Wednesday, July 3, 2013

This Twitter thing

I don't know if a piano clobbered me on my way to work the other day and I've forgotten about it or what, but for some reason I decided to give Twitter a go.

My friends tell me it's awesome. I'm not sure why.

But how much time can it eat out of my life, really, if I'm limited to 140 characters per post? ha. I bet I will eat those words.

But it might be fun, which is why I'm giving it a try.

Are you on Twitter? What do you use it for? Why do you think writers should be on Twitter, or why do you think I have made a horrible mistake? Feel free to share your Twitterly wisdom in the comments!

And if you want to follow me on my spiffy new page, my username is  @geekbanter (Kudos to Tyrean Martinson and Tara Tyler for already following me on my inactive page. Impressive, most impressive that you found it.)

This post is part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Check the link for some of the other blogs participating in this event! 

BLOG UPDATES:
You may have noticed there's been some construction going on here. There is now a handy menu up top, some shiny new buttons on the sidebar, and as if you couldn't stalk me in enough ways already, you can now see not only what I'm reading, but the video game I'm playing and the TV show I'm watching. Did I miss anything?

Happy Wednesday!

45 comments:

  1. Good luck! Twitter is fun, but it ends up requiring a lot of fiddling.

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    1. I don't want to spend TOO much time on it, so we'll see what happens...

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  2. I've been on Twitter since almost the beginning and still don't know why I use it, lol.

    Your blog is looking great and I'm really digging the new look.

    Have a great Fourth!

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  3. I am not on Twitter. I just don't think I can add one more thing to my list right now. No time! And I'm convinced it would become another time trap for me.

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  4. Ooh, I will go find you. :) I'm on Twitter but I don't use it a lot. It is good for watching for submission calls and that sort of thing, though.

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  5. I don't do very much on Twitter, but I'm there. I couldn't find you though!

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  6. I started a twitter a few months back but rarely go on it - I never know what to post!

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    1. I'm thinking conjunctive posts when I post on the blog, but we'll see what happens!

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  7. The site is looking great. I wish there was a way to make my sidebar as cool as yours, but the code is funky. As for Twitter, I felt the same way, but it is an excellent way to follow agents who represent your stuff and see what news they have about the business. You'll like it once you get started. :)

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    1. Thanks! Not sure what you like about my sidebar that's not on yours? That is a good idea. All right, I'll like it. I will.

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  8. YOU'RE ON TWITTER WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME?????

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  9. Twitter is so short that you can really say nothing of substance and it seems to be filled with BUY MY BOOK! I really do not visit often. Best of luck with it!

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  10. I have mixed feelings about Twitter. Like Roland said, there are way too may "buy my book" tweets. I don't know if writers need to be on Twitter, but I don't think you've made a horrible mistake either.

    Look for people who have interesting things to say about subjects you care about. As a science fiction writer, I'm interested in anything sciency, so I follow the astronauts on the International Space Station, I follow SETI and CERN and NASA, and I follow science journalists from Scientific American and Space.com and things like that. Twitter gives me a big list of science related news, jokes, and links... along with a bunch of "BUY MY BOOK!!!" ads.

    It may not be the greatest thing in the world, but it has its uses. I hope that helps.

    -James.

    P.S.: I'm now following you on Twitter!

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  11. Hey, I still haven't figured out Twitter! I will definitely follow you though.
    Site is looking good!

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  12. I've noticed that Twitter is like the Facebook newsfeed, except people with whom I'm even less familiar write about topics about which I'm even less concerned, and far more frequently.
    In other words, if I had a choice between watching the Twitter feed or watching the contents of a septic tank being drained and examined, I'd choose the latter.
    That said, I have a Twitter. I have it for the sole reason of having followers so that I look that much more relevant to a potential agent or editor.
    I followed you, by the way :)

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  13. For me, twitter is good for keeping up with news and gossip.

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    1. I'm not sure about the gossip part, but I do like to keep up with the news!

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  14. Love twitter for quick info and gossip too!!

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    Replies
    1. There is something attractive about the character limit.

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  15. I love twitter! I used to be addicted to it... I'm doing much better now... but sometimes I relapse... do I follow you? Must. Go. Check. :D

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  16. I've followed you, but I'm a sporadic Twitter user. I do use it a lot when I'm promoting WRiTE CLUB because the word spreads like wildfire there. :)

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  17. I followed you! Twitter confused me too for quite a while, but I'm slowly getting used to it. I like pretending to be witty in 140 characters. :)

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  18. I mostly use Twitter to tweet sarcastic haiku about my day job.

    I didn't think I would like it so much when I first started out, but now I'm a bit of an addict. I like what Krista says about pretending to be witty in 140 characters. Very true.

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  19. Welcome to Twitter! It's a bit crazy at first but you'll like it :) Liking the new blog sections too :)

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  20. I will come follow now! I am vixatthemovies

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  21. For fiction writing, I find twitter more use as a way of keeping track of and discovering news sites.
    I know a guy who's tweeted about 5 times in 4 years, but is on there 3 or 4 days a week, basically using it to keep track of different sites he follows.

    It's also a way to do a bit of networking, build connections. You never know what you might get out of it!

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  22. thats great! i think when i joined it showed me all my email people who were on twitter, and it offers new ones, so i got lucky! i should post more...

    and yay for daring to read game of thrones! when i started the first one, i had a hard time. so many characters & settings. very confusing. and eddard stark is the same as ned stark, btw! watching the series put everything together and i never looked back! didnt read book two since i watched it. but read book three in record time after show ended. and book three is a killer!! but the show didnt cover everything, only about half, so i will read a feast of crows next year! ha! (sorry for rambling!!)

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    1. Ooh thanks for pointing that out about Ned! I might check out the series once I'm done the book.

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  23. I go through twitter spurts. Sometimes, for a day or so, I think it's cool to play with, and then . . .I forget about my account for a month. I know people that use it often and well, but I'm not one of them. I think I found you by searching for you on purpose. :)

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  24. Truthfully, I like twitter for breaking news and book chats. When I'm at an event, I'll find a hashtag to see what's trending. Sometimes readers and authors get together and have book chats that are fun. I'm with Tyrean, I use twitter in spurts.

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