And so to Twitter, which I joined in August. Another steep learning curve, as I had previously been very dismissive of it, thanks to the actions of certain 'celebs' who tweeted everything from the contents of their toilet bowl to the contents of their lunch plate.
As a cautious 'fledgling' I decided to join via my laptop - tho' truth is my elderly Nokia Mum-phone' refuses to let me near the internet anyway, so it was rather a default choice. Also, that meant I had to limit my visits to certain times of the day, thus not pandering to the Inner Addict.
Twitter is fun. I am surprised how quickly you can find little groups: I'm a 'member' of the YA Fics: we hang around in a virtual bus shelter and strop. I'm also a member of the distinguished older brigade, all of whom bar me have lovely grandchildren. We tweet about life, philosophy, music, art, (actually we tweet about how knackered we feel most of the time, and how we need drink).
I love the fact that you can tweet to people all over the world. I'm following/being followed by a writer who lives on a boat in Rotterdam, a rider in New Zealand, a lovely Texan writer, and a whole bunch of American Tweeters, for whom I graciously adjust my spelling to help them out.
I've also had the fun experience of being followed by a couple of male writers who clearly thought I was my Twitter avatar ( I use the ebook cover) and started 'flirting' with me. And, since tweeting about my attempts to get to grips with legal writing, I'm currently being followed by several lawyers. (They laugh; it's not kind).
Yes, Twitter can be annoying - there are those who only use it to push their stuff. But you can always ignore them - principally by not buying their stuff. But once again, I am struck by the niceness of people I've met up with. And I've discovered, serendipitously, some lovely blogs on the way. So, I'd like to give Twitter a 'thumbs-up'. How about you?
It's fun - once you weed out all the self-promoters and general cranks. Like you, I log in from a laptop - and am glad I do. I don't know how those who connect via their phones manage to have a life, they seem to be twittering so often! This works for me - I dip in over breakfast, and sometimes at tea time. If there are gems in the meantime, sorry, I miss them!
ReplyDeleteI've been on Twitter for some time and love the little groups of 'friends' that have built up. Meeting in person is quite an experience. An artist invited us to his private view and he said I was exactly as he'd imagined. So were they to me. I shall follow you now, if I've not already.
ReplyDeleteI had this with the RNA - lovely to 'see' people. And surprising how 'well' one already knew them. But then, we are mainly writers... might not be the same for other tweeting communities.
DeleteGreat post. I love Twitter but you have to be careful about getting addicted definitely. Because of work (how dare my job get in the way) I don't get on there as much as I like but have made some lovely people through both twitter and blogging. I'd actually consider them good friends now.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of the car! It's so lovely!
Kate :)
Hello!! Guess what - I tweeted a link to this post! You know how much I love tweeting and FBing everything I do - haven't lowered myself to toilet action yet but frequently comment on food! And I've met you, Carol! What more can I say?
ReplyDeleteMandy :)
And you too, lovely friend. And don't we have FUN?
DeleteI love Twitter, as you know! It can be very addictive.
ReplyDeleteOh Yes! Like FB, and blogging, and all the great stuff my mentor introduced me to!!
DeleteDidn't know there were little groups - I find it mostly promo with the odd gem or news from someone I know,
ReplyDeleteThey're not official, Fenealla - they just emerge organically.
DeleteCarol, I so agree with you. I confess I joined Twitter to promote my writing - demands of the publisher and all that - and like you, I was very hesitant and almost in denial about it for quite a while (I still only do it on my laptop). However, I have met you through tweeting (yay!!) and Jo, and best of all, I've found your blogs (always my preferred medium). So, yes, I am a tweeter now. Still very limited, but I like the contact it gives me to other writers, other blogs and all sorts of interesting stuff on the way. I like it much more than Facebook, in fact. It gets my thumbs up!
ReplyDeleteI agree. And you get the odd mention!!!
DeleteTwitter rocks! I love it, and have made many writerly friends since I joined. I've even met up with a few of them on 'tweet ups' where we have enjoyed real life banter over tea and cake...
ReplyDeleteI found myself on several 'lists' and have made friends all over the world, I set up my own list, UKwriters, as a way of getting news, views and happenings out to writers in the UK.
And if you blog, its a fabulous way of getting your posts publicised to the world.
Never underestimate the power of Twitter.
Twitter is fun.
So, you, um, don't like the self-promotion bit, am I right? Carol, I'm really sorry - if I'd known that I wouldn't have RTd all your tweets about your book - HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!! I jest, my dear! Fo'sho (innit), I wouldn't sell books without it, but it's given me loads more - I've actually made friends I might one day MEET - I'd never have known any other writers without it. I find out about all manner of things - and I READ so much interesting stuff, too. Love all odd little articles like this (I bloody hate that 'blog' word) - and lots of people read the ones I write, too!!! When I go off on one, people read it!!!
