Why I Haven’t Been On The Facebook Groups Lately

Because of Vocal’s lack of comment section, writers have turned to social media or cross-post on other sites they do have a comment section.

1. It’s no longer made any difference at all to my reads.

My reads soared when joining these groups, but now I don’t see any difference in them anymore. I used to feel that if I don’t share my Vocal work, that I won’t get any reads, but that’s been disproven.

2. There’s too many to stay fully active in.

When there was just a few Vocal Facebook groups, it was nice how all of them were different and we all got something out of it. Then along the line the Vocal community split up and now there’s loads of them. That dosen’t mean that you can’t make a vocal group anymore, but I feel it’s impossible to be active in every single one of them. I imagine as I write, there is someone making a writing group now.

3. There’s a life outside of them.

I feel like Facebook groups are a dying trend. There’s group chats and other social media sites where people get more out of it.

We get so invested in writing and in Vocal, we must remember that there is life outside of it. We cannot afford to be burned out.

4. Drama is a turn-off.

There always seems to be something going on behind the scenes or between groups. So and so has blocked so and so and admins are resigning because they can’t deal with it anymore.

5. Pressure to read and comment on everything.

How many books have you read? Out of all of them, how many have you actually left a review on? I’ve read hundreds of books, but only left a review on the fraction of them. Just because they’re not being reviewed dosen’t mean that they are being read. Reviews take a lot of time to make. Even a simple comment can make a writer’s day.

6. Anxieties of not reading well enough.

Readers and writers in one community can be a blessing, but it can also be a messy one when a writer and reader disagrees with the content’s message.

7. Anxieties of not writing well enough.

This does not help when you have trolls and flamers about. They leave a lasting impact on writers and they give genuine critics a bad name.

8. Social Media switch off

Sometimes all we need is a switch off from social media. I feel more productive without it.

9. People underestimate how much time things take.

In a world where content is king, we are expected to do everything quick. We have to be productive everyday and write everyday as it’s the only way to succeed as a writer. Non-writers seem to think we can convert all our thoughts into writing then hit publish, then wait for it to rain money. We know that’s not how the writing world works at all.

Managing and taking part in groups count too.

10. Lack of purpose

I am getting overwhelmed with all the groups and link dropping. I feel like there’s no purpose in link dropping or forcing yourself to read something you have no interest in. Nor do I think it’s helpful to tell somebody to write something that’s popular or trendy when they have no knowledge or passion over it. We only get paid per reads, if we get paid per article it might have been a bit different.

11. A lot of people feel that Vocal have lost their touch.

The immense interest in the challenges thanks to the big money prizes have contribruted to the long waiting times. A lot of people have started writing on other sites, especially Medium. I am on both, but have more posts on Vocal than I have on Medium. I do cross-post.

A lot of the groups have removed Vocal from their name as people have found more satisfaction on there. The main reason I still have Vocal plus is because I’ve been given two years free from the Vocal team for my work.

Medium has a comment section that writers on Vocal have always been begging for. Whilst Medium does pay consistently for reads, they only pay for reads from premium members. Vocal on the other hand, pays for every single read you get. That’s why my Vocal earnings have always been higher than my Medium earnings.

I feel that the day that Vocal does introduce a comment section and a community section will be the day the vocal groups on Facebook die out. They will either adapt to become a general writing group or fade to obscurity.

I’m still here on Vocal. People come and go all the time. We’ll see how it goes.