I don't like to follow the herd or join fads. I didn't get a mobile phone (which first came out in '92) or a laptop (came out in the '80s) until about 2005 and didn't go on Facebook until about 2 years ago. I only joined up when I realized these things were definitely not fads and perhaps the "herd" knew what it was doing after all.
So at long last, I've made it onto Twitter.
At the moment I'm basically dazed and confused by the site, but gamely trying to learn. I'm also very surprised by how many creeps are over there. People you don't know will "follow" you and when you look at their page, you find vulgar pictures, or people trying to sell you something, or someone who just seems weird.
But I'm celebrating that I'm keep trying new things in my pursuit of marketing and literary success. (Coz, ya know, it's not about how well you write, but how well you sell what you write...)
(My new Twitter link is on the left sidebar, and I've put a Goodreads button under "Biggun" on the right sidebar. I'd really appreciate it if you hit that Goodreads button for me and clicked the Want-to-Read on Biggun's page!!)
Are there too many social media sites? How do you choose which to follow and which not to?
My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Katie @ TheCyborgMom
Celebrate The Small Things Sign-Up Linky:
Grab the Linky html-code here:
Foxy's Friday Freebies!
Foxy has been nosing around the net.
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
- Free short stories, novellas, and novels
- Giveaways for books and swag
- Free services for authors
Here are Foxy's suggestions for April 10, 2015:
Free $25 Amazon Gift Card – To celebrate the release of The Witch of Painted Sorrows (Historical/Paranormal/Suspense) by NYT bestselling author M.J. Rose, she’s giving away a $25 Amazon gift card via the entry form on France Tours blog. (ends May 1)
For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.
If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here! Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com
>
48 comments:
Congrats on taking the plunge. I doubt I will ever tweet. I am on facebook and actually I found a cousin and old pictures of my dad through Facebook so there are good things that happen. Ignore the freaks
It may be time for me to have a look at Twitter. I limit use because the I enjoy my home projects so much!
Congrats on the Twitter! Hope your weekend is fun!
I added "Biggun," and followed you on Twitter. I am on a lot of social media sites but I consolidate through my blog so I'm getting max use of them without going crazy. Every blog post I do is shared automatically to my Facebook fan page, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, LinkdIn and even a few more. It also auto feeds to my Amazon author page, my Goodreads and a few places I don't remember. So one post, a dozen shares or more. I also have Instagram on my phone, so during the day, once maybe, if I se anything of interest I snap a photo and share to a number of places the same. It's a lot of exposure for less work, and it gives me more time to try to produce something worth selling.
Blogger, Twitter, and Instagram are my favorites. I'll only be on FB sometimes. I deleted my Tumblr, LinkedIn, and a few other accounts because it was too much. If a site is popular, I join right away.
Welcome to Twitter! For me it was the lesser of two evils, as I felt the same about Facebook (not wanting to follow the masses) but I finally signed up about a year ago.
They're both great tools for promoting.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Welcome to Twitter! Hey, I've been there for five years and still don't know what I am doing.
I am very ambivalent to Facebook and Twitter, and I'm still not all that convinced they're as necessary as people make them out to be. Good luck with all those hashtags and @'s and whatnot!
It'll be fun.
Welcome, Lexa. I've been on Twitter for a while now. But Facebook? Not for me---ever. Don't have time for all of it. Barely keeping the blog going, meet you guys here once a week, and this girl has to work because I like to eat. LOL Have a great weekend.
LOL, welcome to the dark side that is Twitter! I had resisted it for a long time, then finally caved in 2011. I have a lot of fun with that site now, so hopefully you will, too! :)
So far, i haven't gotten to Facebook or Twitter, but i hope you have fun with it!
Don't think of Twitter as making friends, like on Facebook. Think of it more as listening in to a jolly conversation and being encouraged to dip in with your opinion. That way, you'll get the most out of it and not feel threatened when someone weird follows you! And don't fear not following someone back if you don't want to - that's just you moving tables when a dodgy bloke sits next to you!
Congrats on getting onto Twitter! I'll have to follow you, =) Yeah, there are some weird people for sure on Twitter, but it can be pretty useful/hilarious at times, too!
I've been on Twitter for a few years now and I'm still dazed and confused by it LOL. I keep saying I'm going to get better at using it but....
I don't really think I'm cut out for social media, I'm hopeless.
Not yet into twitter account...I get frustrated even with the Facebook stuff.
Congrats on taking the twitter plunge - I'm on there sporadically, and I learned how to pre-post via a free service with buffer so sometimes I'm there but not really there . . . just to make it all the more confusing. :)
There are definitely too many sites, and I can barely keep up with the ones that I'm on. I can say that although my audience (mostly teens for some of my books) is drifting away from facebook to instagram, tumblr, and twitter, I'm still going to stay there since I have a lot of family and friend contacts through it.
Thanks for hosting, Lexa! You rock! And, thanks for the Friday Freebies!
As an author, I know that it is essential for me to be involved with social media. That's where my readers are. I'm active on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Instagram is huge now, but I'm not active there.
Precious Monsters
Don't feel bad Lexa, Ive been on Twitter for a little while and I still don't know what it's good for.
I'm on Facebook, but I'm not that active. I find it quite useful for keeping track of what's going on locally: gigs and so on. What I find odd is when parents want to be FB friends with their children. Back off! I don't do Twitter: CBA.
So happy to see you on Twitter!