ReplyDeleteAs far as the books go - come on, now, I bet I can list the writers who didn't start to use Twitter as a way of promoting their books on the fingers of one hand. It's just that the sensible ones know that it HAS to be about more, or it doesn't work, anyway. It's one of the reasons why I hate all this tweet scheduling - when I put my book tweets on I'm having a 'Twitter session', which includes chatting to people and reading posts such as this one, looking at photos, articles, whatever - you don't get to do that if all you are doing is programming in promotional tweets.
I find I like it much more than Facebook (though nothing will ever replace MySpace in its glory days); it's more intelligent, I reckon. Well, you get marginally less LOLs, anyway. Works for me.
You know what I mean by promos, TT, stop kvetching! We all do it, BUT we chat too, that's the difference.
DeleteJo,it's just as well you put a full stop where you did in your first line. Terry ,no Carol NEVER does any self promotion on twitter,ha ha!
ReplyDeleteYes Carol I love twittering, I even wrote a blog post about it called Twitterific Voices,you should read it,ha ,ha, self promotion. Love tweeting with you and if it wasn't for twitter no one would be reading my blog and I would never have met some love writers who Ive even had a real coffee with.
Yup - you, TT, TM and Val are some of the really special people I met on Twitter. And there's a whole world more...yaay.
DeleteI love Twitter! I met you x x x
ReplyDeleteYup. Meeting me makes it all worth while (!!)
DeleteI love Twitter! I met you x x x
ReplyDeleteI like Twitter sometimes, but do get fed up with the constant stream of 'Buy My Books', so I try to keep my use to short bursts. And discussions about cake.
ReplyDeleteI found Twitter confusing at first, but now I far prefer it to Facebook, probably because I use it incorrectly (according to my marketer). I'm not really interested in using it to make a sales pitch; instead, I like it for the instant response gratification. I've made 'friends' worldwide because of Twitter, and I relish the days when we manage worldwide, real-time conversations. For example, last week I had a most stimulating discussion of Sharia Law with a gentleman in London, a young woman in Canada, an Irishman, and two other Americans from different regions of my country. How else can you achieve that without a ton of planning? Two of my very good friends, one in Australia and one in Ireland, and I regularly 'meet' in the morning. I've yet to tote the kids to school, my Aussie friend is winding down from her workday, and my Irish friend is has just picked up her kids from school--it works out perfectly!
ReplyDeleteI'm not fond of those who use Twitter to constantly push their books/whatever product. Gets boring. I like getting to know people, and letting them know me.
I love connecting with people on Twitter. It's fast, which suits my schedule. I'm deep in edits for myself and clients right now. I can also keep up with who's doing what very quickly.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Carol, as usual. I love Twitter, even though I don't use it properly - rarely seem to have time to 'converse'. BTW Will says hi!
ReplyDeleteYep, I love twitter.
ReplyDeleteIt is too fast sometimes, but I like the ease of being able to pop in when I like. The downside is missing some great tweets, but it is easy to catch up with tweeters.
I like to be able to connect with authors, readers, bloggers etc.
I don't tend to follow many celebs.
Also, I met you there and am collecting Carols to follow LOL
carol
DizzyC
Collecting Carols is always good!
DeleteOh, Carol, you made my week. I garnered a mention on your fabulous blog! (for everyone who's not Carol, I'm the 'lovely Texan writer') How sweet.
ReplyDeleteI too love Twitter. I've got tweeps from Austrailia to the UK and all across the good ol' US. It's absolutely wonderful. I really just can't imagine life without it - and I've only been on since July '12.
Have a good day, my Brit friend, and I will tweet with you soon.
I agree entirely. I love that I can chat with you all whenever I want. It's like a permanent meet-up at the local cafe.
ReplyDeleteGetting a strong thumbs up, ladies. And yes, with a couple of exceptions, you are all Twitter friends - and good ones at that!
ReplyDeleteI found my sci-fi publisher through a Twitter chat I happened upon, so that alone makes me love it. I post once or twice a day, either about my writing day or to share something I think is cool. Occasionally I get involved in a convo about something.
ReplyDeleteIn defense of those who self-promote there, it's hard to resist when you have a new release, although stats I've seen show it is not an effective avenue for stirring up sales. I'm always curious to see what others are working on. But it's a drag when my Twitter feed is nothing but "buy my book" from hundreds and hundreds of authors.
It is! However, maybe the benefits outweigh the downers. Like, we get to meet and chat!
DeleteI was hesitant about Twitter because I did not get it but now I am a convert!
ReplyDelete