Fans, Friends, and Facebook: Seeking Opinions

Continuing this month’s theme of the need to defrag, I’d like to get other writers’ thoughts on how you handle Facebook. Do you use Facebook as part of your “writing life,” and, if so, how? If not, why not? Fan page? Profile page only? Do you use lists to notify selected friends about blog posts? Post them to everyone? Or as public posts?

Facebook logo
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I don’t like feeling schizophrenic about my identity, and I admit that Facebook sometimes makes me feel that way. Is “Lisa Rivero, Writer” any different from just “Lisa Rivero”?

As usual, Jane Friedman has an excellent post about writers on Facebook. Her “What to avoid on Facebook” list, in particular, is a must-read.

So, here’s my question: Is there any downside to closing my Facebook Fan page (asking those folks, many of whom are already regular Facebook friends, to be friends on my profile page if they want to continue to receive blog updates) and using my profile page exclusively—with lists created so as not to spam the world with self-promotion and to reserve more personal statuses for close friends?

9 thoughts on “Fans, Friends, and Facebook: Seeking Opinions”

  1. I have both, the author page and the personal page. They seem redundant because I have ‘friends’ on the personal page who are writers. Some of them ‘Like’ my author page, but not all. My posts show up on both pages. Consequently, I rarely post any type of conversation on my author page…no one seems to notice when I do. I talk to authors and ‘real’ friends on my personal page. I hesitate to get rid of my author page though I don’t know why I shouldn’t. Sorry Lisa, I don’t really have an answer for you. i’m just as confused about it.

  2. I use my FB “friends” primarily for personal stuff. Really would any writer want to know what kind of cupcakes I snagged at the cupcake truck last Saturday? I have a fan page, because I wanted to snag the name. I use it to post writing links and ask random questions. I get more interaction through Twitter with other writers than I do on FB. I don’t feed my blog to the FB page. I need to read the link you have from Jane Friedman.

    • Stacy, thank you! I’m eager to hear how other writers handle all the options. I know what you mean about pinning down the name. I wonder if I could just make the fan page private for awhile, so I can use it later if I want to.

      I know that some of my friends on FB have said they like getting blog updates (not just from me, but from others they know, too), as do I, while others find them annoying. Ah, decisions, decisions!

  3. Lisa, I only have the one page. Mostly, I post about writing. Occasionally, I mention other things. I’ve thought about the Fan page, but I hold fast to what Jane Friedman said in her link, that unless I’m getting several friend requests a day, then I probably don’t need one yet.

    Plus, there’s the time factor. I doubt I could handle both a personal and a fan page. I’m on Google+, as you know, but I’m barely there.

    The pressure…. 🙂

  4. Hi Lisa! I’m glad you brought this up: I’ve been struggling with deciding what to do with Facebook. Right now I only use Facebook for personal friends and a few close writing friends (most of whom I see in real-life as well as online). I’ve seen other writing colleagues have really good results using Facebook (everyone seems to be on Facebook, so the market is there), but I’ve yet to reconcile myself to using it for writing promotion.

    I don’t think there’s a huge downfall to closing your fan page if most of your page followers are already friends. I’ll look forward to hearing what you do decide – like Marcia, I’m just confused about what to do with Facebook.

    • Carrie, thanks very much! I am still undecided. Like you, I know several writing friends who do have success with posting about their writing on their Facebook profile. I wonder if it matters when they began with Facebook, and whether the friends they have there expect that they will use it in part to let people know about their writing. I didn’t start blogging until I’d been on Facebook for awhile, and I know that some of my FB friends (not all, but some) would see it as blatant and unwanted self-promotion.

      I’m in a holding pattern for now, I guess…

  5. I’ve tied my WP blog to my facebook page. I haven’t had many hits but then I’m quite discerning about who I accept as “friends” on there.

    The way I see it is that it is a reminder to my friends that I have a blog, people who may not normally think to look at it. Unfortunately they comment on the Facebook link rather than going to the blog and commenting there.

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