What's the deal with word counts on Facebook?

I don't think these posts are neccessarily there for other people. For some writers, it's about saying "I wrote today" - which is a good thing. I've done it before on Twitter, low and high, and the statement has been purely for me (not that I don't appreciate it when my brilliant CPs throw a reply my way).

gettingby said:

But then there are other writers, posting really low word counts and doing it regularly. I don't get it. Am I supposed to like that they wrote 350 words? Isn't that the length of an email? I'm not saying anything is wrong with having low word-count goals. It is great to reach any writing goal we set for ourselves. But is it worth posting about on Facebook?

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For some people it is, and it comes across a little dismissive to say "is it worth it?". For some people, 350 words is a good day. Hell, a good week.

Also in terms of worth, I'd say 350 words is at least 350 times more worthwhile than some of the stuff you see posted on social media.

Except cat pictures. Cat pictures trump everything.

I think you're looking into it too deeply. People post on social media about the stuff they do. If a person writes, and likes to use social media, then it seems pretty natural they'd post about writing from time to time.

gettingby said:

I'm not saying anything is wrong with having low word-count goals. It is great to reach any writing goal we set for ourselves. But is it worth posting about on Facebook?

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I think it depends on person: some people like to post heavily on social media, others (like me) aren't so active and prefer to write there when something huge happens. Who knows, maybe posting about 350-word goal encourages these writers to do their best.

I sometimes set low word count goals when I'm pushing past serious resistance to working on a project. For me, it helps to be like, "C'mon, ya big baby-- you can write 350 words in a whole freakin' day." It keeps me from stopping altogether. A few days of that will usually get me over the hump.

Think about it. 350 words a day, and someone has finished a 100,000-word novel in about nine and a half months. That's not bad, really.

Plus, I'd say if you're not putting more effort into your novel-writing than into your emails, you're either shorting your prose--or writing the bestest emails ever.

Well, you know, people can post what they like on Facebook. True story.

They likely are not doing it for you

They are doing it for them -- I made X words today!

I think some view at as personal accountability: "I wrote 350 words today rather than farting around on tumblr for 15 hours. Go, me!"

I post a word count on my author page whenever I have added a significant number of words to my manuscript. If it is only 300 words longer than it was last time I looked, I do not say anything.

But if I finish a day or 16-hour spree of writing and my manuscript is now 98,000 words where it was only 85,000 last time I stopped, I write that into a post.

Mostly it is there for comparison and tracking. If I had a word count of 75,000 one day and 77,000 five days later, I know things are not going so well at the moment. But if I have the kinds of counts I mentioned above, 13,000 word difference after one day, then I know I have had a really positive experience with writing on that day.

I do not merely post "13,000 words today, yay" on my Facelessbook page, either. I write about what was in those 13,000 words. And what influenced them.

gettingby said:

But is it worth posting about on Facebook?

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Is anything worth posting about on facebook?

I assume many people do it as a motivational or accountability thing--keeping track of how many words they write, and sharing it, might help them stay on track.

I don't do it for word count, but I do post progress on chapters. Maybe some people aren't interested, but that is, quite frankly, not my problem. I've achieved something and, dagnammit, I'm going to celebrate it.

gettingby said:

I can't bring myself to write it on Facebook, but I wrote lot a write of words today. Today, I tried my hardest. It is my best. But all the writers I am questioning about with their updates are all bigger than me. I know the feeling of writing many words, and I know the feeling of writing few. It's just a little strange that it's all put out there. I think if I ever become famous among the 217 people who actually read literary journals, I will start social mediaing myself everywhere. Word count: 2 -- I rock.

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It's not compulsory. You don't have to do it if you don't want to.

Helix said:

It's not compulsory. You don't have to do it if you don't want to.

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This.

gettingby said:

I can't bring myself to write it on Facebook

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So don't.

Tbh, your posts come across as a bit judgmental to me. People post whatever the hell they want to post. Is posting low word counts somehow inflammatory or offensive to you? Like others have said, it's mostly for themselves, and if you don't like it, there's always the Unfollow or Mute buttons.

gettingby said:

I can't bring myself to write it on Facebook, but I wrote lot a write of words today. Today, I tried my hardest. It is my best. But all the writers I am questioning about with their updates are all bigger than me. I know the feeling of writing many words, and I know the feeling of writing few. It's just a little strange that it's all put out there. I think if I ever become famous among the 217 people who actually read literary journals, I will start social mediaing myself everywhere. Word count: 2 -- I rock.

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I don't like posting stuff on Facebook. And I don't like reading most of the stuff posted on Facebook. So what I do is this:

I don't go on Facebook.

I keep the account because it can keep lines of communication open for people I've pretty much lost track of, which does come in handy every year or two, but if someone messages me, my email usually tells me so. Therefore, I can ignore it otherwise.

I get the sense of overwhelm with social media. If you read too many status updates and tweets and such at once, it feels like people are all whispering in your ear at once, a bunch of people banging their tomtinglers and bouncing on boingbounders, all the noise noise noise NOISE--

But you don't have to read it. You don't have to care. It's not a big deal. As others have said, the status updates are probably not for your sake, and it's not like they're going to cause the crumbling of society or anything

If you have a problem with what people post, then ignore it. If you would prefer to have people join in sniping at people who post many status updates, I dunno, enjoy some boring Facebook jokes from several years ago or something.

I treat FB the same way Buz does. I'm rarely logged in, but I keep a placeholder account.

As for word count listing on FB or Twitter, I sympathize with but don't use the whole #amwriting thing. Because whether I'm typing or not, I am nearly always writing. Sometimes, those 350 words are harder won than my best 8K day.

As others have said, it's typically accountability/motivator. Does anyone here remember the "What I Wrote Today" topic on GEnie (in SFRT1, I think), way back in the day?

gettingby said:

What's the deal with writers posting daily word counts on Facebook or other social media? I've seen this done quite a bit, but not usually from some of the bigger writers I am friends with or follow, but sometimes they will post an impressive word count, and it's exciting to know they have something new in the works. But then there are other writers, posting really low word counts and doing it regularly. I don't get it. Am I supposed to like that they wrote 350 words? Isn't that the length of an email? I'm not saying anything is wrong with having low word-count goals. It is great to reach any writing goal we set for ourselves. But is it worth posting about on Facebook?

I get the urge to tell everyone you are actually writing and working hard, but I'm starting to see this more and more. What do you guys think about this? Do you post your word counts on social media? Why do you do it? Or is it something that annoys you to see in your newsfeed, especially if the same writer(s) post about it all the time.

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I often blog my word counts, and I do so for two reasons. Many readers are interested, and for personal accountability.

I doubt anyone posts anything because you're supposed to like it, or dislike it. What people post is not about you, it's about them.

Anything is worth posting about on Facebook that the person wants to post. If you don't think it's worth reading, don't read it.

I sure don't see why it would annoy you, or anyone else.

buzhidao said:

I don't like posting stuff on Facebook. And I don't like reading most of the stuff posted on Facebook. So what I do is this:

I don't go on Facebook.

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See, now I have this compulsion to got to my facebook and start posting word counts BECAUSE I CAN.

And because it's not doing anything else.

Why are we scoffing at 350 words? 350 words ain't bad. That's a page and a half. Some people have real lives too, you know.

I would probably tweet my word count if I actually typed my rough drafts. With handwriting you don't get neat little word counts and it's just too bad.