Or Facebook, or Digg, or Reddit, or LinkedIn, or. . .
As writers, we need social media.
You don’t believe me.
I can hear you out there, telling me I’m wrong.
Look, I know it’s hip to hate the revolution. Really, I understand. I was that guy once. Wouldn’t sign up to Facebook, you can’t make me! I got better. Now, I still don’t like Facebook, specifically, but I’m on Twitter.
You think “I’m a writer, hermit life is the way,” right? Wrong. Increasingly, you need to be a leader of a group of devoted followers. You need people who want to hear what you have to say. Where do you make these connections?
Not as a hermit, that’s for damn sure.
There is good news. You can have the best of both worlds! Get to know people in your underwear, with a cup of your favorite caffeinated beverage next to you. Social media offers a way to live your own life, and connect with real people.
Now, I’m not going to say learning social media is easy. In fact, it’s chaos! Let me show you a picture.
That’s my first impression of Twitter the day I signed up.
It’s also what a lot of social media sites are like. So the best way is to dive right in!
I’ve found twitter friendly, and awesome. To be fair, I also downloaded Tweetdeck and use it to manage my feed a bit. I’d be overwhelmed trying to parse all the information I follow under other circumstances.
Get in, talk to people. There are so many great people out there willing to help out fellow writers, or gamers, or leaders (The three key categories I follow.). They’ve got good ideas, and like you, want to share them!
Okay, you still aren’t sure why you need to get into social media? Try out Kristen Lamb’s blog. This lady knows her subject and does a great job making it interesting.
Absolutely right. I love Twitter - apart from the platform-building aspect, it's also helped me find the best critique partner in the world and a number of beta readers. It's a fantastic tool.
ReplyDeleteAnd Kristen definitely knows her stuff - she's a genius, as well as being very friendly and approachable.
I've gotten addicted to Twitter & Facebook. Now I'm about to take the plunge into LinkedIn. Are you there too?
ReplyDeleteBTW, am loving the TweetDeck tutorials. Again, many thanks.
Anne: I've got to say, some of the people I connect with on Twitter really are fast becoming friends. Haven't found any beta readers via Twitter, yet, but I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later.
ReplyDeletePamela: I haven't personally tried LinkedIn, but I do know it's an oft cited network for the professional side of writing. I'll talk myself into it eventually! Thanks again, on the tutorials.
I love social media sites. Twitter, Facebook (a little less love, admittedly), GaiaOnline, Dailybooth, Stickam, Blogger, you name it.
ReplyDeleteGaia brought me my first readers/editor things. :3