Friday, September 19, 2008

Do You Twitter?

So I'm trying to figure this twitter thing out - if it's worth it, what it actually does...why it makes me feel about 100 years old? Do any of you guys out there twitter? If so, why? Is it more valuable as a marketing tool than straight blogging? And is it more fun as a social network than Facebook?

I'm intrigued...but also baffled.

13 comments:

Trish Ryan said...

I'm exploring Twitter, but I'm slightly afraid that if I'm constantly Twittering, I'll never write anything that lasts for more than 30 minutes...

I'd love to hear how folks balance this!

Allison Winn Scotch said...

Trish - me too! I also worry that I might spend all of my time on these social networking pages instead of actually working!

Amie Stuart said...

Totally more fun! Kinda a combo of social networking and instant messaging. I use twitterfox so I dont have to constantly visit the twitter page. I've been a very sporadic blogger all summer but Twitter is IMO so much easier right now I'm not sure I want to go back to regular blogging!

And FWIW there's quite a few writers, reader/reviewers, publishers (including Tor and Grand Central) and even an agent Twittering.

Trish said...

Lots of writers use Twitter, so that's what's fun for me. I have attracted a large following (I think because I friended people who followed me back) among them Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, Penelope Trunk, Michael Hyatt.

You should totally jump on and play with it, Allison.

Trish
www.trishlawrence.com/blog

Gail said...

I twitter and I'm older than you!! But I DO think it contributes to short thought and ADD. But, that said, I've connected with an interview and several people who have linked me on their sites and said they were buying my book and I don't even have that many twitter friends.

Kate said...

It can be a great community - it largely depends on your followers / following...

I enjoy it for the thoughts too trivial to be anything else.

Robin Stevens Payes said...

Just started to Twitter as OffBeatArtist - kind of fun to microblog when you're on the run and can't get to the real thing. Trick is to make it provocative - and have it make sense to other people. Good writing exercise. And I am about 100 years old. Embrace the medium!

suzanneelizabeths.com said...

I'd be thrilled if someone could explain what the purpose of twitter is??!!

Is it just a means to say 'hey, I'm going through the McDonald's drive through for dinner now' or is there a more useful purpose that I'm missing out on?

And how would one balance the time constraints of blogging, working on novel or magazine article, and twittering?

Really, I'm not trying to be snarky, I'd love to hear more about its purpose.

Unknown said...

I just started twittering about a month ago, and I have to confess I like it. I've found some great interview sources through it and connected asap when I needed a quick interview. I've also gotten good recommendations for software and been led to some interesting blogs. I think it would be more useful (busiensswise) to me if I had a blog, which I'm thinking about. As a writer and writing teacher, I'm hoping some students might find me on Twitter!
Elaine
http://twitter.com/eapplegrant

Amy Sue Nathan said...

I tried Twitter this weekend, and I feel old and out of touch -- but I like it. I think if you Twitter once or twice a day it's enough. It's fun, a cross between instant messaging, blogging and text messaging.

The cool thing is when people Twitter from their phones, from "remote" locations.

Frankly, we all need to get a life.

;-)

You can follow me on Twitter: AmySueNathan

Gina Hyams said...

Twitter has been on my mind as well. It seems like Facebook status on steroids -- a slippery slope and utterly seductive. I worry that I'll just want to tweet all day. Are those of you who Twitter still updating Facebook, too?

www.ginahyams.com

Anonymous said...

Twittering makes me jittery. If I don't check to see what's going on with those I'm following every ten seconds, I feel hopelessly out of the loop. And if I don't tweet myself (can you go blind for doing that?), then I feel like I may as well have fallen off the edge of cyberspace. I'll be curious to hear more on how it works out for you . . .

Barrie said...

Seems to be a faster addiction!