Hey all! So this is something I've been thinking about for awhile and I've briefly played with the idea here and there. Effective today, I'm going to be taking a break from social media. This includes my personal facebook as well as my author profile account, twitter, instagram, snapchat, TikTok as well as any other social media sites.
My first reason is privacy. Since the birth of my toddler (who I'm not playing pronoun games or anything, I'm just trying to be as private, putting as little information out about them as I can on the internet because you never know who is reading) I've felt increasingly aware of information I'm putting out on the net. Should I come back to these platforms, there won't be any information about them on the web until they are of age and choose to do so.
Second reason is mental health related. Last year I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Order. This is something I struggle with daily. The division in the country, which is pervasive online has a huge effect on my thoughts and feelings. I have always tried my best to be a positive person. In the past couple years, I got sucked into the partisan politics game and it's something I deeply regret.
It's funny how similar both sides of the political parties in the United States are. Both view the other side as evil. Both make not only their politicians, but bafflingly their voters, people that are their friends and family members, into the "other". I'm someone who tries to keep an open mind as possible, wanting to look and receive as much information as I can. So before this era of division, I tried my best to look at multiple sources. Now, it all sort of disgusts me. Sadly, as much as one tries to shove politics out of their view, it's nearly impossible to do these days. It's infected nearly every subject, even ones where it has no business being.
Third and lastly, as I continue to try to become an author, I find that using social media effects my writing. Having tried to use it, trying multiple avenues, suggested by writers from Stephen King all the way to fellow indie authors, I find that it has little benefit. I'm not all that focused on how many sales I get, though I'm appreciative of each one and even happier when someone takes time to rate or review one of my stories, at the moment I really just want to focus on the craft of writing and get my work out there. It's possible I may re-open my twitter and use it for marketing purposes, but that's all I'll be doing for the foreseeable future.
In the meantime, this is where I'll be. Before, where if I had an opinion on something I would post it to social media, now if I have something worth sharing about I'll post it here to my blog. I'll also continue to be putting some short stories up. I got derailed by the story I'm currently working on, it went from not having an idea, to a flash fiction idea, to a short story and now at the very least it'll be my next novella. So if you're interested, this is where you can find me!
Thank you,
Doug Lee
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