Not. Not for me anyway.
I read several articles about Twitter this past week and most of them seemed favorable towards authors using Twitter. One article even stated that a woman got a book contract because of her Twittering. While it may have worked for her, I see several pitfalls for authors who Twitter. Before signing up, ask yourself:
1) Do I have anything of value to offer?
I can't even get BlogCatalog to list this blog yet because it has so few posts and my memoir isn't ready to be discussed at this point so I don't really have anything to Twitter about so far besides any new posts on my blog. And the one thing I did read consistently was that people who just promote themselves are considered to be annoying Twitterers and are soon ignored.
2) Is the time spent learning how Twitter works worth it?
Twitter is supposed to be easy but for the technologically challenged, like me, it could take hours or even days to figure it out. And then, there's still no guarantee that you will generate a great deal of 'traffic.' While I might be able to use Twitter to my advantage if I took the time to really study it, I'd rather spend that time writing. I get distracted easily enough as it is.
3) Can you convey an idea in one sentence?
With only 140 characters per Tweet, it's far too short for a diver like me to get into the really deep stuff.
4) What are you using Twitter for?
From what I have discovered thus far, the majority of authors who use it are 'testing the waters' to see what their followers do or don't like. To me, authenticity is more important than popularity. While some writers can write for money and still keep their integrity, I feel like I'm selling my soul for the sale.
My advice? If you have time, enjoy socializing and are great at networking, Twitter may be for you. I may even have to eat my words one day if I decide to use it too but for now, chronicling the memories takes precedence.
Until next week!
RJ
4 comments:
Hey RJ-I looked into Twitter but couldn't figure it out. It all seemed so tedious and complicated. I guess I'm just lazy. I prefer blog-surfing, reading posts by good writers and interesting people and making friends that way. How's your writing coming along? Are you on BC yet? I just added some new aphorisms this week if you've got some free time.
OK, I'm going to have to display my ignorance here. What is BC?
BTW - a friend of mine just sent me some stats from a recent survey conducted on Twitter. Turns out the majority of it really IS a waste of time. Check this out:
- 40.5% was classified as pointless babble
- 37.5% was conversational
- 8.7% had pass-along value
- 5.85% was self promotion
- 3.75% was spam
With less than 10% being worthwhile, seems best to avoid it after all.
Here's a link to the article if you want more info:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8204842.stm
And here's a link to the study:
http://www.pearanalytics.com/2009/twitter-study-reveals-interesting-results-about-usage/
I've been on Twitter for almost 2 years and I love it. I've met people, shared ideas, heard news before it hit the AP, and have gained readers to my blog. I'm a bit of a writer myself, but I'm so much more than that too... and those parts of me are what's on twitter. If you ever decide to join up, I'll be looking forward to your tweets!
I know some people have gotten a LOT out of Twitter and I'm glad to know someone who it's helped.
Funny enough, one of my brothers used to rage about how much he hated Twitter and would never use it. Then, a few days after I closed my account with them, he opened one. So, who knows, I may be back one day. If I do, I'll come to an expert b/c I sure didn't get anywhere on my own!
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