Years ago, I just put my head down and wrote like a motherfucker.
Then I blogged.
Then I started cross-posting my blogging content on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Then I used a WordPress plug-in to automate that laborious task.
Then I used Twitterfeed to cross-promote other people’s work.
I now use ManageFlitter to organize my Twitter account. I can categorize accounts that I’ll always follow even if they don’t follow me. I can block accounts that suck, too.
I purchased a license for Sprout Social to auto-post promotional information about my long-form content on other websites, live events, webinars, and my book.
I also jumped on the Buffer bandwagon to share great articles that I read online. I let Buffer figure out when to share those posts for greater visibility.
I use Instagram and just started using the Crowdfire app to help me to manage accounts and unfollow accounts that don’t follow me. It’s also good for blocking creepers.
I downloaded Freedom to limit my time online on my computer when I need to write. I use RescueTime to monitor my productive and unproductive time on my laptop, and I use Moment to now track my time on my phone.
You know what? I spend approximately four hours a day online. Not bad for a woman who seems wholly immersed in the social web. About 80% of my time is considered “unproductive,” but imagine how much more time I would spend if my social media presence weren’t automated.
Not bad.
Anyway, this is how the sausage is made. It used to be more difficult to be social, but social media automation has made me more human and less confined to my desk all day long.
But I don’t owe anyone an explanation of how I use my time or how and when I connect with people. Neither do you. Every judgy moment spent rationalizing these behaviors — or criticizing someone else for being too social or anti-social — is a moment that could have spent having fun.
I think most of us miss having fun online, honestly. Well, I do. So that’s been my goal, as of late. Less introspection about the impact and meaning of social media. Fuck that, you know? More cat photos and articles about feminism and politics. And more writing like a motherfucker, of course.
That’s what matters most in my life.