It has come as a complete surprise to me how much I like social networking over the Internet. My favourite is Twitter due to the speed, immediacy and access to people all over the world. Hashtag groups (#writechat, #storycraft, #scriptchat) have been particularly rewarding for finding people with the same interests and concerns. I also keep a presence on Facebook and LinkedIn.
It’s amazing how many others are out there wanting to connect. I have found that writing for an expanded audience (and in a limited space) has loosened up my writing style and made it more interesting and approachable.
Donna and I launched ourselves on this journey to promote our books. “Two Scoops” Is Just Right is a compilation of funny short stories that I first posted on my blog site. It’s the links to these stories that I have pushed out over the Internet.
In pre-Web times, unpublished authors had to keep their manuscripts under their mattresses. What’s the point of that? I write because I want readers. For the first time in history, there are means to disseminate material beyond one’s own community in a relatively easy manner.
Finally, let me say that we are all pioneers in this venture. To our children, it will be taken as commonplace to “build a brand” and “establish a platform.” They will keep in touch with old friends and establish new bonds over the web during the course of their entire lives.
1 response so far ↓
1 Diana Estigarribia // Jun 5, 2010 at 7:44 am
Great post, Alex.
In the beginning I was not sure what the point was to social media. Then I dove in and discovered this wonderful world of writers, artists, and others. The best thing about social media is how it is fast becoming a tool for engagement. And of course I love the conversations!
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