Note 351 – Writing or social media obsessions

As a writer you may need constant recognition that what you write is being read by others and they like it.  This might involve constantly checking for ‘comments’, ‘likes’ or just checking how many ‘hits’ a post has had every day.  Alternatively you could be waiting for an email, a letter, a competition entry, or just to see if your book idea has been accepted. 

Stats might be the last thing you check before going to bed and the first thing you check when you awake.  This can become a habit or an obsession and where does it end?  I am a little guilty of checking emails and blog stats throughout the day, and I used to be the same with Twitter.  My focus just changed over the year which mainly depended on where I was directing the most effort.  Here are a few thoughts…

Blog

WordPress provides a good tool for monitoring activity on your blog and managing comments.  Having a daily writing blog means that I check my stats, comments and emails EVERY DAY and have done so for 351 days now (from both the iPhone and the computer).  Although it’s starting to feel like an obsession, it’s also necessary for me to keep track of things.  A move in the right direction might be for me to check things less often in the day!.

Twitter

When I first registered with Twitter, I used to check for new followers every day and have a look through the accounts of those who follow me to see if I’d like to follow them back.  Now I hardly look at it, as my focus is on my blog.  It was difficult, however, to try to keep up with the ‘tweets’ that flow in by the second.  I still post short, inspirational snippets now and again in addition to my daily writing tips. 

As soon as I started blogging daily, I left Twitter to fend for itself.  This is because my blogs automatically post to Twitter.  I might log in weekly to potentially follow those who have followed me.

Facebook

I definitely have no Facebook obsessions; however, I am on there slighly more than Twitter mainly because I can’t seem to get the automatic post function to work in WordPress (even though I have queried it with WordPress).  So, I visit my page once a day to link a post to my blog.  Whilst I am there I check out who has ‘read’, ‘liked’ or ‘commented’ on anything.  I feel I have this particular social media activity under control.

Tips to stop the obsessions

If you find yourself constantly checking for comments, emails, looking at stats, etc., have a think about how you could make better use of your time.  I think it helps to always have something new and exciting as a next step on your agenda or plan.  This may encourage you to stop the constant focusing on checking, waiting and wondering.  Maybe check your blog stats and emails once a day and not obsessively every hour, and don’t refresh constantly!

Do you have any writing or social media obsessions?

Until tomorrow…

Sandra
www.sandramadeira.com
15 days of My Writing Challenge to go…