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What Does Social Media Mean to Me?

Social media has become a big part of my life. And here is how that all went down.

The truth is, I started going online in early September of 1997. It was my 35th birthday, and Princess Diana had just died. I was not a big fan of hers.

This does not mean I was actively hostile or even uninterested. It was more that I was not a royals watcher. And I am still not much of one.

Whatever Harry, Meghan, Will, and Kate are doing is not much more fascinating to me than what the Kardashians are doing.

That is, not much at all. But I digress.

I was shocked to find people (this was on MIRC) who had whatnot to talk about. Now, this was not a great swath of highly intellectual jargon. And I was not making deep, long-lasting friendships.

But I was finding out that there were people out there with something to say. And, I was learning that I, too, had what to say.

Then Came the Early Years

I switched over to the New York Times’s forum, Abuzz, in maybe 1999. There, I found more intellectual discussion but also a lot of silliness and a lot of heart. The friendships were deeper.

In fact, I am still friends with some of the people from that time.

When Abuzz finally folded, Able2know.org was born. This continued the smart talk but it also opened up less intellectual talk.

Facebook

I joined Facebook on October 5, 2008.

And when I first got there, it, too, was a more geeky and almost intellectual place. But that changed.

At some point, Facebook converted to a more egalitarian site much like it is today.

And through it all, social media has been my BFF.

Avinash Kaushik’s Web Analytics 2.0, a Book Review

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Avinash Kaushik’s Web Analytics 2.0, a Book Review

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 18, 2026

Avinash Kaushik’s Web Analytics 2.0 – Yeah, I am a Fan

Web analytics matter!

We Go Way Back

First of all, the first book about this general topic that truly caught my eye and made a huge impression on me was Avinash Kaushik’s Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity.

As a (hopefully) former data person, I can relate to the idea of needing web analytics. E. g., the measurements of how your website does. Why do you want to measure with web analytics? Why, you need to see whether your message is actually going anywhere.

For e-commerce sites, the ultimate test is, naturally, whether you are getting sales. But it can be hard to tell, particularly in a complex organization, whether the website drives sales or offline marketing efforts do. Or both, or neither, for that matter.

And even measuring orders via these channels may not tell the entire story, as customers may see offline advertising and then come online to buy, or they may do the reverse and buy in-store after researching a product online.

Or they could just be coming online to think about it and compare and mull it over and could convert to a paying customer days or weeks or months later. Or never.

What if You are Not in e-Commerce?

And what about sites (such as my own) where nothing is (currently) offered for sale? My ultimate customer becomes, of course, someone to hire me, either permanently or temporarily.

And this would mean as a consultant or a partner or a founder or a director or whatever, but that might be months away. What happens in the meantime?

I might be able to dope some of that out with SEO and seeing where I am in search engine rankings, but just because people can find my site does not mean they are going to convert into hiring me or are even in a position to do so.

My mother (I miss her) could find my site and read it, but she was not going to hire me at any time. Unless I wanted to come and clean the gutters or something.

How do you or I know what is happening?

Enter Web Analytics

It is, admittedly, still an imperfect science. But Mr. Kaushik breaks it down and describes the reports that you need to understand just what is happening with your site. He talks about what is essentially a Trinity strategy: experience, behavior and outcomes.

User Experience

It is not enough to just track sales (outcomes). It is also about user experience and behavior. This is much like in the offline world, if you think about it.

Going to a restaurant is an experience and many of them are packaged as such. But it is a far different experience going to a McDonald’s or a Chik-Fil-A versus a Bertucci’s.

And that experience differs from going to Legal Seafood’s which in turn is different from Blue Ginger (celebrity chef Ming Tsai’s restaurant).

You can intake the same amount of calories. You might even be able to get in the same quality and types of nutrition. And you might enjoy a Big Mac as much as you enjoy one of Chef Tsai’s specialties. Aside from price, what are the differences?

These are Web Analytics for What Sort of User Experience?

When you go to a McDonald’s, a part of the price is wrapped up in the experience. For chain entities in particular, it is about sameness and predictability. If you find yourself in rural Oshkosh and have never been there before, you see the golden arches and you realize what to expect.

For Bertucci’s, even though it costs more and there is table service, there is still a similar vibe. You go there because you can depend upon it to be a certain way.

And Blue Ginger is also dependable in the sense that it is very upscale so you know you are going to be treated a certain way and it will look a particular way and presumably the food will taste in a way that reflects that kind of investment, both by you and by Mr. Tsai and his team.

Enhanced User Experience

Mr. Kaushik shows how understanding analytics can help you to enhance user experience. And this, ultimately, drives user behavior. While conversions (sales) are the ultimate in user behaviors, he does not forget about other valid behaviors.

Hence for the e-commerce site, product research is a valid and valuable behavior. So is printing a map to a brick and mortar store. Or comparing prices.

And for a non-e-commerce venture (again, I will use myself as an example), valid user (reader) behaviors are things like reading my writings and getting to know me.

I put myself out there in order to be known, because that is a piece of the hiring puzzle (why are there interviews — it is not to know about skills, which should already be obvious. It is to see if there is a personality and a culture fit).

Plus it enhances networking. Know me, think I am worthwhile (at least, I hope you do) and you might think of a place where the company might need me, or someone I should meet. And I do the same, in turn, for you. And cosmic karma gets us both into better places.

Back to the Book and More Web Analytics

But I digress. Time to get back to the book.

The book has a lively, engaging style. It is long but I sailed through it. And Mr. Kaushik (who is very gracious and seems to be very approachable, by the way) is clearly having fun and loves what he does. It is a refreshing joy to read a book where the author is constantly delighted.

Read his book. Learn about analytics. Make the web a better place.

May your bounce rate be low, and your conversion rate high!

Rating

5/5

Want More Book Reviews?

If my experiences with book reviews for social media and writing resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other book review blog posts.

