Today, I want to try something different.
I’ve never claimed to know everything about writing or publishing, but I’ve been committed to the craft for a long time. I’ve been writing almost every day for nineteen years.
However, on this subject, I’m purely a student. I don’t understand it and am reaching out to you in the Mudpie Writing community for expertise.
What I want to learn more about is…Twitter.
I don’t get it.
Isn’t Facebook Enough?
I’m not on Twitter and feel fine with that, but so many of my published-author friends keep telling me:
You’ve got to get on Twitter!
You’d be fantastic on Twitter!
You will love Twitter!
I’ll admit, I resisted Facebook for the longest time for Mudpie Writing and it is fun. I enjoy the spontaneous, free-flowing comments on little snippets that are too short for a blog posts.
Sure, it takes just a few minutes everyday to maintain. However, those minutes over the course of a week add up to more time – writing time.
Do I really want to add Twitter to the mix?
From the conversations I’ve had with zealous Twitter fans, here’s my understanding.
Twitter – Pros
1. Accessibility – You can follow and connect in real time to your favorite authors, as well as agents and editors with whom you’d like to work. Now, you can learn what Stephen King ate for lunch, what novels Awesome Agent and Excellent Editor love. (I’ll admit, that is pretty cool).
2. Industry News – Whatever is happening in the publishing world (good or bad) today, you can be up to date, firsthand.
3. It’s Easy – Since each Tweet (Twitter message) is 140 characters or less, you can send a tweet in under one minute. That’s appealing to a technologically-challenged gal like me.
Twitter – Cons
1. Wasted Writing Time – This is reason enough not participate onto Twitter. Ever. There are only 24 hours in each day. I already feel weighted by so many responsibilities, why would I want to add another time-suck to my life?
2. Twitter Addiction – Seriously. I have friends who love it so much that they are on Twitter all the time. I struggle enough with balance as is. I worry about inviting more chaos into my life.
3. It’s Massive – Millions of tweets are sent each day. Each person seems to follow hundreds of profiles. Standing out in that sort of crowded arena makes me feel tired.
What to Do?
I have a habit of acting first and thinking later. I’m still undecided about Twitter, so I plan to stay on the Twitter sidelines for now, but really what to hear your thoughts.
Twitter. Do you like it? Hate it? You do not have to be on Twitter to join this discussion.
Please leave a comment. I’d love to chat.
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Hello Marcy, I thought you might like this free guide from bookbaby, it is short but covers everything you need to know about twitter and why it may sometimes be better than facebook:
http://www.bookbaby.com/free-guide/twitter-guide?Source=TWITTER-BBWEB&Dest=http://www.pages04.net/discmakers-cdbaby/Web_Leads_Masterlist/Twitter_Guide
And it might make the decission easier 🙂 Hope it helps.
Oh, WOW, Luana. This is excellent, Luana! I will definitely check this out and appreciate you sharing this with me and the entire MPW community. Thanks!
Thanks for the link Luana as I have not opted into twitter yet. Like Marcy I’m so far holding out, however I do hear a lot regarding using all avenues of publicizing and being acceptable to ones audience.
Even my husbands and my business where we live, we are re-doing our website and using someone who knows how to “connect the dots” from all the advertising and social media, so that we are ‘seen’ by more people. I learned that we must have a dynamic website not a static one, i.e. Regular blogging and / or adding content so that search engines will not pass us by.
I’m eager to hear what others have to say about twitter etc. Thanks for the question Marcy..
Hi Ann,
That’s smart you and your husband are making your presence known on social media, making it engaging and ESPECIALLY seeking help if that’s not your expertise. I’ll let you know what I decide about Twitter
Yes please do tell us what you do and how you get on… I guess we will have to follow you to find out too won’t we
Will do, Ann!
Thanks for the link, Luana. I’m looking forward to learning more about Twitter.
Norm – Luana’s suggested link is great. DO check it out!
I’m on both twitter and facebook and find that I get more traffic to my web-site from twitter. Having said that, I don’t spend a lot of time reading other posts. I glance at them briefly but rarely follow through with them. I guess I’m not using them to the ultimate either.
Hmmm, interesting, Mary, that you get more traffic from Twitter. I hadn’t even thought of that. Twitter is such a foreign concept to me, but I appreciate your two cents!
