For reasons that are baffling this essay just popped into my feed again and it was so interesting to read this a year later. Although admittedly I didn’t know it was almost a year later until I saw the line about Taylor albums and I thought -Did I miss something?! And then panicked. And then checked the date.
I’m wondering if this still holds. Is insta worth the time-can beauty be found there? Does it make sense to show up on our terms if only to have a one woman protest? My sense is it does but it’s more about our individual capacity at the moment.
I enjoyed this essay and yes the platform is very helpful for writers. As an aspiring writer I have navigated the whole social media world with trepidation, excitement and anxiety. I have found engaging online with followers easy, fun and exhausting. I have struggled with the need to keep content going and keep myself relevant. I have a small group of readers and followers who possibly find me and my work interesting and worth supporting. But its so hard. It is so exhausting having to share snippets of my life to the world. Why does anyone care how I like my coffee or what I am reading ? Writing for my readers seems easier to deal with than platform building which I have discovered I am not hopeless at! But I hate the time I spend on it and hate having to follow others and keep engaging. I have taken a break from Instagram and I am on 3 weeks now. I pop in once in a while to wish a friend, follow up with my children's friends from college and other young people but more than that I am happy to be off. One book that helped me with the process is -Social Sanity in the Insta World - its from TGC and it works through different personality types and the way they engage with social media. I suppose if you have an addictive personality in general to anything - good stuff like healthy eating, working out, ice cream or chocolate - it manifests itself in other areas as well and perhaps social media is one of them? I dont know if I will ever delete my account but for now I have removed it from all devices and it has made me happier:) so I can engage with you here LOL. Thank you for writing essays which make all of us think!! grateful for you!
As of late, I’ve been reading through “The Brain and The Spirit: Unlocking the Transformative Potential of the Story of Christ” by Gina St. David…all about the neuroscience of spirituality. For anyone who might be interested in that kind of content it’s a marvelous and insightful read.
Thanks for being so specific about the work it takes to build a “platform” and for being frank about the usefulness of that platform to a writer 🥲 sending this to all the working writers I know.
I’m so thankful for this post. I feel like so many writers are sort of picking sides and decrying those who disagree or stick with “evil Instagram.” I’ve never tried to build a platform on IG—that just wasn’t my intent when I started it. Since writing a manuscript that I’m about to start shopping, I’ve wondered if this will hurt me because I sure don’t have great numbers. But so far I’ve found what you’ve said here to be true. I really appreciate your thoughtful post.
Thank you! If you've been around any length of time you know I'm a Biiiiiiiggggggg fan of whatever the opposite of legalism is 😂 I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of numbers on Instagram for your book. Go where your readers are and hang out there =)
I know this isn't in your preferred genres at *all*, but--I think you might like Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson. I haven't finished it, but there's some lovely meta commentary on art, and the heroine is very relatable for women from religious contexts where a high level of socially demanded performance was the metric of their worth.
So much agree on Instagram. All social media in general, honestly. Even the rules don't seem to be working, so we might as well have fun.
Mary Roblyn's piece BROKE me. So so good.
And nope, even if though did occasionally listen to something besides TTPD this weekend, it was pretty much the only thing we talked about. All the thoughts need to go somewhere, so I'm slowly working on an essay about it that may or may not quote The Understory. ;D
I think the rules, at least the rules for social media, are just always changing and it's better to have fun and not build your whole life around it. It doesn't make a good trellis upon which to grow.
Goodness, this was great Lore. I wasn't even trying to "build a platform" on Instagram but simply used it as a billboard for the weekly newsletter. Honest to goodness, there were people there who followed and liked those pictures for yearrrssss and never subscribed to the only thing I was there to share. lol Like totally clueless, I just don't get it. hahaha Appreciative of your perspective and wisdom a whole lot, even if I've concluded being on there isn't worth it to me.
I love that you say, "isn't worth it to me." It's so good for us to be self-aware of what IS and ISN'T worth it to us as individuals and not just broad brush whole swaths of people who use particular platforms. All of us use them differently and just because one person has an issue for whatever reason with one and can't use it personally, doesn't mean another can't find a lot of joy and life there =)
Okay, I have an update on a book recommendation. I just started reading Above the Salt by Katherine Vaz. Granted, I am only on page 11, but my breath has been taken more times than that by the exquisite lyrical prose. It feels like the best thing since The Covenant of Water for me.
It just so happened that it was on the Lucky Day shelf (new books checked out for only two weeks) at the library. I only meant to stop there to make use of the powder room, lol.
This was encouragement and wisdom and I loved it.
For reasons that are baffling this essay just popped into my feed again and it was so interesting to read this a year later. Although admittedly I didn’t know it was almost a year later until I saw the line about Taylor albums and I thought -Did I miss something?! And then panicked. And then checked the date.
I’m wondering if this still holds. Is insta worth the time-can beauty be found there? Does it make sense to show up on our terms if only to have a one woman protest? My sense is it does but it’s more about our individual capacity at the moment.
Footnote 4! yes and amen! No one clicks to read anything :( wonder if the percentage of people reading have come down these days!
