Social Networking

I think you either love it or hate it. You either participate or ignore it.

 

I have an ambiguous relationship with it. I am a technophobe so do not get on with anything on the screen that isn't really, really clear. I use social networking sites mainly to make people aware of me and my writing. There's only one networking site that I enjoy using...

 

I find Facebook too chaotic. It's too busy - where do I go? How do I contact people? How do I find the information I'm after? There's too much stuff and I don't have time to sift through everything.

 

Twitter is exceedingly annoying. I don't think anyone ever reads any of the posts. I certainly don't get any comments on mine. And, again, there's too much there...

 

I tried Elfwood earlier this year as my main genre is Fantasy. That was a non-starter! I posted some poems up but no-one from the site has commented on them. And the few people I tried to contact have totally ignored me!

 

MySpace is more interesting as it gathers together artistic people. I've discovered some musicians I wouldn't otherwise have known about. But, yet again, the site is too busy, there's too much going one. Plus it loads incredibly slowly...

 

The only social networking site I would actually recommend to anyone is Writing Our Way Home. Maybe it's because it's written by writers and for writers (and by writers I mean those who write for the sheer delight of wordsmithying as well as those who want to be and have been published). For me, it works. It's not too busy or complicated. I can find what I need to find easily. It is fascinating and interesting with diverse cultures, beliefs and experiences represented. I feel part of a wider family on this site but at the same time there's no pressure to participate in everything that's going on.

 

That's my treatise on social networking. I'm not keen on it but it's necessary in these times to make people aware of your presence if you're trying to sell something.