Where do we go from here?

Social media in the multiverse

Twitter seems to be in its death throes. As authors, we thrive on sharing our thoughts on text form. We're not all whizzes behind or in front of a camera, which all but rules out the likes of tik tok and Instagram. Besides, my daily pictures and videos would be of me sat behind a computer screen, not exactly the stuff of legend! But so many of us rely on Twitter to connect with other authors, potential readers, to hear about training and events, see calls for submissions and competitions. It's also helpful to hear about issues affecting other writers, whether it's presses to be wary of, closures of imprints, or widespread industrial action in adjacent industries. In short, it's networking without having to travel and connect in the meatspace of life. It's a shame that it's being wrecked so methodically.

Photo by Chris J. Davis on Unsplash

I've been exploring alternatives, as many have. Mastodon, as a decentralised service, suffers from the lack of reliability of individual 'instances'. In other words, because anyone can set up a server, they can also close that server or delete your account at a whim. If you're techy enough, you could set up your own - at a cost. Perhaps more importantly for authors is that the decentralised nature of Mastodon makes it harder to find those potential readers and colleagues. I've not really ventured further than clicking the odd link, but engagement seems pretty low from what I've seen.

So I looked instead to bluesky. I finally secured an invite from an old colleague and friend, and whilst the interface feels vaguely similar, it still has many flaws. There's no ability to have anything in a private space - no DMs here. And fundamentally it is a concern that the guy who set up this sunny space is the same guy who demolished Twitter and sold it off. And it's frankly daunting to begin again, trying to find quality accounts to follow and people to connect with. There's another issue here, too - because it's invite only, the user base is comparatively miniscule, and there's no guarantee that tweeps will migrate in this direction.

And finally, Zuckerberg has thrown his hat into the ring with the data privacy mess that is the delightfully named Threads. I can only assume that it will be a homage to the 1984 post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland movie of the same name. From the little I understand, a lot of people have signed up, but very few are using it.

Photo by Martijn Baudoin on Unsplash

All in all, it's a mess. The user base of Twitter is fragmenting, going off in different directions, to different universes with different issues. One of the appeals of substack, for me, is that I control my own data to a much greater extent. But I miss the back and forth of other social media platforms - whilst notes is trying to bridge that gap, it's a pretty slow take up. I'm always delighted to read comments, and to have other substacks drop into my inbox - but I do miss the instantaneous communication that social media offers.

In the end, authors will survive. Readers will find us - somehow! And I'm sure I'll find my way to in-person events, perhaps sooner than I would otherwise, if only I can find a reliable way of finding out about them!