And that's a great thing to celebrate too!
Welcome to twitter. (Another one of those strange writer people just followed you.) Yes, there are way too many social media sites. And new ones keep popping up.
I hate twitter. I find it superficial and impersonal. I only have it for my blog. I hope it works as a good marketing too for you and that the creeps back off LOL Enjoy your weekend Lexa!
TheCyborgMom
Welcome to Twitter! It's my favorite social media by far. I love that it's so quick and short and snappy. I've had some fantastic conversations with writers on Twitter, and even played virtual rock,paper, scissors! Not to mention the amount of information I get by being on there. I'm pretty sure I find out more breaking news on Twitter than from any other source.
I'm on Twitter, too, but I almost never use it because I find it confusing as well.
That's good news you signed up for Twitter, Lexa. It's all part of networking isn't it? It does seem necessary. As unpublished, I'm watching from the fence, wondering why and how to use it. Good luck with the learning curve!
People keep telling me I need to be on Twitter, but so fat I haven't dipped my toe into the world of tweeting. I'll be curious to see how it goes for you. Successful, I hope.
I was so excited when I saw you joined twitter :) Twitter is prob my fav social media outlet, since you can just pass through, scroll through the feed, and not see a million requests to play online games lol. I basically hate FB these days, I don't get pinterest at all, and Instagram annoys me to no end. I don't know how people keep up with so many sites at once, I'd flip!
I am usually not one to follow trends either. I still only have a cell phone to be used in car emergencies (doesn't do anything other than make calls). I am on twitter and have been trying to learn more about it. I have been having some aha moments- but I still have a lot to learn. Good luck and I will be following you- though not in a creepy way. :)
~Jess
I started using Twitter a year ago because over at the A to Z blog they said it would help if you had some social media sites for people to follow you at. I haven't gotten a lot of the creepy people around. (Though when you do come across them, click "more" on one of their tweets, and then click mute. It won't block them, but you won't see anything from them.)
I also got on Google+ a while back, and while Google's way of promoting it was rather obnoxious, I like using it.
Don't have accounts on Instagram or Pinterest, and if it wasn't for my friends, I'd probably delete my Facebook account.
Haven't gotten into Twitter, though I have an account. I heard it's mostly writers promoting to other writers anyway.
I'm adding some, dropping other social media sites. I only have so much time and I need to go where I find the most interest in others and visa versa.
I'm beginning to hate how many social media sites there are, and not to mention the writing sites like writing.com and wattpad and kboards and .... it's tiring to keep up. I visit twitter every now and then, but not often.
For me, yes there are too many. But that's if you try to manage them all. Pick three and go with that. Blogging, Facebook, and Twitter is what I do. Oh, and Goodreads. So make that four.
others go with Instagram and interest and Facebook. So go with what floats your boat. Just don't try to do them all.
It's great to see you on twitter:) Yep, way too many platforms out there... I only focus on a small handful and try to avoid new ones unless they really take off or I'll get no writing done.
Twitter is a tricky one to get into at first as it can take a while to get connections, but much better than Facebook for connecting with people you don't know yet. I tend to try just about every fad that comes along and then ditch those that don't seem to work.
Happy tweeting! :-)
I followed you on Twitter. It boggled my mind in the beginning!!!
Welcome to Twitter, Lex! There are many weirdos, but I try to ignore and/or avoid them. There are also a lot of writers, agents, literary people, etc...to be found, and it's a super fast way to connect--140 characters takes no time at all. Along with my blog, Twitter is my primary public source of marketing/connections. I have Facebook, but that's still largely private, although I have connected with a number of writing peeps through that platform as well. I guess you have to play in a number of sandboxes until you find the ones that are right for you.
New things are always intimidating to me, Lexa. But you are learning new things so that's a good thing. Hope you're enjoying the weekend.
Way too many social media sites for me. I haven't tried to figure out Twitter yet, other than to have my blog posts shared there. I have a hard enough time just keeping up with the blog.
Yay! Welcome to the strange and magical world of Twitter. I happen to be a Twitter columnist, so let me know if you have any questions or if I can help ease you into it. :)
Yay! I found you on Twitter!
Cheers and happy social media trails to you!
I personally find Twitter the most difficult one to engage on. It's piecemeal, and I just can't connect into it. I prefer FB, G+ and Pinterest.
I added Biggun to my TBR list on Good reads. It sounds fascinating.
In my humble opinion there are too many media sites. I'm on several but just do not have the time to visit them all regularly. At least if I want to write, which I do. My two cents worth.
Have a great week.
Welcome to Twitter! I'll stop by and say hello :)
I'm a terrible Twitter. I only ever add info about interesting blogs. I will add a link if I think it's worth people's time to stop in and take a peek. I use FB and a few online message boards. After all these years I'm still not sure how to use these social networks. I like the basic, like blogging and comments. Pretty pathetic, I know.
Hey Lexa.
You might not realise this but I always share your posts via all those gosh, darn fun social "notworking" sites. I follow you, like an adoring starstruck fan, all over the social scene.
Consider your new Twitter link checked out.
Gary :)
Wahoo! I just followed you on Twitter. Glad you're on there!
You're ahead of me. I have my blog and Facebook, the latter I joined primarily because my kids were posting pictures of my grandkids on there and I want to see them. I know I'm going to have to break down and join Twitter but I'm just not ready for something else to learn.
Post a Comment