Yes, I do follow my favourite authors on social media. Which social media networks? It depends.
I follow over 10,000 accounts on Twitter, and most of them are author accounts. Therefore, I’m pretty sure I follow most of my favourite authors on Twitter. But I don’t see all their posts. Twitter, like all social media platforms, has an algorithm that shows each user the posts Twitter thinks we are mostly likely to like or engage with.
I rarely see posts from my favourite authors on Twitter, but I’m not sure if that’s because they’re not active Twitter users, or because they mostly use Twitter for self-promotion.
I follow a lot of author pages on Facebook, but I rarely see posts from them. Instead, the algorithm shows me pictures from friends and posts from the groups I’m active in. I’m also a member of a lot of groups I’m not active in, and I rarely see posts from those groups.
I am part of a few street team groups on Facebook, and I usually see (and respond to) those posts. I’m not sure if Facebook shows me those posts because I do tend to respond, or because I’ve asked to always see notifications from those groups.
Facebook Tip
Authors, ask your group members to go to their notification settings and select “All posts” to increase your chances of showing up on their newsfeed.
This is my favourite social network for following authors. It’s visual, which means it’s quick and easy to move through the feed, especially on a phone (I always check Instagram from my phone rather than my computer).
Oddly enough, Instagram is one social network where I don’t mind a little self-promotion.
I think this is because Instagram is visual, so people tend to post pictures of their book or quotes from their book rather than a more obvious “buy my book!” and link. This lack of spam could also be because Instagram only permits one link (in your bio), and doesn’t have any live links in posts.
Of the big four social networks, Pinterest is the one I use least often. When I do go on Pinterest, I’m usually looking for recipes rather than books. I do follow a bunch of authors on Pinterest, but the algorithm tends to show me pictures of food or clothes, not necessarily posts from the people I follow.
