I’ve been learning Twitter this week, and I feel a little like the bald guy in “The Scream.”
Folks who read my blog know that when it comes to reflecting on a topic, I tend to write on the more exhaustive side. Hopefully not the exhausting side. Oddly enough, I’m not long-winded at all with manuscripts. I’m a big fan of The Elements of Style and its reminder to “omit needless words.”
Twitter certainly doesn’t allow for verbosity.
In fact, Twitter doesn’t allow you to put much of anything in context, either. I love putting things in context. ‘Having a rough day’ can mean you spilt your coffee, bit your tongue, and forgot the milk at the store. Or ‘having a rough day’ could mean you lost your job, your dog, or your good health.
I just need to get used to Twitter, I think. Facebook I like and get. For some reason, the interactions seem a little more personal. This could be because I only have friends on Facebook and Twitter incorporates many other people—many of whom I don’t know.
Another problem with me and Twitter is that I feel a little like a Twit when I send a tweet. Oh, I’m fine when I’m forwarding cool links. But my own personal observations and interactions don’t seem blather-worthy.
If you’d like to follow my fledgling tweets, I’m: @elizabethscraig.
So these are my ideas for incorporating Twitter into my life. I’d love to hear anyone else’s, if they’re so inclined.
Tweeting on mystery releases I’m excited about.
Tweeting on or retweeting interesting links and posts for writers.
Tweeting my writing progress each day (especially as a tool to keep myself on track.)
Some personal tweets, but not a lot. Not yet. Maybe more once I warm up to the medium.
I too find it difficult sometimes to get twitter, particularly as every tweet has started as something that made perfect sense and then been pruned down to the 140 character limit. Still, I am beginning to warm to the randomness and the stress free interactions, as well as perusing conversations by key words. All and all, while I assume my tweets are rather pointless for the most part, I am enjoying the experience. Tweet me @darkenedjade
Good points.
I’m on the brink of “unfollowing” some folks who send an uninterrupted stream of ad infinitum personal trivia. I mean, “I’m headed to the John.” Is fine…sorta…maybe…but only once. I don’t need or want to know your every move.
I think the secret, like blogging, I guess, is–relevant–content, content, content…mixed with a few personal things to show the person behind the tweet.
Best Regards, Galen
http://www.galenkindley.com
Hi Elizabeth,
So glad to hear I’m not the only one who finds Twitter difficult to get used to. I agree with you that Facebook is more user-friendly, but that is because it is “friends.”
How funny that I blogged about Twitter today too. Here’s hoping it begins to work for both of us.
Karen
http://www.karenfollowingthewhispers.blogspot.com
Welcome to the Twitterverse, Elizabeth!
I’m also a Twitting newbie (that doesn’t sound good, does it?), and I haven’t really figured out what to do with it yet that’s any different than Facebook.
One think I’ve tried is “pointing” people to my blog (where you get more than 140 characters to say something).
I’m sure someone else has said that they feel like a Twit when they Tweet, but it describes exactly how I feel. So much of what you said, echoes with me.
I have problem with twitter too, not beacuse of it’s brevity but because I don’t like to talk about myself. So your twitting idea of talking about class buddies and writing are good for me.
In Quest of Theta Magic
I can do all right with the size limit of the tweets, but I have no idea how people keep up with everyone else? And I don’t have anywhere NEAR the number of people I’m following that some do.
Elle Parker
http://elleparkerbooks.blogspot.com/
Good for you!
Twitter is also a fabulous resource for getting in touch with other writers, having a two-way exchange. Have fun!
Oh, and Enid… Even though Twitter works best when you talk about yourself, you could avoid that if you want to.
You’ll get the hang of it. Took me a while also, but getting used to saying something in 140 characters or less is actually a good practice in, as you aptly say, writing with “brevity.”
Good use of links in this post, also. :)
I sometimes do 2 twitters in a row, since I can’t get it all in in 140 characters. Cheating a bit, I know, but c’est la vie.
I may be out of cell range for the next 12 days. I will respond as i am able.
Like many, I just don’t get the whole Twitter thing. For now, if it can direct people to my blog site or my Web page then that’s all I expect from it. I’m definately more of a facebook person and have even sold a number of books using that medium while at least getting the word out to dozens more. Best wished to you and your success.
Stephen Tremp
Author – Breakthrough: The Adventures of Chase Manhattan
http://stephentremp.blogspot.com/
I know what you mean…although I like the feature of tweeting the blog posts and pointing others to the blog that way.
Great blog.
NA Sharpe
http://nasharpe.blogspot.com