Check Out Book Reviews on Social Media, SEO, Analytics, Design, and Strategy

† The Cluetrain Manifesto: 10th Anniversary Edition, a Book Review
• Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson, a Book Review
† Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, An Updated Book Review
• Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk
† Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen

• The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, A Book Review
† The Numerati by Stephen Baker, a Book Review
• Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, A Book Review
† Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, a Book Review
• White Space is not your Enemy by Kim Golombisky and Rebecca Hagen, a Book Review

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… And Facebook for All, and for all Indie Writers

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 16, 2026

Independent authors if you need a sign to tell you to get on Facebook, consider this your sign. This is why.

For Liberty, Justice (?), … and Facebook for All

Facebook matters.

At least, that is what Mark Zuckerberg would want us all to think, wish and feel. I can understand that, a desire to make a website about as universal as possible.

Once the site was no longer exclusive to collegians, the inevitable business model was to universalize it. And the site, today (although that will probably change), has about the best chance to become a truly universal web experience as any site.

And yes, this is despite the advent and rise of AI. It is even despite the fact that a lot of the youngest generations (Generation Alpha and Generation Z, to be more precise) tend to disdain it. But even they cannot avoid Facebook. Their families and teachers are on it.

Universality

So, are you trying to sell your books and short stories (and perhaps cover designs) on the biggest social media site on the planet? Over 3 billion monthly active users are there, as of 2025. That is an awfully big flea market.

But, wait, not so fast. Is that number truly accurate? Absolutely not. After all (and for different reasons), my husband and I each have more than one account. Do you?

Even if you do not, I bet you have at least one friend who does, and probably lots more. In particular, if someone has ever been in Facebook jail, they have probably got at least one separate account.

And that is perfectly all right, and is absolutely permitted by the site (although they would like to change that). And they are trying to….

Real Names

Facebook also pushes for users to go with their correct names. Why? Because if you can hide behind a username, you might flame people more than if you cannot. But the anecdotal evidence certainly points to this not working. At all.

Real names also (in theory) help to eliminate duplicates. But in all honesty, how many guys named Mike Brown do you know? I can think of two I have known in my life and that figure is probably more like four or five.

Even middle names might not fix such a duplication issue. There are probably several men with the name of Michael David Brown in the world.

Also, though, another use for real names is better marketing. If you Anglicize your name, then an advertiser might miss that you are Hispanic, and incorrectly market to you.

However, keep in mind that second accounts are far more likely to be under a fake name.

Not So Fast On Those Real Names

We have all seen names which are not quite so perfectly right, though. How many of us have seen married women using a middle name of something like Was(whatever their maiden name was)? Hence Susan Davis might call herself Susan WasSmith Davis.

It is not a perfect solution, and you do not really have to do that, anyway. Still, there are plenty of people who do.

Others might place a nickname within the middle name field. Robert Bob Brady, or Richard Dick Daily. But again, they might not have to.

The more common nicknames are already going to come up in a search, even though, in both of these examples, the nickname starts with a letter different from the full name.

So, Elizabeth (Beth, Liz), William (Bill), Christopher (Chris, Topher {maybe}), and Amanda (Mandy) are all covered.

Stage Names on FB

Still others may try to use stage names, but Facebook would rather you just create a fan page or have someone do so for you. This is not just to nicely help you keep your personal and professional lives separate. It is also to market to your fan base better.

After all, even your most avid fans might not be too thrilled by a celebrity talking about the logistics of getting to a local hardware store.

Then again, I am pals with a number of former child stars from the 70s and 80s. They all seem to be using their real names. Only Pamlyn Ferdin seems to be keeping two separate pages/accounts.

But it is also likely that, say, the Livingston brothers are keeping separate accounts but those accounts are private and locked down tightly.

No Real Name, No, I Mean it, Facebook!

Then there are people who have damned good reasons for never using their real names, such as people escaping domestic violence. Facebook has gotten better and more sensitive when it comes to such needs.

And, FB may very well have to deal with this issue for anyone who becomes a victim of identity theft due to DOGE bull in a china shop-style actions. We shall see, although they have likely already dealt with identity theft in one way or another.

Why Facebook?

The main purpose of Facebook (in case you are just coming into the light after a few decades on a desert island), is to sell advertising. Its offshoot purpose is to connect people, of all stripes, for free. But it is those connections which sell the advertising.

There is a lot else to it, at least on a general basis. But it is still a valuable business tool for any Social Media Marketing Campaign.

But never forget: you are the product that Facebook is selling.

In fact, that is a good rule of thumb: if it is online and it is free, then guess what they are selling?*

*Note: me? I am selling books, and my own services.

The Best Parts of the Site for Indie Author Social Media Marketing

The main virtues of Facebook, when it comes to marketing your book(s), can currently be divided into three basic areas:

• Personal pages and peripheral connections to same
† Company pages and groups and peripheral connections thereto, and,
• Offsite connections back to the site

By “peripherals”, I mean all the extra stuff that goes along with the site experience, and not computer hardware peripherals.

In addition, FB Marketplace may or may not be a decent place for some people and companies to get some sales traction. But I would not count on it, if I were you. You will most likely find FB Marketplace is more for a used bike, not your books.

Other ideas include creating a Facebook page for you, the writer, or for your biggest series. Or maybe just for your biggest book. What about a group? That might be a good idea for your fans to gather.

You could use it to plan when you will be doing a signing or a reading. And then coordinate when you can meet and greet your bigger fans. Or use a group to gather together all of your beta readers.

The Concept of Universal-ish Reach at Facebook

Beyond just the sheer numbers, Facebook is extremely good at putting people together who are similar. You always get friend suggestions, yes? Those people tend to either have friends in common with you, or they have some other characteristic in common with you.

The part that is in common might be home town. Or it might be favorite sports team. Another possible connection could be where you work.

Now, face it: if you work in a huge Fortune 50 company, then you will have tons of coworkers. And the chances are beyond good that you will not know everyone. You may not even know everyone in your office building or even on your floor.

So sometimes when a friend request arises, it may feel like a mystery. Hence, look for a commonality. Sometimes commonality is religion, by the way.

So, if you are a Muslim person working in New York City for a huge company like Exxon, the list of people that FB tags as being somehow related to you is laughably long.

Clutches of People

But getting back to the people you do connect with. It is perfectly natural to hang out with the people you went to high school with, or who love the same sports team you do. You might feel more comfortable with fellow cancer survivors, horse people, etc.

