There's a challenge in our modern life that's been building since the moment the internet was created. How do we keep our private lives--things we don't want to share with the world at large--from bleeding into the public world? Some people go the route of not creating a virtual identity at all, but for writers, that's not a choice.
It's been drilled into my head for the last two years that in order to promote my book, I need to be accessible online. I need to blog, I need to be on Twitter, I need...
But sometimes, we have to draw a line in the sand. Even an author needs a place where she can be a person, where she can just be herself, not accountable to the general reading public.
For me, Facebook is that place online. My Twitter account is public, my Facebook account is private. On Twitter, I'll follow pretty much anyone if they interest me. On Facebook, I'm far, far more selective.
This makes Facebook the one place I talk about work, or ramble about Doctor Who, or share my plans for the weekend. Some of that bleeds into Twitter, but only selective things. Very little of it bleeds onto my blog, which I try to keep mostly professional.
So you understand why I've struggled the last few months with the idea of creating a Facebook page for me as an author. Even though it would be completely separate from my personal account, it would still be business intruding in my home life, and that was a line I wasn't sure I wanted to cross.
I finally decided to do it. After all, I'm launching a new website next month (Have I mentioned that? keep an eye out for awesome giveaways!), and that's just a good time to get everything out of the way. Do it all at once, like ripping off a Band-aid.
That little analogy should tell you how I felt about the idea. Finally, Saturday night I realized that I just couldn't do it. It would be so easy to accidentally muddy the waters between the private account and the public page. Post something from the wrong account or... Who knows? I would just rather not go there.
This is me, drawing the line.
