• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

Battle Of The Platforms

Which Platform Do You Use?

  • Facebook

    Votes: 3 17.6%
  • Twitter

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • Pinterest

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • Instagram

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Wordpress (or other Blog site)

    Votes: 2 11.8%
  • Combination Of The Above and/or Other

    Votes: 10 58.8%

  • Total voters
    17

Addison

Auror
Every writer has their own experience with social media. Yet everyone has their own reasons for avoiding and using certain platforms for marketing and promotion. While several use a combination of platforms, everyone has that one GO TO platform.

But overall, from the words of writers, which one is used most?
Take the poll, post your opinion, think of this as Battle Of The Platforms.
 

Addison

Auror
Personally, I prefer Pinterest. It's a way to connect, explore, research, without being put out to the internet like an Open Season ground. I mean seriously, IMHO, Twitter and Facebook seem like a watering hole/buffet/speed dating for all kinds of killers and creeps.

I can see the benefit of such sites to connect with potential readers, but I feel like once you make such a page on those sites you're opening yourself to be judged and such....like you made a Yelp page for yourself.
 

Insolent Lad

Maester
Everything except Instagram, which doesn't seem very useful for what I do and is too much geared toward mobile users (I don't do mobile). But my venerable blog at Blogger (over a dozen years) is still number one for me.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
I think every writer should have a website that gives information about their work for anyone who might happen to be searching for them. Wordpress is a good platform for making such a website cheaply and easily. As far as social media goes, I don't think I could ever use the twitter. It just doesn't work for me. It confuses me. I'd be terrible at it. (And you should only use social media if you're comfortable with it and enjoy it.) I like the idea of pinterest and even have a pinterest account, but I can't really get into it. It doesn't feel organic to the way I work.
 

LRFrancis

Acolyte
Is it bad to say that I don't use any of them?

I'm not really the social networking type, I'm still editing HTML pages!
 

Addison

Auror
What's confusing is that, in my opinion anyway, the main and highly recommended platforms are virtually the same. Twitter and Facebook, you basically just text on a global scale. Both sites allow the sharing of photos, videos and information. From what I understand when you "Tweet" they're supposed to be short. Like Super-Super-Super Flash Fiction. Facebook can just be Super-Flash Fiction. They're just different names and logos.

Am I wrong? I have no idea, that's just based on what I've heard from people who use it. Not as an author platform, just a social media site.

Another thing is what could someone put on a blog that couldn't be put on Facebook? Or what could they put on Facebook that wouldn't be better-or more thoroughly explained- in a blog?

I think understanding the pro's and con's of each platform could help authors determine which platform(s) would best suit their time and style and preference.
 
I use Wordpress. I like Wordpress because it gives you a fully functional website through which you have a presence on the web accessible to all and through which you can blog, permanently publish work, and sell books.

I found Facebook and Twitter overwhelming and time consuming - too much searching through chit-chat to get to what's relevant.

I haven't tried Pinterest or Instagram.
 

Russ

Istar
The question is what stage of your career are you at, and what do you want to achieve with social media.

Once you answer these two questions you can figure out which platform serves your purpose.

Social media nowadays is a very important part of an author's marketing plan if they are trying to sell books.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
What's confusing is that, in my opinion anyway, the main and highly recommended platforms are virtually the same. Twitter and Facebook, you basically just text on a global scale. Both sites allow the sharing of photos, videos and information. From what I understand when you "Tweet" they're supposed to be short. Like Super-Super-Super Flash Fiction. Facebook can just be Super-Flash Fiction. They're just different names and logos.

Am I wrong?

The difference between Facebook and Twitter is huge. When you post something on Facebook, the expectation is that you're posting for your "Friends" to see, or for the people who "Like" your page. When you post something on Twitter, it's Public, so people use hashtags to make their comments easier to find. There is A LOT of overlap between their functions. But typically, when you go twitter, you pull up a hashtag and read through a few dozen posts by people you've never heard of. When you go facebook, you scroll through the posts of your friends and family and the pages you follow.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
One ought also to take purpose into account. If the purpose is marketing, then certainly FB and Twitter are better than a blog. If, otoh, you want to communicate with your readers, or to create a place to create a reader community, then FB is the best choice. Yes, you can open your blog to comments, but that still doesn't let readers talk among themselves.

On the other other hand, there's an argument to be made for going where your readers are. By that logic, one ought to cover all platforms, using tech tools to cut down on the number of separate posts this requires.

I have little experience with Pinterest and Instagram; what little time I spent there just annoyed me.
 

Aurora

Sage
The only reason I have a Facebook account is for my series. So far, I have a tiny # of likes on my page but it's fun because I get to post stuff for them. Pictures, quotes, teasers, other books I think they might like. I'm uncertain as to where this will lead someday (still very new at it).
 
Top