Or you might want to set up a political echo chamber. Another thing you might want to do is spend time with people in the same profession as you, and do some networking (although LinkedIn really is better for that. Usually).

Your readers may want to get together online to discuss your book. And, spoiler alert! They might not want you to be a part of that discussion.

But no matter what, we people tend to group together. It is a natural tendency. We have been gathering together since before there was a Homo sapiens species.

Facebook just exploits that. Really, really well.

And if various antitrust cases go one way, they might not in the future. But we do not know that yet.

Takeaways

Your readers and potential readers probably have a lot in common. Helping gather them together can be a way to relate to them but also sell more books. FB can be a way to put together a street team, too.

Your readers may very well connect with each other, too. This is great news all around, and not just for sales.

After all, FB friendships are as real and powerful and intimate as those which originated offline. I know more than one couple who met and married after first meeting there. Don’t you?

Want to see more from me, on writing, and the business of being an independent author? Click the QR code to add my site as a preferred source.

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Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

• Creating a Facebook page
† Working with a Facebook Page
• … Your Profile Page
† Offsite Sharing
• All Your Account Settings
† All the Rest of It
• Facebook versus Forums

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Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace

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Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 9, 2026

Ever feel like you’re on an online treadmill? Well, you just might be falling victim to social media’s relentless pace.

Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace to Try to Make You Stay Put

It’s a relentless pace out there. And much like the holidays accelerate the end of the year, and we suddenly look up on January 7th or so and wonder exactly what the hell just happened, social media is continuing to not so much reap the whirlwind as to be the whirlwind.

But at the same time, there is an effort afoot to slow down and control that very same whirlwind.

Twitter’s Relentless Pace

Case in point: Twitter (er, X) has implemented changes, over the course of its history, that are designed to keep people on as long as possible.

They do this by embedding media more directly and making it so that you do not have to leave Twitter’s embrace in order to enjoy a clip or a photograph. Often, this means shortening a URL.

So far, so good. But shortened URLs can allow for more malware exploits. It’s like one step forward, a step back and another one to the side.

Facebook’s Relentless Pace

Facebook tests its layout pretty much constantly. In fact, it changes it every single day. They are the biggest A/B testing site on the planet, bar none! So, what is changing? And what isn’t?

The profile is going to continually become richer and provide more information. This may or may not be useful to users but it will certainly keep them on longer. At least, that will happen at the start, when it is a fresh, novel concept.

As time has passed, we have all seen how Facebook has attempted to become more things to more people. Is that good? Well, it can be.

But it also means that people have to take it more seriously. Somewhat ridiculously rigid rules on verbiage force people into typing silly stuff like ‘unalive’.

LinkedIn’s Relentless Pace

Long ago, LinkedIn tried adding Signal to make it easier to track even more of the social media avalanche – and, of course, to try to keep people on LinkedIn as long as possible.

They are also using status types of communications. And do not get me started on the avalanche of AI-written garbage that infests status updates and articles. Sounds a lot like Facebook, eh?

LinkedIn also pushes articles, and tries to get you to follow thought leadership. By itself, this is not a bad idea over all. Except anyone can, conceivably, become a thought leader. Kinda. Just post enough, and get a big enough follow.

This is not a bad gig if you can get it, but it can also be a dandy way to spread misinformation, sports fans.

The Common Thread

What these changes have had in common, other than, perhaps, novelty for the sake of novelty, is the desire to keep people on site as long as possible. Put some tar down, and have us all stick, at least for a while.

So while the internet spins ever faster, and social media sites attempt to keep up, their overall strategies seem to try to slow us all down. Will it work? Is it a foolish dream to think you can keep people around with such tricks, such slick bells and whistles?

The Lack of Meaningful Content

What disturbs me is that there is not a lot of content happening. Or at least not a lot of good content. Good content would, could, should make me want to hang around.

But instead of hiring writers to improve things, or rewarding good current content providers, each of the big three sites is instead pursuing a software solution. Al, folks.

But what is the sense in hanging around a site if the content is not compelling? Or are we, instead, merely getting the sites that we, perhaps, deserve?

Hence here is what happens if my Facebook friends list is dominated by people I went to High School with over forty years ago. Their status updates and my wall have a lot of news of their birthdays, their children (and grandchildren these days), and their careers.

But why would we ever expect anything else?

And if I instead tip my list in a different direction, and it is suddenly dominated by the people I work with or diet with or do artwork with, the news is going to be different.

In particular, politically, you can see very different versions of each site, depending on your bubble. After all, a lot of us prefer to see people we like and agree with. … and that’s how we get ideological bubbles.

Comparison to Reality TV

One thing about Reality TV is that it is anything but real if it is at all successful. Because people just, generally, do not lead terribly interesting lives.

Yes, you too, gentle reader. We pick up the dry cleaning. Or we bicker over the remote. We forget to buy sausages and make do with hot dogs. And around and around and around we go.

And all three of these really big social media sites, when we are not following celebrities and businesses, are really just a big agglomeration of Post-It Notes whereby we tell each other to grab milk on the way home.

For “Reality” to be compelling at all, it has got to be unreal, and have a scripted. It must become this fight or that rose ceremony or this other weird pancake-making challenge.

The bigger, older three older social media sites, when you strip away the celebrities and the companies, can be a boatload of errands or a standard-form holiday letter. You know the kind, where you learn little Suzie has taken up the clarinet. Over and over ad infinitum.

No wonder we need software solutions to keep us there. The relentless pace continues.

Whither TikTok and the Rest?

TikTok shackles you to it by way of its algorithm (sound familiar)? Like one video and you get sucked into the next one, and the next, and then the next one after that. The videos are short, so it does not feel like a relentless pace.

Until you look up and realize that four hours have gone by.

It is a lot like eating a bag of potato chips. You stick your hand in, grab a few or a big handful, and go to town. It does not feel like a lot, until suddenly the bag is empty and you are thirsty from all the salt.

