Is Social Media a Must for Writers?
A brief look into the world of social media.
We’ve all heard the voice within our minds telling us, “You must have a strong presence on social media if you are going to connect with your audience”. It is no secret that social media has become the “townsquare” of the interwebs where everything from politics, to recipes, and the latest fashion trends are discussed. But, is it truly necessary to follow the crowd?
Volatility and social media outlets go hand-in-hand. Technology, user demographics, legal, and political agendas all contribute to the popularity of social media platforms. According to the Pew Research Center, “YouTube and Facebook are the most-widely used online platforms. Half of U.S. adults say they use Instagram, and smaller shares use sites or apps such as TikTok, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and Snapchat” (Pew Research Center ).
Globally, the number of people on social media is absolutely massive. The website Datareportal states, “Detailed analysis by the team at Kepios shows that there were 5.22 billion social media users around the world at the start of October 2024, equating to 63.8 percent of the total global population” (Kepios). Just looking at these numbers clearly indicates that content creators should want to be where all the action is. With this in mind, social media is a tool for authors, writers, and other content creators to use. Any serious content creator should have their own website, and use social media as a strategy to drive traffic to their site. How one implements this strategy is entirely up to them. Be creative. Create.
Now, here’s why this is so important. The political atmosphere surrounding TikTok within the United States has led to a heated debate pitting national security up against freedom of speech. This recently led to TikTok becoming temporarily unavailable for users in the United States on January 18th,2025. “TikTok told users in the United States late on Saturday it would be "temporarily unavailable" on Sunday when a law banning the app takes effect in the United States” (Reuters ).
Content creators and authors who could not access TikTok, but had their own websites were able to communicate with their audience. Many content creators also took to other social media outlets to engage with their followers. The ban even impacted those outside of the US who enjoy content from creators in America.
Events such as this are reminders for artists who create content to build their brand on their own websites. “You need to have your own corner of the internet, a place where you can build a home, on your own land, with assets you control” (Best, McKenzie and Sethi). Choosing not to use social media is entirely fine. You can still engage your audience in other ways such as guest posting on other sites, hosting your own podcast, book or writing clubs, email lists beginning with family and friends, and many other avenues. Again, be creative. Create. Just make sure you have a central home base where you are the property owner. Keep painting those words & mind how you go!
Go ahead. Help out! How will you approach engaging your audience with or without social media? Your comment below could help someone else.
Works Cited
Best, Chris, Hamish McKenzie and JaiRaj Sethi. Now is the time for creators to build on their own land. 20 January 2025. website. 20 January 2025. <https://on.substack.com/p/now-is-the-time-for-creators-to-build>.
Kepios. DataReportal Global Social Media Statistics. 2025. Website. 20 January 2025. <https://datareportal.com/social-media-users>.
Pew Research Center. Social Media Fact Sheet. 13 November 2024. Website. 20 January 2025. <https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/>.
Reuters. TikTok tells users it will be 'temporarily unavailable' in the US on Sunday. 19 January 2025. Website. 20 January 2025. <https://www.reuters.com/technology/tiktok-tells-users-it-will-be-temporarily-unavailable-us-sunday-2025-01-19/>.
You can buy me a chai latte here:
https://buymeacoffee.com/aaronozni
And check out my website here:
Buy books here:
Historical fiction
Poetry
Wow, this is really a refreshing perspective to everything I've seen for years. I still haven't planned what I'm going to do to create my own community of readers, but this post has helped me see things very clearly. I'll take notes! Thank you very much for sharing! It has really been helpful, thank you!
This was a fantastic article, Aaron! That statistic stating that more than half of the world's population uses social media is so mind boggling to me. I can understand the allure but have found that it exacerbates some unhealthy habits that I would prefer to not have to deal with. That makes it difficult to get your name out there, though. Balancing everything is certainly an interesting concept.