I just want a content alert system. Tell me when my author's new book is out. I don't care about the con appearances or the awards or the community drama or the writing update. Tell me when the album is out. I don't care that the band is on tour or they traded out a drummer or they have a new interview on YouTube.
Right now there's no way to immediately find out about the stuff from people I like without exposing myself to the cloud of bullshit surrounding their lives.
I think you need to go to whoever has the motive to provide only the information you require. So for the author's new book (with none of the trivia of their lives) you could follow the author on Amazon and they'll notify you when they have a new title out because that's how Amazon makes its money.
To be notified about a musician's new album, you could follow them on Spotify (I do this and Spotify gives me an automatic playlist of all my favorite artists' new music.)
If you go to Twitter or Facebook, their motive is to keep you hanging around every day for each piece of gossip, so you'd need to avoid those.
Right now there's no way to immediately find out about the stuff from people I like without exposing myself to the cloud of bullshit surrounding their lives.