I confess I am slightly at a loss as to its advantages. There are so many so-called social networking opportunities and I am less than convinced about most of them. For instance, I have a FaceBook page and as my dear daughter, Rebecca, wrote when it was first announced, 'Welcome to another way to completely waste your time.'
I did point out the issue of the split infinitive but you get her point.
Now please don't regard me as a Luddite - I was one of the first to welcome the arrival of the mechanised loom. I recognise the importance of marketing in all its diverse forms, and they don't come more diverse than at the present time. What confuses me is how to evaluate the worth of the various social networks.
First there was Friends Reunited, then MySpace, rapidly followed in no particular order by MSN, Skype, FaceBook, YouTube, Blogs, and doubtlessly many others I know not of, and now Twitter.
I could easily spend my life building up my social networks. I too could have six hundred friends on FaceBook (none of whom I have met or am ever likely to meet) as opposed to my current total of eleven (all of whom I have met and regard as genuine friends). That, however, would leave me no time to write, which would be the object of developing these networks in the first place.
Perhaps I am missing something - not in a physical sense though if it turned out this was the case, I wouldn't be at all surprised - but I need to be convinced about twittering.
6 comments:
Have just started Twittering and for me the jury is still out but I do enjoy facebook :-)
lx
DOT,
As you rightly point out, the last few years have seen an explosion in Social Media. Yet for me it is not the platform that is important but the aim. I am with you on the Facebook thing. I don't see the point. The reason is that for me Facebook makes conversation difficult and that's the key. Conversation and connection as the human elements of all Social Media and twitter is the king of conversation. It allows you to link with like minded people, build relationships, explore ideas and connect. So go on give it a go @bubblecow.
Twitter is very different to Facebook.
Facebook feels (to me) like politely being at a school reunion when you would much rather be back home.
Twitter, on the other hand, is like spending the afternoon in a really good pub.
Maybe you should join Twitter - check this out
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7920434.stm
Gary has published a post on BubbleCow expanding on the reasons for Twitter.
Number five is the most persuasive.
Thanks for that, Gary, and - surprise, surprise - I find I have a Twitter account already.
Nice analogy, jh, mine's a pint.
The people who know me on twitter keep asking how my novel is progressing, and this forces me to write more everyday :) besides, reading thoughts of people like Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis on twitter, its always inspiring :)
Though i'd agree with you that the time to write should not be mixed with social networking.
Take care!
N
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