In the world of dieting, the conventional wisdom is to portion out your chips. Fill a smaller bag and put a clip on the bigger one, and stick it back in the cabinet. In short, have some discipline and a smidgen of self-control.

With TikTok or anything else, unless we put a timer on our sessions or have external pressures getting us off the virtual hamster wheel, our lives pass us by as we succumb to the relentless pace.

Dang, I am a ray of sunshine sometimes, eh?

Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.

Social Media in Our Society

• Social Media’s Seduction AKA Oops, Did I Do That?
† Social Media Background Check Being Used For Jury Selection
• Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?

† Social Media Balance
• How Social Media Can Ruin Your Life
† Happy Holidays, Social Media Style

Social Media for Writers

• The Power of Social Media (Neurotic Writers’ Edition)
† Social Media and Writing
• Social Media and Writing Part 2

† Social Media and Writing Part 3
• Are You Promoting Your Writing With Social Media?

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Community Management for Indie Writers – Look at Me!

Community Management, Drawn to Scale. Freshening, Get Together, Love, Small Things, Without Management, True Community, Party Started, Terrible Netizen, Snakes in the Garden, Circle Game, Look at Me, Good Netizen, Corralling, Wandering off Topic, Facebook versus Forums, Superstar Users, Community Management Analytics, Community Roundtable, Community Management Haikus, Life of a Community Manager, Social Media Job Descriptions, Superstar Users, Community Roundtable 2010, community managers, off topic posts,

Community Management for Indie Writers – Look at Me!

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 2, 2026

Introverts, beware. Community management for the independent author is a big, old game of Look at Me.

Hey, Look at Me! Look at Me!

Come on and look!

Ah, marketing.

We have all seen it done well, and we have all seen it done not so well, and even downright poorly. And now, a look at applying it to your extant community. Which could be readers, prospective readers, beta readers, etc.

A poorly executed marketing strategy does more than turn off your preexisting users. It can also get your site marked as a spammer. And the scarlet S can get your site unceremoniously dumped from Google. And that means, essentially, the equivalent of the death of the site.

Spamming on Facebook will, of course, also get you dumped. Eventually.

Long Story Short: Never Spam

In order to effectively market your community, you need to cover three kinds of SEO/Marketing. Those are onsite, offsite and offline. Onsite will be covered elsewhere in this series.

You need good keywords and you need good content for onsite marketing. But after that, your optimization and marketing efforts need to move to something different. As in SEO.

Look at Me Doing Offsite Marketing

Note: this is not offline marketing, such as dropping your book on a train station bench, putting it into a little free library, or asking a bigger brick and mortar library to carry your book.

Offsite can be (mainly) divided into two areas:

1. Search Engines
2. Social Media

Consider Search Engines

You must submit your site to Google. However, do not submit to any other search engines. Why? Because the non-Google share of the market is virtually nonexistent (sorry, Bing). Hence this is a waste of your time, and they will likely pick up your site from Google anyway.

So do not use a blasting service. Heavens, no. You will never, ever need it and it is absolutely not worth it.

Consider search engines in other languages if applicable.

Look at Social Media

Social media implies interactivity, and not just voting links up or down, perhaps laced with the occasional comment.

While there are international ones (and if you have a perfect match between your content and their focus, then by all means establish a presence thereat), you really only care about the following:

• Facebook – an official fan page helps for any number of reasons. First of all, it can make your books and website known to friends, family members, business colleagues and any other connections to your currently friend list.

And you can use it to post photographs and links directly back to your site or where to buy your book.

† Twitter/X – even if your users are not, generally, on Twitter, it is still a useful marketing tool. Try feeding in a slice of the site via RSS. Just like with Facebook, this can expand the network of persons who know about your site and prose.

If X is not a fit ideologically (for you or your userbase or both), then by all means consider Bluesky or the like instead.

• LinkedIn (if applicable) – if your book is nonfiction and is about a going concern or about employment, then at minimum make sure your listing on LinkedIn is correct. You can add website and book buying URLs to your profile.

Furthermore, if going this route, make sure your site blog and social media streams are configured to feed and accept updates.

A Look at More Social Media

† Pinterest – demographics tend to skew heavily female and over thirty-five. Got books about a restaurant? A shoe store? Wedding products or services? A women’s health collective? A feminist bookstore? Go to Pinterest – but only if you have excellent images.

• Got great images but less of a female-centric slant? Consider Instagram instead.

† Tumblr – demographics skew heavily under thirty-five and even under twenty-five. Got a work about a video game? A work turned into an indie film (or about to be)? Go to Tumblr, but recognize that it is a lot more niche and fandom-centric.

Seeing as MySpace became niche before finally going belly up, you may find that Tumblr feels a little too much on its way out.

• Snapchat – demographics skew toward teens and tweens? Consider this fast-moving site for everything from YA (young adult) to NA (new adult).

† YouTube – longer form video content is a great way to get a message across.

• TikTok – 100% content-centric. Show this slice of the world what you are made of. This is for short-form video content and it is very algorithmically-driven, so you had better tag your stuff extremely well.

Back Linking

Backlinking is where you get others to add your site link to their own websites. Back-links help a great deal as Google gives them weight when determining the importance and influence of your site. And that is directly linked to search placement.

You always do better when more trusted sites link back to you. Do not get spammers to link to you.

Blogs

For your blog, go to other sites you admire. Just as importantly, post comments on those sites. This provides value to those other people, so they are more likely to spontaneously wish to link back to you.

Or link directly to them first, but do not leave it all to happenstance. Approach the webmaster of the other site and politely ask for a back link.

Some people are happy to oblige. Others are not, so remove their links from your site after a reasonable amount of time. Some may simply think about it, so give them a little time.

And be reasonable, but also be reasonable with yourself. If you are not getting link backs, try to figure out why. Are your requests too aggressive? Or do you ask people with wholly unrelated sites?

Do you, perhaps, have no content (or no meaningful content) for them to associate with? Look at your site with a critical eye before throwing in the towel.

Truly Offline Marketing and Optimization

Offline marketing and optimization can mean going back to techniques used before – shudder – there even was an Internet. Before computers even existed.

