They don’t come back. I’m also seeing people forming new social networks, such as Parler, but they’re niche networks. While I make no claims of being a social network expert, I think smaller, niche social networks may become the trend in the future. Yes, Facebook and Twitter will still be around. MySpace is still around. However, I think their popularity has peaked, and I doubt they’ll ever regain the following they had before.

So, where does this leave us as authors? I have no plans for closing out my social media accounts, but I’m now focusing more of my marketing on email newsletters and blogs.

Gayle Martin

Let’s Just Say No to Sensitivity Readers

and Other Forms of Censorship

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about a disturbing new trend, particularly in traditional publishing. The use of so-called, “sensitivity readers” to censor the author’s work. Their job is to ferret out any so-called trigger words from the authors’ manuscripts.

Here in the United States, our constitution guarantees our right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. This would include artistic expression. Our constitution was never intended to protect anyone from being offended. In fact, it’s opposite. It insures our freedom to debate opposing points of view.

What is and isn’t offensive is oftentimes subjective. Let’s say, for example, that I write a scene in my book where two of my characters enjoy a burger together. If a vegan reads this, he or she might be offended. A chef, however, can read the very same scene and be inspired to create a gourmet burger for two.

I’m a woman who writes romance novels. Therefore, I include male characters in my books. I also write in the third person narrative. This means some of my chapters will be written from a male character’s point of view, even though I’ve never been a man. I’m not trying to make a political statement. I’m simply trying to tell a good story. However, to the so-called, “sensitivity expert,” I could be “stereotyping” men. And because I’m allegedly stereotyping men, I’m no longer allowed to write anything from a male point of view. This tramples on my right to freely express myself as an artist

Sensitivity is the new, politically correct word for CENSORSHIP. As a writer and and artist, censorship goes against everything I believe in. Well guess what? I’m a U.S. citizen, and I have a Constitutional right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Therefore, I will continue to write the stories I wish to write, and if the sensitivity thought police don’t like it then they can go straight to Hell.

Gayle Martin