Post-Mortem: Is Social Media Worth It?

Answering the question tormenting me for years

Welcome to this year’s most anticipated, much procrastinated post!

Is Social Media Worth It For Writers In 2024?

Background:

When I started trying to publish a book, the first, second, and twenty-fifth advice I got was “you need a platform.” What is a platform? Well, in the modern world it is social media followers! I had agents decline to speak to me because I didn’t have enough Instagram followers. I love a good challenge, so here’s what I did: 

• At the beginning, in 2018, I had a fun time making some cute, aesthetic IG posts. (It took up about half of my writing time.)

• In 2021, when my New York Times op-ed about Google went viral, I went from 200 to 2,000 Twitter followers immediately. 

• Promoting Acceptance, I outsourced as much as possible, hiring young people to post and  reply to comments (some of that help was incredible, some not so much). I logged serious time myself.

• Over the past three years, I’ve talked about social media at almost every therapy appointment. Should I be on it more? Is my aversion towards it a fear I should conquer or a sign it’s toxic and bad for me? If I really tried, would I be a famous influencer??

• Eventually (with the help of a bot that followed strategic people), I got to nearly 10K Twitter followers (RIP). I’m now at almost 4K IG followers (less than the average high school senior.) 

I’m embarrassed to admit that social media has been one of the biggest sources of stress in my life. It stresses me out more than pitching, more than rejection, more than staring down a blank page. There’s a constant nagging voice wondering if I should be making “content” right now. 

Is Social Media Worth It? 

No.

Well, maybe. For some things. I hope that this breakdown helps you strategically target them.

What is social media good for? 

In my experience, it can be great for: 

• Relationship building. I met some of my best IRL friends on Twitter (RIP)! 

• Creating the perception of sales. According to a power agent, “The perception of sales is just as important as sales.”

• Finding sources for reported stories. (Caveat: you probably need a decent following for this to work.) 

• Getting advice and info (in really specific communities)

• Specific, strategic marketing campaign, like Amanda Montell’s

Cons of social media: 

• 99.99% chance you will not become an influencer. “Influencer” is the #1 most desired job among The Youth. You have a lot of competition. More on this later. 

• Rackets promise you that if you “like” other peoples’ posts, you will trick the algorithm and then get a book deal. 

• May suck your time, destroy your confidence, and totally distract you. 

• It doesn’t actually sell books (usually).

The Most Surprising Things I Learned

• LinkedIn is the best, under-tapped platform in 2024. It’s 10x more valuable than an IG post for me, because the people who run podcasts and book speakers are on there. Posts also have a longer shelf life.

• I’ve gained most of my followers from publishing — NOT the other way around.

• “Let me re-introduce myself” posts do REALLY well. Who knew?

• Duh but… content that gives value to readers leads to organic growth.

Example of a “useful” post.

The Most Important Question: Do you like social media? 

Me? I hate it. Opening Instagram instantly ruins my day. For me, social media makes writing impossible. I hate nothing more than seeing other people succeed. (Caveat: I love seeing friends succeed. Awful college rivals? I wish them a lifetime of D-s.)

I do not find joy in self-expression. I don’t like looking at pictures of myself. Being on my phone cheapens my life. I prefer to have it turned off, far away, or better yet, at home.  

Through my social media self-torture, I discovered how much I value presence. Our attention to the people around us and to our work is the most important resource we have. It’s the one thing we have as humans that machines can never replace. Some people can tap into this while creating content. For the most part, I can’t.

It doesn’t matter to me how successful I could be if I was someone else who enjoyed this stuff. If you paid me a million dollars a year to post on IG Stories once a day, I would say no. I would go back to engineering or do almost anything else. I need a really, really good reason to be online. Boosting my own profile, especially with such mixed outcomes, does not meet that bar.

Action Steps

Will I be promoting my next book/article/project on social media? Yes. Will I be posting this newsletter? Yes. But here’s the steps I’m taking to protect myself: 

1. Using a third-party service to post so I never need to go on the apps. (You can post directly from Canva!) 

2. Outsourcing account management to a personal assistant (triaging DMs, replying to comments, etc). Is it worth it financially to outsource? Maybe not. But I find this stressful and I have the means to pay someone, so I will! 

3. Spending my digital time building community. This means emailing people whose work I admire, hosting zoom coworking sessions, and spending time in spaces where I can make personal connections (There are some GREAT Facebook groups!) It almost means investing in this 

4. When I do have another book or major project, being super strategic about deciding if an online campaign is worth it, and if so, designing one with intention that creates value for my audience.

5. Making more Reels/videos or whatever it is at that moment that works.

A Better Way to Build Your ~~Platform~~

I’m thrilled to be opening up this newsletter to guest writers. You can fill out the dead-simply form here: bit.ly/PitchPostMortem. It’s like “guest blogs” back in the day: I’ll introduce you to your audience along with links to your work and projects. I hope that you submit! 

Recommendations:

• War Words play - if you’re in NYC, my famous friends are in this very cool play, told in the words of veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It closes SUNDAY so hurry and see it before it closes! Tickets.

• @shabazsays, aka Mr. “I’m Rich, You’re Poor.” After dunking on social media for 500 words, I LOVE THIS CREATOR!! His voice over videos of wealth porn keep me in the loop about trends and kill me with laughter.

• “Shit Days.” I discovered the author Amy Stewart through her newsletter. Girl Waits With Gun is an incredible gift for a reader and I loved her recent suggestion to relegate all your awful errands to a “shit day.” 

• “Pitch Perfect” Notion Tracking System. I recently upgraded my pitch tracking spreadsheet to this high-tech system. It has helped me place 1 piece, which is 1 piece more than I had placed this half of the year. If you need a change, it’s been well worth the $34. ($5 off with the code FRIENDOFAFRIEND.)  

• Trendy Danish rain pants. Do you need a holiday gift that costs $40 to ship, is only available in Small or X-Small, and will not arrive in time? Then I have the PERFECT pants for you. I bought these since I’m always biking in the rain. They keep me dry AND I look like a Berlin clubber. Perfect with these $33 gothy rain boots.

Thoughts?

How do YOU feel about social media? Has it been worth it for you as a writer, parent, or human being?? Next month, I will report back with advice from real-life influencers. The answers are JUICY!

‘Til next time!

xoxo

Emi