Depending upon your budget and the overall genre of your book, offline marketing can range from something as simple as business cards or baseball caps or tee shirts with the site logo to a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.

It can even be completely free. After all, any time you mention your site or book to someone else, didn’t you just market it?

Look, sitting back and waiting for your site or books to take off will almost never work. You need to market, particularly in the beginning. Get your name out there!

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then check out my other blog posts about how online communities work.

Here are some posts about my years in community management, and what I have learned.

• A Day in the Life of a Community Manager
† Analytics (see link below)
• Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community
† Risks of a Community Without Management
• Are Off Topic Posts Ever Okay?

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Community Management – Collection of Users to True Community

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 28, 2026

Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community

What is a True Community?

I’ve written at least seven obituaries.

That is, perhaps, an odd thing to confess. But when Jill, Kevin, Paul, Joanne, Olen, Joan, and Mary all passed on, it was up to me to write something, to not only commemorate their lives, but to try to help comfort a grieving community.

I am not saying you will write as many, or even if you will ever write even one. And I certainly hope you will never have to, as they can be gut-wrenching.

But it was with the first one – Mary’s – that it became manifest (if it was not already self-evident) that, to paraphrase the old Brady Bunch theme, this group had somehow formed a family.

How Can This Happen to Your True Community (Without the Tragic Part)?

But no one has to cross over to the other side in order for your collection of users to coalesce into a Community with a capital C. The secret is very simple, although many companies do not want to hear it: it is going off-topic.

Let us assume, for example, that your community is a corporate-run one. And the product is a soft drink. Corporate tells you to stay on topic, on message. However, your users are saying something very different.

For it is easy, as you are talking about the soft drink, to slide into discussing foods eaten with it. And frankly, for such a community you would almost have to go off-topic. Nobody but a truly dedicated corporate marketer can talk about a soft drink 24/7.

Food slides into a discussion of recipes. Recipes turn into a talk about entertaining. And then suddenly you are all off to the races and talking about family relationships.

Corporate tries to pull you back on topic. Yet your users pull the true community ever further away. And they pinball from family relationships to dating, raising children, and elder care, if you let them.

The Community Manager’s Role

Here is where you, as the Community Manager, can talk to Corporate and forge a compromise. Corporate needs for people to talk about the product, tout it, and virally promote it. And they need people to make well-ranked (on Google/cited by AI) topics about it.

Corporate should also realize that they need to hear the bad news about the product as well. The users need to talk.

So, make a compromise. One way is to create an off-topic area and move all off-message topics there. And be fairly loose with your definition of what is on topic.

In our soft drink example, the recipes topics, even if they do not use the product as an ingredient, are still close enough so you could consider them on topic.

Also, do not be surprised if the corollary is true. Hence topics that begin on message veer off it, even by the time of the first responsive post. That is okay.

Those topics should still be considered to be on message.

Because Google is far more concerned with a forum topic’s title and initial post than with its tenth response. And for AI, whether a question is answered well and clearly will matter more than some off-topic stuff. For the most part.

The Benefits of the Off-Topic Section

Do not be shocked if your off-topic section becomes a large one. And recognize that you and your Moderating staff (if you have one) may need to make on message topics in order to continue creating germane content.

But your true community will be talking and the site will be a lively one.

If it is a party that is going nonstop, your users will stick around and from this you can build a marketing database. And that is one of the standard corporate aims behind creating a community in the first place.

So, when your users start talking about life events, such as births, school, divorce, moving, jobs, marriage, children and, yes, deaths, it matters.

And when they start supporting each other through each of these phases, it marks a bright line distinction between a haphazard agglomeration of users and a true team of like-minded individuals.

Finally, that team, that family, that army, is what being in a true community is really all about.

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how online communities work.

Community Management Tidbits

Here are some posts about my years in community management, and what I have learned.

• A Day in the Life of a Community Manager
† Analytics
• Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community
† Risks of a Community Without Management
• Are Off Topic Posts Ever Okay?

Next blog post

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Community Management — Get Together

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 26, 2026

Conquer Your Fears and Get Together

Yes, you can—and should — get together! Life online is all well and good. Many of us spend large chunks of our time connected, whether that is via a desktop PC, a smartphone, a laptop, or a tablet. Newer technologies will, undoubtedly, make it even easier to get and stay connected.

But sometimes you’ve just got to say: Stop the Internet, I want to get off!

Of course you go offline every night for bed (er, you do, don’t you?), at the absolute minimum. But there is more to it than that.

When your community has been around for a significant period of time (say, a year), your users are going to, naturally, be curious about meeting one another. In person. With no screens dividing them.

And this is excellent. It is a sign of the community jelling. You should encourage this. Or, if you like, you can even suggest a meeting yourself.

I mean, why the hell not?

Informal Gatherings

For informal gatherings, there is little, if anything, that you need to do. If you can attend, great! And if you are not able to, ask people to take pictures. However, remind your users they should get permission before they take any photographs and post them online.

Furthermore, if there will be minors present, emphasize that photographs of them really should not appear online. Be prepared, if the child’s parents ask, to remove such photographs if they end up on your site. But that is about it.

Formal Gatherings

Formal gatherings allow for a lot more dazzle. A get together can be as expensive or cheap as you like. Your attendees might wish to reserve a block of hotel rooms, or even a hall. Or you might just need to make reservations at a restaurant.

Or you could think outside the restaurant, and consider a visit to a museum, historical attraction, or nature preserve. Your group might enjoy attending, say, a minor league baseball game (it is often a nominal fee to get your site or company mentioned on the scoreboard or over the public address system. Usually this takes the form of a charitable donation).

Or your users might even enjoy a potluck, or a cruise, or a bowling tournament for fun. They might like to run a 5K race (or just watch) or even attend lectures or form a book group. And they might even enjoy helping to build a house for charity or volunteer at a soup kitchen for the day. The only limits are your imagination and the focus of your community.

Because a forum devoted to young mothers, for example, might enjoy a gathering where they can bring their children. Whereas a board focusing on a hip hop artist might prefer attending a concert.

