# The pain of Facebook



## skip.knox (Jan 23, 2020)

I've bailed out of one FB group. Am on the verge of bailing out of others, mainly due to the level of discourse there. I have to give credit where it is due, however. FB has shown me there is in fact such a thing as a stupid question. 

I know most of the questions are sincere, but it is really, really, no seriously really difficult not to be snide. So very snide it would cause whiplash. Yeesh.


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## FifthView (Jan 23, 2020)

I quit FB years ago. Mostly, I realized I spent way, way, way too much time on FB. It was soul-killing. So I quit.


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## skip.knox (Jan 23, 2020)

But it's also an important platform for reaching an audience. I don't spend all that much time on it, so that aspect doesn't bother me. But there's miles of difference between discourse there and discourse here!


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## Ned Marcus (Jan 23, 2020)

skip.knox said:


> I've bailed out of one FB group.




Was it a craft or book marketing group? 

I'm a member of several of the latter. They sometimes have stupid questions, but more good ones, luckily. Or perhaps I have high tolerance after having asked many stupid things myself.


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## Ned Marcus (Jan 23, 2020)

Or a readers' group? Some of threads I've seen of those have increased my scrolling speed enormously.


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## skip.knox (Jan 24, 2020)

The one that pushed me over the edge was a marketing one, but there are writer and reader ones. I stretched out a few months ago to sample those communities. Nothing I've seen has been as valuable as the three forums I hang out in, this one foremost. 

At the same time, I've made a few connections in those groups, and each connection is worth a thousand head slaps. Plus, a couple of them have a pretty good round of promos, snippets, etc. so I hang in there.


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## Ned Marcus (Jan 24, 2020)

I think this one, The Indie Author Mindset, is good. But I can't guarantee 0% stupid questions


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## Prince of Spires (Jan 24, 2020)

skip.knox said:


> FB has shown me there is in fact such a thing as a stupid question


I can't help but be very curious now.... 

I'm often surprised by how difficult people find it to type something in to Google.


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## Insolent Lad (Jan 24, 2020)

I've never stayed long in any writing-oriented group there. I get along much better in the surfer and folk music ones.


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## Devor (Jan 24, 2020)

I mentioned that there was one I used to like in another thread. I went and found it:

10 Minute Novelists Group

It's based on a book I didn't read.  But I found it pretty solid.  I'm not in it anymore. I skipped out of all my groups because they clogged my newsfeed on the PC, but I'm rethinking it now that I'm using a smartphone.


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## skip.knox (Jan 24, 2020)

Ned Marcus said:


> I think this one, The Indie Author Mindset, is good. But I can't guarantee 0% stupid questions


Joined today. We'll see, he said skeptically, adverbially.


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## skip.knox (Jan 24, 2020)

Prince of Spires said:


> I can't help but be very curious now....
> 
> I'm often surprised by how difficult people find it to type something in to Google.


Well, that's one of my pet peeves. People will ask things like "I'm just starting out and I want to know how to set up a newsletter. Any ideas?" or, and neither I nor Dave Barry am making this up, "How do I write fantasy?"
Once or twice, I can shudder and shrug, but it's a steady flow.


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## Demesnedenoir (Jan 24, 2020)

I check out Epic Fantasy Fanatics a couple times a week, it’s headed up by Sean Hinn and some other authors, and I stumbled onto it when they started their Readers Choice Awards... it’s mostly just a shoot the shit about books group with memes and other goofy stuff, and they keep most book promo out or it would devolve into an ad platform. And Eve won their contest, so they must be good, heh heh. Groups for writing and marketing? I’ve never really seen anything that useful in one.


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## Svrtnsse (Jan 24, 2020)

I would recommend SciFi Roundtable as a great place to check out. There are regularly good discussions, and it's small enough to have a sense of community that I don't see in the same way in larger groups. The moderators are also pretty good at keeping people in line.


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## ThinkerX (Jan 24, 2020)

For me, Facebook is a place to read the news (haven't had television reception years and don't miss it) and keep tabs on the younger relatives, a few of whom dang near live on Facebook and related sites.  As of late, I've added a couple friends from faraway lands, which makes for different perspectives. 
I also get adds for multiple new books each day, some worth checking out, which makes me think that may be a good advertising venue.


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## skip.knox (Jan 24, 2020)

WRT family, yes absolutely. I have a big family on my wife's side and FB is their primary means of communication, along with texting. Groups, otoh, are closer to following Sturgeon's Law.


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## ThinkerX (Jan 24, 2020)

skip.knox said:


> WRT family, yes absolutely. I have a big family on my wife's side and FB is their primary means of communication, along with texting. Groups, otoh, are closer to following Sturgeon's Law.


I belong to several Facebook Groups: a couple of national/international general ones, one dedicated to religious/atheist debate, a specialty group or two, and a couple aimed at 'local events' for want of a better term.  None specifically dedicated to writing.   Most forbid certain categories of topics (usually politics)  A couple of them can get 'racy' or acrimonious, but not too terrible, by and large.


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## Ned Marcus (Jan 25, 2020)

skip.knox said:


> "How do I write fantasy?"




Classic


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## A. E. Lowan (Jan 26, 2020)

I'm a member of a handful of FB groups, mostly dedicated to writing, mostly carefully curated to minimize drama, which I appreciate. There are writers of all ages and skill levels, much like we have here on Scribes. I've always believed that there is no such thing as a stupid question, but there is such a thing as willful ignorance. Those people are too stupid to live, in my opinion. Fortunately, I don't run across too many of them.


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## skip.knox (Jan 26, 2020)

I don't run across too many either, but it's sure a challenge not to run _over_ them.


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## A. E. Lowan (Jan 26, 2020)

skip.knox said:


> I don't run across too many either, but it's sure a challenge not to run _over_ them.


I almost spit my drink. 

I just, like 20 minutes ago, joined a group called 20 books to 50k. We'll see if the genial streak continues. lol


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## pmmg (Jan 26, 2020)

I have a facebook but it is of no use to me.  I find it is good place to find all the off putting things your online friends might say about politics, which mostly I find unpersuasive. I find the lack of being able adopt the filters that others are looking through curious and disappointing.  The group function of facebook has never appeared as clean to me is a regular forum group. So... so far at least, its not for me.


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## pmmg (Jan 26, 2020)

Anyway... facebook aside and fantasy back on, how does one write fantasy?


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## skip.knox (Jan 26, 2020)

One writes fantasy by starting at the beginning, muddling along for a bit until arriving at the end.

Writing fantasy *well* is left as an exercise for the student.


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## Svrtnsse (Jan 27, 2020)

Add swords.


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## A. E. Lowan (Jan 28, 2020)

And dragons. It's not a proper tale without dragons.


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## MrNybble (Jan 28, 2020)

Magic is almost required for fantasy.


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## skip.knox (Jan 28, 2020)

Still another reason to prefer forums over social media:  no placards.

I am very much at the end of my patience with that one. It does not make the point more persuasive. Yes, it does get your post noticed, but it's becoming like one of those loud parties where everyone keeps having to shout ever more loudly just to make themselves heard.


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## MrNybble (Jan 28, 2020)

Social media is all about gaining followers and having the instant satisfaction of people acknowledging your comments seconds after posting. Doesn't matter what is talked about as long as it gets noticed. Think I can make a magic based social media for a fantasy story and see how bad it gets. Now to see if the gods have access to this new medium.


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