Hey Marcy
I enjoy social media, in general, with Twitter certainly being a personal favorite (Facebook is my ETERNAL favorite 😛 ). And I believe Twitter would be good for you, given that you have already created a community around yourself. Newbies like me have to work harder.
My favorite feature on Twitter is the Twitter Chat – you have a ‘chat’ for everything: #BlogChat, #BookChat, #FoodChat – lol (okay, these hashtags are not genuine, but you get the point). Chats are fantastic to meet new people, especially when you chat during a live Webinar event. I enjoy the energy during a live Event. Most events have a hashtag, and you can follow the conversation, join the conversation and meet new people just by participating in these live Events or chats.
But, yes, in an era of time-suckers, figure out if you want to add another tool to your arsenal (I would give you the green light for Twitter!). Now, my only pet peeve? Twitter ain’t as good as Facebook to engage with your followers, unless you are some super-duper-star! LOL It is wonderful to find new articles, connect with celebrities and follow real-time events though, so do check it out.
Oh – and set an alarm! 😉 Twitter is a rabbit hole 😛
Much love
Kittoo
As always, Kitto, you’re a wealth and delight of information. I never even HEARD of Twitter Chat, so that’d good to know. I appreciate your opinion!
Full disclosure: I hate Twitter. If you have the time (I don’t) and know-how (I don’t) maybe it will help you sell your books. But people don’t go on Twitter to buy, they go on Twitter to chat. I don’t have time to chat (he said as he chatted on this thread) 🙁 So Marcy, if you figure Twitter out, please let me know.
YOU are a straight-shooter, RJ. I like that.
Somewhere I read that Twitter is like a big party. If you walked into a party full of strangers and yelled, “BUY MY BOOK!”
Would anyone buy your book?
No. Because you’re being rude.
However, you walk in and get to know people, ask questions about themselves, that’s different.
It’s my understanding that Twitter is about connection and engagement (and, as you pointed out – chatting). Get to know people and they see you’re a great guy/gal, THEN they’re more apt to buy your book.
Thanks for taking time to chat.
I have been active on Twitter, and I have been non-active on Twitter. Truthfully, I don’t see a difference in traffic to my website, sales on books or any effect at all. I’ve used paid advertising on Twitter where tens of thousands were to see the tweets … to no avail. As I understand it, unless someone is logged in and watching their account, the brief second that my tweet hits their screen is the only opportunity to be seen. Perhaps I am wrong in this assessment as others seem to have differing experiences. I’m looking forward to reading the information provided in the link that Luana gave.
Thanks for your honest assessment, Norm. I’m already learning so much about Twitter and can’t wait for more insights.
You also bring up a good point. Just because I get on Twitter, does not mean I have to stay on there for life. If it’s not right for me, I can always close my account.
I resist Twitter. First of all, if it is called Twitter, why are the messages not called Twits? Rather than Tweets. But most of all, I object to the time. It is time I could be writing, yes, like now. I do not wish to become addicted to another social medium. And even if I am not writing, I think I can find better use of my time. Reading a good book. Writing an actual letter.
You just said so beautifully all my fears and concerns. What’s really making me want to also at least TRY Twitter is that people I admire and respect are saying it’d be a great fit for me.
But, then that’s more writing time gone….
I have to say, I used to really hate Twitter. just because of the name. I wish it were called something else. It seems stupid do be sending tweets –and does that make me a Twit? But I truly, sincerely despise Facebook even more than that for so many reasons. And I knew that as an author/designer I needed a real way to promote my brand. That’s why I looked into Twitter and Pinterest – and got some pleasant surprises. Advantages for me to using Twitter: it’s fast, not so much of a timesucker as FB and you do connect more directly with people you’re trying to reach for professional purposes. It takes much less writing I think than those interminable FB updates. And it’s easier to locate the things you really want to read and track. Best of all I’d say is Pinterest, at least for the ADD types like me who just don’t have much patience with reading all that stuff on FB.
Fabulous info, Carla. Okay, so for you….Twitter is MUCH faster than Facebook and easier.
It’s funny that you mention Pinterest. I have many friends who use it like a visual library that they devour.
