“Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character.”
~~Horace Greeley
These days it’s almost impossible not to compete on some level. Whether or not we consider ourselves competitive or not, the world seems bound and determined to rate us in one way or another. It’s like that in many areas in life and it certainly exists for the writers out there. Maybe we set ourselves up for this the moment we set foot into social media arena and yet……
While we might not openly admit to this competitiveness, I’m here to say it exists as sure as I’m sitting here writing this post. Granted, we might not necessarily compete against anyone in particular, sometimes the competition is self-induced, a means of striving for more and more. More what you might ask? More blog followers, more comments in our comment section, more likes on Facebook, more followers on Twitter…And the more, more, more continues until we start to lose the enjoyment these very same social media sites once provided us with.
I recently noticed a new option on my Facebook author page. This is kind of what prompted this post in the first place. Here’s what it says on my administration page:
“New! Pages to watch. Track the progress on any Pages you want to watch. You’ll see how many likes they get so you can keep up.”
This darn near knocked my socks off when I saw it. Really? Now they want us to try and “keep up” with the popularity of other pages? Kind of feels like we’re back in elementary school here. Now, I really shouldn’t knock Facebook. I do like it. It’s fun and allows me to keep up with what my friends and family are doing. There are plenty of benefits to it but, as with anything out there, it comes with a certain amount of criticism. And we do love to criticize in one way or another. I’m sure many of us could list our complaints if we wanted to be picky.
I’ll admit, it feels good to have that validation whenever we update a status or publish a blog post, but we also run the risk of becoming too involved, too needy, too wanting of other people’s opinions and comments, instead of allowing things to unfold naturally. What will be will be. There’s no fancy way of putting it so far as I’m concerned. I’m not ready to jump through hoops in order to gain popularity. Speaking of popularity, I just received a notification the other day stating that my Klout score just went up. Do I care? No. Should I? Maybe. Maybe not.
Seriously, I like my author page, but as for tracking the progress of other pages I’m just not interested in turning it into a competition. I feel as though I spend as much time on social media as I dare, maybe more than I should at times. If I don’t actually write then the author page seems a bit pointless. Not to mention I have people already asking when the next book is coming.
What are your thoughts on social media? Do you feel the competition in the air whenever you venture out there? Do you have a Facebook page or do you think they’re pointless?
Laura Best 
angela wilson
/ November 25, 2013I hate it when some people post on Facebook, almost on a daily basis, that they are cranky, mad, bored or think that life sucks. I mean, who wants to read this crap? It’s depressing and it makes the person seem boring. Who wants to hang out with someone like that?
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Laura Best
/ November 25, 2013LOL! yes, some folks do like to share their feelings with others perhaps more often than they should. They use Facebook for venting. I try to ignore those posts. 🙂
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Crowing Crone Joss
/ November 25, 2013I saw that notice too, yesterday I think. and wondered “why would I care about likes someone has and why would I want to keep up”? marketers are just plain weird!
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Laura Best
/ November 25, 2013Exactly! It wasn’t even on my radar until I say that notice. I just don’t care for that kind of competition.
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SuziCate
/ November 25, 2013I ignore the crap I get about the likes on my page…I mean really! They send info on how to get more likes etc…I’m not interested in competing for anything on FB; only interested in connecting.
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Laura Best
/ November 25, 2013That’s how I feel, Susan. Not into that other stuff at all.
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libbyboss
/ November 25, 2013I’ve tried to keep my facebook involvement to a minimum… and friend list limited to people I actually know!! I love that I can see photos from distant family so easily, but worry that being on social media marks me as somehow ‘needy’ ? I try to check it only twice a day, morning and night… Ha! ….oh yes, and I try not to update my status unless there is something very important happening. There,.. as you can read, I have tremendous guilt about using social media. Is it a stigma? If I ‘like’ a large number of posts every day, won’t I be branded ‘one of those people’? The competitive aspect that you mention just curls my toes, Laura. You are wise not to be drawn into that madness.
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Laura Best
/ November 25, 2013You? “One of those people?” Never, Libby. 🙂
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Diane Tibert
/ November 25, 2013Social media has its place, but I don’t dwell on it. I have a Facebook page, but I don’t often post. When life gets too busy, social networking is the first thing to go. It may be competition out there, but I don’t pay attention. I’m not that competitive. It matters only that I enjoy what I’m doing.
If I do compete it’s usually against me. Can I write more words today than yesterday? Can I post a few blogs this year than last year? Can I get 100 followers in one year? Sometimes when I’m approaching a milestone, I pay attention to the stats. For example, when I had 98 followers, I watched to see when number 100 came on board.
I’ll ignore the challenge from Facebook. I dislike the things Facebook adds. Eventually it will drive me away.
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Laura Best
/ November 25, 2013The challenge really threw me when I saw it. Do people really compete this way? I suppose FB is trying to get people to have sponsored posts, something I’d never do.
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David
/ November 30, 2013Facebook, Twitter – we’ve stayed away from that, especially my three daughters. Their friends, at times, look at them with amazement and wonderment. It’s not to say they don’t read an occasional blog, or two, which they do in a limited fashion. But, they seem to know much of the social media is largely wasted time. In that respect, I’m glad they learned for themselves that there’s more to life than being online or completely wired.
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Laura Best
/ December 3, 2013I’m sure it’s unusual for young people to stay away from social media. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. We’ve become too dependent when it comes to our online activity. I can only imagine what the future will hold in store for some. Your girls should be commended. 🙂
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