I’ve been retired since April 1 of this year. No, it wasn’t an April Fool joke. I really retired. I was to get married in June and I needed two months to relax and plan my wedding ceremony, even though it would be small.
It seems that since I retired I’ve done quite a lot:
I did get married.
I did some traveling with my new husband.
I wrote a couple of short stories.
I rewrote a novel.
I moved most of an apartment into my husband’s house, already full of 40 years of him.
And I spent/spend time on Facebook.
I’ve been thinking about that.
Why Facebook?
Why not just read my emails and move on?
Well, for one I figured I should “build a platform” for the book that will be coming out. So I needed an “online presence” and Facebook seemed to be the place, along with Goodreads, for writers and readers. I found Facebook (pre-Timeline) easy to navigate so it became my “go to” place to communicate.
But why spend so much time on my regular FB page along with platform building?
I had to think about that.
The cute cat pictures?
Yes, but there had to be more.
The fact that best-selling author Virginia Kantra was one of my FB Friends?
Getting close.
Contact with diverse people all over the world?
Bingo!
I realized that when I retired I lost daily contact with all different types of people: young, old, male, female.
Young men who just started on building families.
Divorced men buying their first motorcycles.
Divorced women fighting with their sons.
Married women who love their husbands.
Accountants, nurses, administrators, doctors, dietitians…
I still had my writers’ groups but I only see them monthly at the most.
When I retired I lost a wide group of people in a variety of professions, people who were interesting and people with whom I interacted daily.
I have a wonderful husband but I also need that daily contact with people.
So FB has given me that.
When my beloved Huusker-do died last week, I posted his picture and received so many sympathetic posts I had to stop reading. One FB friend messaged me her cell phone number in case I needed someone to talk to.
I’ve met a couple of FB friends face to face and found new friends off FB.
So I’m on FB off and on all day.
I’m building my platform.
I’m also building my friend base.
Mitzi Flyte 