For Whom the Tweet Twolls

[#1]

I love Twitter! I don't particularly use it as a career tool. For me it's just a place to hang out with friends and natter, really. I do pick up useful information, but that's not primarily why I tweet.

[#2]

Keri is the undisputed (indisputed?) Queen of the Tweets.

[#3]

Everything about Twitter drives me nuts, only because I don't get it. I don't know if there's anything to get, but I just don't get it. Keri promised to teach me and she's a wonderful instructor. It was actually from her that I learned the few things I do know--I freely admit, it's me. 

Okay, how about...It makes me feel like I'm trying to break into a clique of the popular cute blond chicks when I'm the dark goth girl with nose piercings. I feel like I need to know all about proper twitiquette before making any attempt to make it useful. And since it's so stressful for me, I avoid it. 

I know, lame.

Rosie

[#4]

I drive my son crazy by posting B&N updates in periodic blitzes. It does bring a lot of new people to this board.

[#5]

I check into my Twitter page sporadically but with everyone RT@ its hard to figure out who originally made the comment and if the person doing the RTing makes a comment, where is it?  Before or after the RT?  I've seen the 140 characters taken up with RT@ so-and-so's and most of those being RTed I don't follow and have no clue what is being discussed.  Its like coming into the middle of a conversation and only getting one side. 

[#6]

Hi Michelle - I am trying to get my head into Twitter, but like KathyFL said, I find it difficult to know who's talking to who, and it can be frustrating.  I often like I'm on the outside looking in at everyone else having a party.  I'm sticking with it to see if I will eventually clue in to it, but I've been on there for a couple of months now, and it's not sinking in.  Maybe I just don't have that technological wiring in my head.  (When I first started, I thought the RT meant "Read This."  It took me weeks to figure out that it meant retweet.  Such a duh.)

[#7]

I'm afraid my wings aren't fly worthy yet. I've yet to attempt to tweet, don't have a twitter account and don't know when that will happen. I know it will, it's just a question of when.

Deb

[#8]

KathyFL and Julianne, I'm laughing because I thought RT meant "Romantic Times," as in the magazine, and I was, like, "shoot, great branding!"  I found Twitter pretty confusing at first, too. A little like those message/chat boards that layer responses to comments over other people's responses in boxes, one on top of the other.  I never could figure out at first the thread, or where the convo's going.  Among the romance tweeps I see -- and I'm only on once or twice a day to post things -- I enjoy reading funny comments and quotes or good news about someone's book release, manuscript being bought or maybe a writing milestone being hit.  Those are the fun things to me about Twitter. 

[#9]

becke, if KeriStevens is the Queen of Tweets, you are the Queen of Quotweets.

[#10]

Deb, I think your attitude is good.  Never say never w/social media. one author I know said she was not going to do Twitter becasue she had to draw the line somewhere. Now her tweets are fun to look forward to, and she's pretty into it.  There's probably something for everyone on Twitter, but like any social media online, it's a good idea to check out whom you want to hang w/ so you're not surprised by the chatter and commentary you're going to be part of.  There's a lot of good stuff out there.

[#11]

RoRoM, I believe wholeheartedly you ain't the only one who's feeling the Goth Girl vibe w/ Twitter.  Part of the success of any soc media endeavor is how well it makes us feel we're part of an exclusive group.  We just have to search out the groups we're most comfortable w/.  It's not like some are right and some wrong, it's just that so many are different, we're happier when we take time to find the communities right for us. That said, it's harder to navigate through stuff we don't want on Twitter because it's pretty boundary-less. You can see anybody's stuff if you dig, and they can see yours.  That can feel really creepy. Iknow I hate the idea of tapping into the personal stuff of others' lives, especially the misery.  And, of course, while Twitter can be used to gather large groups to disseminate useful info in real time, it also can be used to wreck stoopid havoc karma, which feels bad to lots of folks. 

[#12]

Hiya, Portia!  Yes, I do see you tweeting what's going on for you, and I smile when I find out what you're working on -- or what new TV cop you've found to inspire you of late. :  )

[#13]

Omigosh, I have a comment box today (B&N & I have one of those passionate hate-you-love-you things going on; someday we'll be bonded forever).

Ro, the great thing about twitter is you get to choose your own clique. If you don't particularly care for the blond chick (you don't mean me, do you? Do you?) you can choose to follow (listen to) only Goth girls. You can create your own Goth Girliverse without apology or obligation.

I found using a secondary program (tweetdeck, free at tweetdeck.com) made twitter much more usable for me. I have six columns: Mentions (of me), Direct Messages (private conversations), Authors, Agents, Editors/Publisher and Book Marketing. Your columns can be whatever you want: Whale Lovers, Goth Girls, Celebs who Can't Dance--again, create your own universe.

As for stupid havoc karma, I have "unfollowed" (thereby no longer seeing the tweets from) people whom I feel are excessively negative. It's like being at the party where the slightly drunk guy starts ranting about politics--you just quietly slip away.  And in cases where the drunk guy starts slobbering down your cleavage (when tweeple get downright nasty and rude) you block them.Twitter handles this quietly and privately: They won't get any e-mail saying "@keristevens blocked you because you scare the pee out of her."

I love twitter because I've identified what I want from it and because the people I follow (like the lovely Ms. DaCosta) are so generous about helping a gal out.  Don't know what RT means? It's okay on twitter to say, "Help--what is this?" and one or a dozen of your followers will send you an answer (which may, on occasion, even be the correct one).  For me it's a wonderful blend of work and play. 

If you want to tweet me, start your message with @keristevens and say hi. Next time I'm online, I'll greet you back. I'll click on your name to see your profile and ensure that you're not a "bot"--a fake robot twitter program--or trying to sell me snake oil. If you're a real human interested in reading and/or writing romance, I'll follow you.

But if you don't want to get into twitter for whatever reason, just smile and nod when you meet twitterevangelists like me IRL (In Real Life). We all had perfectly rich, functional lives before social networking, and when the battery dies on the laptop, we all can find other lovely things to do. Or so I hear, anyway.