Get Together Swag

For a gathering (in particular, for one specifically planned and sanctioned by you), it is nice to bring swag. That is, forum- or company-specific merchandise. Make it free for the taking! Hats, tee shirts, frisbees, key chains, whatever you like.

The young mothers’ forum might like diaper bags or onesies. That hip hop forum might like licensed mix CDs, or special music that they can download.

Just give them the URL and a key or password, so they can get it exclusively, at least to start. And, it is never a problem if people begin to share the URL and the password. Because you want them to do this.

Gatherings are fun. It is so neat to finally see and get together with people you only know from online. Once you have heard their voices and seen their mannerisms in the flesh, you will never read their posts the same way again.

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how online communities work.

Community Management Tidbits

Here are some posts about my years in community management, and what I’ve learned.

• A Day in the Life of a Community Manager
† Analytics
• Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community
† Risks of a Community Without Management
• Are Off Topic Posts Ever Okay?

Next blog post

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A Day in the Life of a Community Manager

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 21, 2026

A Day in the Life of a Community Manager

Whether paid or volunteer, the life of a community manager tends to be fairly similar. Community management can be a piece of social media marketing and management, but it does not, strictly, have to be.

Most of a Community Manager’s time divides into three different modes:

1. Discussions
2. Nurturing and
3. Disciplining AKA Trust and Safety

Discussions

The discussion piece involves creating new discussions and shepherding them along. Users will not return, day after day, without new content. While the users are, ultimately, responsible for the content in a community, the Community Manager should create new content as well.

This is not always topics as it can also encompass informing users about changes in the site blog (if any) and even a Facebook fan page (if it exists).

This discussion piece will evolve as the community evolves. In a community of fewer than one thousand users, content from the Community Manager might be the only new content for weeks! Which…can sometimes be problematic.

As such, it can loom very, very large. But it can also have a much stronger calming effect if other content is snarky.

As the community grows, regular Community Manager contributions should diminish. But there should still be some involvement. Otherwise members may feel the Community Manager is hanging back a bit too much.

It is a community, and that means that the users want to know the Manager(s). An easy and somewhat safe way to do this is by creating discussions.

On Topic/Off Topic

And the discussions need not always stay on topic! Lively discussions can be almost spun from whole cloth if the Manager can get the people talking. An automotive community might thrill to talking about cooking.

A cooking community might engage in an animated discussion about the Olympics. And a sports community could very well bring its passion to a topic like politics.

In particular, if the community is single subject-based (e. g. about, say, Coca-Cola), going off-topic should probably at least peripherally relate to the overall subject.

Hence Coke could branch out into cooking and, from there, into family relationships. Or into health and fitness.

But a push to discussing politics may not work unless it stems from a major recent news item or if there is precedent. And, if you get started with politics, it is maddeningly hard to put that genie back in the bottle.

Finally, if a member is ill, or has passed on, getting married or having a child, an off-topic discussion can spring naturally and effortlessly. This happens regardless of the community’s main subject matter.

Corporate management may not love off-topic discussions. But they keep a community together, and they do help to keep it viable.

Nurturing

The nurturing piece relates to the discussion aspect. However, it tends to encompass responding to and supporting good discussions on the site.

This is especially helpful if the Community Manager identifies top users who are good at making topics who the community likes.

And then nurtures them to promote their discussions over more inferior ones.

Use nurturing to encourage newbies. And use it to encourage members who might become superstar users if they only had a little more self-confidence. Give them a track record of support and positive reinforcement.

But keep in mind that welcoming people can get old rather quickly. But there is nothing wrong with a form welcome, whether it is an email or a private message or even a popup. Why not explain where to go to contact a Moderator? Or where to look and even where to report if the site is down?

Another use for a welcoming message can be to link to the Terms of Service and any other rules the community must abide by.

The Life of a Community Manager and Relationships

Nurturing can also take the shape of developing relationships with members. The Community Manager does not have to be friends with everyone, even if the site is very small. However, they should get to know the users.

Private messages (if available), writing on a wall or the like can do this.

Furthermore, the Community Manager can use private messages, etc. to head off potential problems at the pass.

Headstrong members might be wonderful when they write on topics not related to their overarching passion. Or they might respond to a tactful request to tone things down a bit. Or a lot.

The Community Manager can encourage those members to take part in those other discussions. The manager can reach out to other community members. Friendship can help to minimize flaming.

After all, it is a lot easier to go ballistic on someone if they are just faceless to you. But with your friend Joe, it is a rather different story.

Disciplining AKA Trust and Safety

And this leads me to the disciplining part. It is often the first thing that people think of when they think of community management. That includes things like pulling spam.

It also includes giving users timeouts or even outright suspending them when their activities run against a site’s Terms of Service.

Trust and Safety can also mean checking content to be sure that it fits community standards. Those can be everything from avoiding porn to getting rid of health misinformation.

The Facebook Trust and Safety team, for example, once had the unenviable responsibility to weed through violent and disturbing imagery. Nowadays, that is a task done by AI.

And it also includes shunning and ignoring. These can be extremely powerful. The Community Manager can help to mobilize other users.

But the Community Manager Must Do It Right

An email or private message campaign is almost always a very poor idea. Rather, the Manager must lead by example. Do not take the bait when challenged, unless it is absolutely necessary. But that is rare.

It is the Community Manager’s call when to take it, particularly if personal insults fly.

Often the best tactics include: (a) get offline and cool off. And (b) ask another Community Manager or Moderator to determine if it warrants disciplinary action. And then enforce that if it does.

One thing a Manager should never forget: there is far more to the community than just the people posting. There is often a far larger audience of lurkers, both registered and unregistered.

They are watching events unfold but rarely comment. By leading by example, the Community Manager can influence not only active posters but also the community at large.

Customer Service is Key in the Life of a Community Manager, Even if the Forums are Free, with no Real Customers

During a typical day, new members register. Also, members lose their passwords, or start and respond to topics. Furthermore, they answer older topics. People engage in private communications (if permitted on the site).

Members may disagree on something and they may do so vehemently. The site may get spam. Or someone might add violent and disturbing imagery.

The Community Manager can become involved as a content creator if content creation lags or goes too far off subject. He or she should discipline difficult members if necessary.