I enjoyed this essay and yes the platform is very helpful for writers. As an aspiring writer I have navigated the whole social media world with trepidation, excitement and anxiety. I have found engaging online with followers easy, fun and exhausting. I have struggled with the need to keep content going and keep myself relevant. I have a small group of readers and followers who possibly find me and my work interesting and worth supporting. But its so hard. It is so exhausting having to share snippets of my life to the world. Why does anyone care how I like my coffee or what I am reading ? Writing for my readers seems easier to deal with than platform building which I have discovered I am not hopeless at! But I hate the time I spend on it and hate having to follow others and keep engaging. I have taken a break from Instagram and I am on 3 weeks now. I pop in once in a while to wish a friend, follow up with my children's friends from college and other young people but more than that I am happy to be off. One book that helped me with the process is -Social Sanity in the Insta World - its from TGC and it works through different personality types and the way they engage with social media. I suppose if you have an addictive personality in general to anything - good stuff like healthy eating, working out, ice cream or chocolate - it manifests itself in other areas as well and perhaps social media is one of them? I dont know if I will ever delete my account but for now I have removed it from all devices and it has made me happier:) so I can engage with you here LOL. Thank you for writing essays which make all of us think!! grateful for you!
As of late, I’ve been reading through “The Brain and The Spirit: Unlocking the Transformative Potential of the Story of Christ” by Gina St. David…all about the neuroscience of spirituality. For anyone who might be interested in that kind of content it’s a marvelous and insightful read.
Thanks for being so specific about the work it takes to build a “platform” and for being frank about the usefulness of that platform to a writer 🥲 sending this to all the working writers I know.
I’m so thankful for this post. I feel like so many writers are sort of picking sides and decrying those who disagree or stick with “evil Instagram.” I’ve never tried to build a platform on IG—that just wasn’t my intent when I started it. Since writing a manuscript that I’m about to start shopping, I’ve wondered if this will hurt me because I sure don’t have great numbers. But so far I’ve found what you’ve said here to be true. I really appreciate your thoughtful post.
Thank you! If you've been around any length of time you know I'm a Biiiiiiiggggggg fan of whatever the opposite of legalism is 😂 I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of numbers on Instagram for your book. Go where your readers are and hang out there =)
That fourth footnote is gold, my friend.
I'm glad you liked it =) All true, every word!
reading recommendations:
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Ooooh, I love both of those =)
what about Leif Enger? Have you read him?
I know this isn't in your preferred genres at *all*, but--I think you might like Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson. I haven't finished it, but there's some lovely meta commentary on art, and the heroine is very relatable for women from religious contexts where a high level of socially demanded performance was the metric of their worth.
I have literally never heard of it! Thanks for mentioning it =)
It only came out within the last year :)
So much agree on Instagram. All social media in general, honestly. Even the rules don't seem to be working, so we might as well have fun.
Mary Roblyn's piece BROKE me. So so good.
And nope, even if though did occasionally listen to something besides TTPD this weekend, it was pretty much the only thing we talked about. All the thoughts need to go somewhere, so I'm slowly working on an essay about it that may or may not quote The Understory. ;D
I think the rules, at least the rules for social media, are just always changing and it's better to have fun and not build your whole life around it. It doesn't make a good trellis upon which to grow.
Ooooh, I want to read your essay =)
Goodness, this was great Lore. I wasn't even trying to "build a platform" on Instagram but simply used it as a billboard for the weekly newsletter. Honest to goodness, there were people there who followed and liked those pictures for yearrrssss and never subscribed to the only thing I was there to share. lol Like totally clueless, I just don't get it. hahaha Appreciative of your perspective and wisdom a whole lot, even if I've concluded being on there isn't worth it to me.
I love that you say, "isn't worth it to me." It's so good for us to be self-aware of what IS and ISN'T worth it to us as individuals and not just broad brush whole swaths of people who use particular platforms. All of us use them differently and just because one person has an issue for whatever reason with one and can't use it personally, doesn't mean another can't find a lot of joy and life there =)
Okay, I have an update on a book recommendation. I just started reading Above the Salt by Katherine Vaz. Granted, I am only on page 11, but my breath has been taken more times than that by the exquisite lyrical prose. It feels like the best thing since The Covenant of Water for me.
Ooooh, adding it to the list now!
It just so happened that it was on the Lucky Day shelf (new books checked out for only two weeks) at the library. I only meant to stop there to make use of the powder room, lol.
Yesssss. Seth Godin’s “smallest viable market”: you don’t need a zillion followers, you need a small amount of raving fans.
I think of Seth Godin all the time, re: platform. My raving fans will spread the word, I hope. *crosses every finger and toe*
Yep.
I just finished Trust by Hernan Diaz and am reading Covenant of Water right now. Both are excellent!
I read Trust last year and lots of people are recommending Covenant of Water, so i'll get it on my list!
Have you read Demon Copperhead or Covenant of Water? I lead a book club and both of these books were loved by all, and that is extremely rare.
Demon Copperhead was my best book of 2023! I haven't read Covenant of Water yet, but I loved Cutting for Stone.