Meljean, why aren’t you on Twitter?
Note: I originally published this on Facebook, but not everyone is on Facebook so I’m adding it here on my website. Also I’ve been asked to reactivate my Twitter account so the archive is there, and I did that. But although @meljean exists, I’m not logging into that account to check replies or DMs. If you have questions or concerns, PLEASE CONTACT ME! I’ve seen a few rumors and theories about why I abandoned Twitter that didn’t come from me and aren’t at all accurate, and I’m happy to answer questions about my decision. But the tl;dr version is that I just needed to shrink my online footprint for mental health reasons.
Just a super quick note: Toward the middle of February, I began deleting a couple of social media accounts—Twitter, Goodreads, etc. Since then I’ve had some readers asking if everything was okay (❤️ thank you for asking!) and I am!
I just found myself having difficulty ignoring a lot of the social media accounts, so I’d compulsively check stuff and lose hours, and because of the number of people I followed/followed me, THERE WAS SO MUCH GOING ON. Even if I said “I’ll only check my replies,” I’d see some new drama pop up, and then down the rabbit hole I would go. I used (and still use) site blockers, but then I’d end up turning them off when something came up that I really wanted to follow, or I’d go around those site blockers.
And all this really did was add stress and anxiety because I’d waste time when I should have been writing, plus the added anxiety of the topic itself. Twitter has a constant stream of info coming at you from people who really do have a lot of interesting and important things to say. But I wasn’t doing a good job of prioritizing my own mental health and needs.
(And ha, this was explicitly demonstrated to be the right move, because I deleted my Twitter right before the plagiarism/ghostwriting scandal erupted, and although I of course followed it…not having a Twitter account that is connected to so much of romancelandia made it all much easier check in on the few people I still follow, then go. So I was informed but not obsessively checking, and it made a huge difference.)
Facebook is much easier to do the same, because I can just check my notifications and go. There is a timeline but I don’t pay much attention to it other than a quick scroll. Mostly I just see everyone posting Momoa pics, check in on a few pages and groups, and that’s it. So that’s why I kept this account here; so readers can contact me if they want to, but mostly it’s a lot less stressful.
Anyway, I did it pretty quietly because I didn’t want it to be a thing where people wondered “did she leave over this? Or that?” when really it was a personal decision and nothing to do with anyone else. But since readers have worried and sent me messages, I just want to clarify: Yep, I’m okay. Just trying to keep anxiety and stress to a minimum, and I wish that I could manage it better as it was, because I really love interacting with everyone. But after years of fighting my own tendencies and compulsion to check check check, the solution turned out to be decreasing my online space.
❤️