However, generally, a Community Manager’s main task, both daily and over the life of the online community, should be to carefully nurture and shape relationships.

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about how online communities work, and how to best make them work for you and your organization.

Here are some posts about my years in community management, and what I have learned.

• Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community
† Risks of a Community Without Management
• Are Off Topic Posts Ever Okay?

Next blog post

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Your Elevator Pitch

Publishing, Published, Positive Reviews, Middling Reviews, Bad Reviews, Teasing, Blurb, Query letter, Elevator pitch, teasers, pitmad, rejection, Easter eggs, Starting, Digital Publishing Game, pocket conflicts, Manuscript Wish List, Reading, Submission Guidelines, Set Dressing, Hairstyles and Costumes, Aroma vs Odor or Stench, Mixing a Score in Words and Music, Disgusting vs Delicious, Hot or Cold, Publishing Stats, Jewish characters, trust your readers,

Your Elevator Pitch

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 27, 2026

Let’s Deconstruct Your Elevator Pitch

We have all heard of what an elevator pitch is. It seems like it is the kind of stuff for some overly eager new sales associates looking to make an impression on the big boss between floors.

But there is more to it than that.

Someone has just turned to you and asked, “You’re a writer. What is your book about?”

Don’t just stand there! You have got to be ready.

Some Ideas for Your Verbal Elevator Pitch

Try something like this on for size.

Imagine if animals started talking, and they told you what to do in a topsy-turvy world.

My book is about Alice; she’s a young girl, a little bored on a sunny afternoon, when she spots a white rabbit. The odd thing about this rabbit is, he’s wearing clothes and talking. She follows him down a rabbit hole, but then she can’t get out.

That is less than seventy words, and the person asking has the basic plot, the name of the main character, and a reason to want to know more.

Also, you do not give away any spoilers with this pitch. Is that important? You had better believe it is.

Your Pitch in Writing

Yes, you need one of these, too. But a written elevator pitch is going to be a little different.

Even if readers know you for writing sweeping, epic sagas, you should still write some short stories. They can be in your universe, or not, although it might help with both marketing and your own personal creativity if they can fit somewhere within your universe.

They do not even necessarily have to be sent out for publication, but they could be good for anthologies. Do not knock that. This is exactly how a lot of people get their starts.

In fact, if you are having trouble breaking in, or want to impress a publisher, try submitting to anthologies. You can get a publication credit and impress the publisher of the anthology. And maybe also impress other publishers.

That is a win-win right there.

Point them there, if someone wants to read a sampling of your work. Do not make them commit to a 100,000 word novel.

Unless, of course, you really feel like alienating a potential customer.

In all seriousness, never, ever do something like that.

How Do You End Both Types of Elevator Pitches?

Why, with a call to action, of course! Why, here’s one right now.

On Balance

Finally, try to have some fun with it. Is your main character funny?

What about quoting one of her best zingers, assuming you do not need to explain the joke (that is key)?

Now that is an off-beat idea for a pitch.

And it just might be memorable enough to snag you a customer.

Four Important Social Media Stats for Writers

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 6, 2026

The four important social media stats are for writers and non-writers alike!

Consider These Four Important Social Media Stats

These were four important social media stats for you! This post was, in part, a riff on Four Great Free Tools and Four Important Stats. And I like the important stats. As for the four free tools, I’ll reserve judgment for another day.

These are still somewhat important, but keep in mind that the numbers have undoubtedly changed.

STAT 1 for Writers

53% of people on Twitter recommend companies and/or products in their Tweets, with 48% of them delivering on their intention to buy the product. (ROI Research for Performance, June 2010)

However does this takes into account what essentially looks like spamming (e. g. buy this stuff!) versus what seems to be more sincere mentions of products, e. g. someone says I love this new Gatorade or I think my New Balance sneakers really make me faster?

I know it can be difficult for a large-scale survey of tweets to tell the difference between the two. However, if there is that much of a return, then I figure, the people either know or, perhaps, they just don’t care.

For authors, your best bet may very well be to make sure that your work is a part of the overall conversation. But not in the way of, “A story about the president? Well, here’s my story about a turtle and a Shetland sheepdog!” It’s…probably not related. So, don’t go there.

STAT 2 for Authors

The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers. (Keller Fay, WOMMA, 2010) – Just what does this mean? I mention products all the time, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m touting them.

Ugh, I hate what they did to my conditioner! Why did John Frieda have to change it?

And that is a far cry from I want some more of that Amy’s Low-Salt Marinara Sauce with Basil – sooo good.

Since the stat doesn’t mention whether the mentions went positive or negative, I suppose it’s a corollary to the old saw, that any press is good press. Note: sentiment analysis is better than it used to be, but still has a ways to go.

For writers, the best move may be to get a conversation centered on your work going, and keep it going.

STAT 3 for Independent Authors

Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted – nearly 12 times more – than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US mom Internet users by online video review site EXPO. (eMarketer, February 2010)

This is how viral marketing works, kids. Because if a company can send out its minions to tout a product, even if not 100% positively (and it’s more believable that way, as it doesn’t look like mere puffery), then folks eat that up. Astroturfing Nation, here we come.

Here’s a counter-example.

When Untrustworthy first came out, people would privately message me and tell me that they liked it. Well, this is lovely and all, but at the time, I had none or nearly no public reviews.

And so, I nicely asked those folks to please review me, preferably on Amazon. I would provide the link, of course! And even when people said it wasn’t their cup of tea, I asked them to review the book, anyway.

Why?

Because a set of 100% five-star reviews for a brand-new author looks rather suspect. Warts and all, my reviews are the real deal.

STAT 4 for Indie Writers

In a study conducted by social networking site myYearbook, 81 percent of respondents said they’d received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site.

74 percent of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. (Click Z, January 2010)

However, this may be more of a function of the pervasiveness of social sites versus their influence. E. g. I truly only hear from some of my cousins through Facebook.

Do I give their opinions more credence than I do passing acquaintances’? Sometimes. But do I get this Facebook-based advice from them because we don’t pick up the phone or send snail mail or meet in person (we’re too far away to do this, anyway).