I. CAN’T. DO. PINTEREST. It visually overwhelms me and shuts me down.
However, I love that we all get to be who we are, so you keep on Pinteresting and I’ll keep FBing and MAYBE I’ll see you on Twitter. 🙂
Thanks, Marcy! Yeah, Pinterest works really well for some but it definitely isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. If your content is very visual (or you can make it visual) then maybe. I’m a photographer and designer too so it’s useful for me. It’s interesting that you mention feeling overwhelmed about it and that it shuts you down. That’s one of the main reasons I hate Facebook. But Twitter lets you keep it short and sweet. Great blog, by the way.
Ahh, you’re a photographer and designer, too. That makes sense why you love Pinterest so much.
I’m so glad you like the blog and appreciate you saying so. Thanks again for stopping by, Carla. I really appreciate it.
I’m one who finds Twitter utterly resistive (although I have an account, @kitpascoe). I don’t use a smartphone, don’t check my account on my Kindle or laptop. I like FB because you can actually develop friendships with people you might otherwise never meet, but I don’t think that could be said of Twitter. Life is just too short to waste it twittering, IMO.
Okay, Lisa, so you’re totally PRO Facebook. The time waste definitely concerns me about Twitter since I’m already on Facebook, so I TRULY appreciate you offering me your opinion. Thanks!
I’m pro-Facebook for personal profiles and groups, but not so much for “pages,” which only get seen if you are constantly “promoting” them (i.e., paying to have your posts actually appear in people’s news feeds).
That absolutely makes sense, Lisa. Thanks.
I personally love Twitter as a substitute for a news feed (I follow a very eclectic group of tweeters), but I don’t sweat it if I am away from there for a day or two. On the other hand, I have never jumped on the Facebook bandwagon, primarily due to their constantly changing privacy settings. I use Google+ and LinkedIn the way many people use FB and I’m much more comfortable with the type of social sharing that takes place on those two sites. I’m also on Pinterest for personal projects (and love it). Since I write historical fiction, Pinterest helps with research, but I’m not sure how valuable it would be for publicity.
I do follow many of my favorite authors on Twitter, and I can always scroll back to check older tweets, or search by the person’s Twitter handle. That way, if they are guest posting somewhere, or publishing something new on their blog, I get the notice and can follow the link to the post. One other advantage to Twitter is that I can easily help with publicizing you by simply re-tweeting (with or without additional comments) anything you tweet. That re-tweet takes only a couple of keystrokes. And being restricted to 140 characters helps me “write tight”. (I’m not a big fan of “ur” vs. “your” or “8” for “ate” ad infinitum, so I get to practice creative word choice when tweeting.)
Any social media activity has the potential to suck up writing time, and each platform has its merits/faults. Time management is vital.
One last comment regarding Twitter–if you don’t like it, the account is much easier to close than FB seems to be. Whatever you decide Marcy, I want to thank you for a great and informative site! Good luck and best wishes.
So many great and wonderful insights, Linda Kay. Thank you so much. You really helped explain a lot. I genuinely appreciate it.
It’s funny how different personalities are because you say love Twitter, but don’t sweat it if you miss or day or two. I’m afraid I’m more of an EXTREME personality and I worry if I get on there, I’ll feel frantic if I’m not on there EVERY. DAY.
Hmmm, we’ll see. Thanks.
I tend to have more interaction with people on Twitter than any other social media tool. Guess that makes me Team Twitter. However, I have to force myself to be disciplined, never allowing more than an hour a day to be spent on social media.
Twitter, like FB, can sync to your blog. This is nice, because it is a guaranteed post without having to log on.
The biggest con with Twitter is the 140 characters. Too little space for one who has much to say.
Let me know if you join Twitter. I have already stalked for you on there 🙂
I already have a Twitter stalker out there and I’m not even on it yet?! AWESOME! You’ve made me feel like a rockstar, Amanda! 🙂
Thanks for giving me your two cents on Twitter. I’ll let you know what I decide.
Totally on the same side as you. I don’t understand the twitter mania and I am afraid it will be addictive and time-consuming. Recently I deleted my facebook and skype from my smartphone, cause I feel it is just spam there. Now I am in social media just at home and I feel awesome about it.
Wow, that’s AWESOME, Dimana. I like how you’re still participating in social media, but you’ve set firm boundaries to keep it from getting out of hand. I’ll let you know what I decide about Twitter.