But to my mind, this is almost like giving the phone company credit for marketing strategy if we chat on the phone. We don’t. Instead, we use Facebook. I think this is a potential confusion of medium versus message.

For authors, your best bet is likely to involve yourself in

Where Do We Go From Here With These Four Important Social Media Stats?

So, are social sites really that important? Is X (Twitter) really that targeted? Perhaps not as much as it was. Do consumers really trust their pals more than they do slick, conventional marketers? Probably maybe, not really and yes.

Even years later, it’s up to the writer (acting as their own Social Media Marketer) to separate the wheat from the chaff with these kinds of stories, and see what’s really going on.

What do you think?

Fifteen Years After This Post Was First, Er, Posted…

… (and over five since it was last posted) keep in mind that numbers shift and, these days, Twitter is called X, anyway.

But these metrics are still good, and they are still vital. For larger businesses, getting case studies published, and getting brand ambassadors on board, is still a terrific and inexpensive way to market. For writers, that translates into reviews.

These types of marketing build trustworthiness (the ‘T‘ in Google’s E-EAT). They also help to build and bolster word of mouth, which is still a vital piece of any marketer’s strategy.

And in the world of AI, trustworthy and clear reviews and answers are a lot more likely to pass muster and be recommended by the likes of, say, Google Gemini.

So, don’t discount these metrics, okay? But do be sure to take the numbers with a grain of salt.

Writers: Do You Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about navigating our social media obsessed world.

So, What Do You Look Like Online?

This post is a riff on a rather old post, Do You Know What You Look Like Online. Essentially, the question is, if you were searching for someone (someone just like you, perhaps), what sorts of judgments would you make? What seems off?

What’s being suppressed, which aspects should you be promoting, and vice versa? Is the picture clear or fuzzy?

The gist of that article is, take control of your information, keep it as a uniform brand and check it every month or so. The corollary to this is one from Shama Hyder Khabani, which is, essentially, don’t spread yourself too thin. Concentrate in only a few places.

My Own Information—What I Look Like Online

Absolutely agreed. When I google my own last name, 40,900 hits come up. And, fortunately, my own website is on page 1 (Yay, SEO!). My Entrepreneur profile (writing I did for work) comes up on the first page of results. So do my Twitter/X and LinkedIn profiles.

Also on the first page are my Facebook profile, and my Amazon author page. Get to page 2 and there’s my profile on YouTube.

Another Angle

Putting my last name into quotation marks yields 6,480 hits. All of the same usual suspects come up on Page One of the results. And nothing is too weird or scandalous. Even MuckRack, which essentially just scrapes for your name, doesn’t have anything bad.

Hey, Bartleby published me!

How Accurate is the Information?

To my mind, checking and rechecking every single month might just be a bit excessive. Is there a need to keep your profile accurate? Sure. Flattering, or at least not damaging? Yes, particularly if you are looking for work.

But to keep it sterile and perfect, as you scramble to make it perfect every moment of every day? Eh, probably not so much.

My own profile is the product of just doing a lot, and it being published. It’s easy to find flattering info on me. What I look like online is competent more than anything else. There’s nothing radical.

As for less flattering stuff, well, let’s just say that I am glad the internet wasn’t around when I was in high school.

Yikes.

But…

I would like to think (am I naïve? Perhaps I am) that potential clients and employers will see the occasional typo and will, for the most part, let it slide unless the person is in copyediting.

I am not saying that resumes, for example, should not be as get-out perfect as possible. What I am saying, though, is that this kind of obsessive and constant vigilance seems a bit, I don’t know, much.

Will the world end if I accidentally type there instead of their on this blog? And, does it matter oh so much if I don’t catch the accident immediately? Even when you consider that I’m a writer. After all, I should know better, yes?

I mean, with all of this brushing behind ourselves to cover up and/or perfect our tracks, and all of the things we are leaving behind, where’s the time and energy to make fresh, new content and look in front of ourselves?

Clean Up Your Presence

To me, there is little joy in reading a blog post or website that looks like the person who put it together was barely literate. But there is also little joy in reading sterile, obsessively perfect websites and blog posts.

A little imperfection, I feel, is a bit of letting the ole personality creep in there. Genuineness – isn’t that what the whole Social Media experience is supposed to be about, anyway?

I refuse to believe – I hope and I pray – that a bit of individuality never cost me potential jobs or any company I’ve ever worked for potential clients.

And if it has, then that saddens me, to feel that, perhaps, people are paying a lot of lip service to the genuineness of Social Media but, when the chips are down, it’s just the same ole, same ole.

Genuineness is great. One you can fake that, you’ve got it made? Please, say it ain’t so.

And don’t get me started on AI.

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Tag: social media

What Does Social Media Mean to Me?

Then Came the Early Years

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User Experience

These are Web Analytics for What Sort of User Experience?

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For Liberty, Justice (?), … and Facebook for All

Universality

Real Names

Not So Fast On Those Real Names

Stage Names on FB

No Real Name, No, I Mean it, Facebook!

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The Best Parts of the Site for Indie Author Social Media Marketing

The Concept of Universal-ish Reach at Facebook

Clutches of People

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Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace to Try to Make You Stay Put

Twitter’s Relentless Pace

Facebook’s Relentless Pace

LinkedIn’s Relentless Pace

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The Lack of Meaningful Content

Comparison to Reality TV

Whither TikTok and the Rest?

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Social Media in Our Society

Social Media for Writers

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Hey, Look at Me! Look at Me!

Long Story Short: Never Spam

Look at Me Doing Offsite Marketing

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A Look at More Social Media

Back Linking

Blogs

Truly Offline Marketing and Optimization

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Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community

How Can This Happen to Your True Community (Without the Tragic Part)?

The Community Manager’s Role

The Benefits of the Off-Topic Section

Want More About Community Management?

Community Management Tidbits

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Conquer Your Fears and Get Together

Informal Gatherings

Formal Gatherings

Get Together Swag

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Community Management Tidbits

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A Day in the Life of a Community Manager

Discussions

On Topic/Off Topic

Nurturing

The Life of a Community Manager and Relationships