Similar to the fact I didn’t have a Facebook page for the longest time (I do now of course), I don’t tweet and don’t have a Twitter account. I know it’s the current thing to do, and even celebrities do it. I just don’t know if my life is interesting enough to tweet and honestly if I’ll have the time to make it interesting to follow me. So I figured I’d put the question out there and perhaps y’all can chat about it with me.
It really makes you think to twenty years ago and how we got our news. I was fresh out of college, armed with a writing degree and no place to go. LOL. So I worked as a typesetter for a real estate magazine – at least it was in publishing right? I was 21 years old and ready to conquer the world, but my news and information still came from actual paper newspapers and magazines. The closest I came to immediate information was the 6 o’clock news on tv. Even then it was old stuff – some of it even 12 hours old.
Fast forward to today, where we know about disasters and events within seconds. That includes pictures, videos, news feeds and tweets. People twitter constantly – like when the guy jumped off one cruise ship and a Disney cruise behind it rescued the fool from the sea – one of the passengers tweeted as they were plucking him from the water.
My author friends tweet a lot. I envy that passion and enthusiasm for providing details on a single moment in your life. I, for one, am so damn boring that no one would be interested. So here are some sample tweets…
- Two brown bananas, made banana bread even though I can’t eat it.
- Finished laundry and made bed. Woo! Nothing like fresh sheets.
- Couldn’t figure out how to print booklets for RAW. Finally pushed the right button.
- No one cleaned the downstairs bathroom. Had to do it myself, ugh, skid marks.
Yeah, that was my day yesterday in tweets. B-O-R-I-N-G. Seriously, I have a full-time job, part-time career as a novelist, two teenage sons, a husband who’d like attention now and then, and yeah, I’d like to read a book occasionally too.
I can’t imagine doing all that and tweeting about it. Am I being old-fashioned again? Anyone out there tweet and can offer me a good reason why I should do it? Or do you y’all agree and tell me to keep my skid marks to myself.
[...] eye candy for your viewing pleasure. Oh and I’m over at the Brava Authors blog today talking about [...]
Hi Beth,
I don’t Tweet either. I think for the most part it is a huge time sucker and frankly I don’t need to know the mundane details of everyone else lives. I actually am disappointed that a lot of authors are using Tweets to get the word out about their books. I much prefer author blogs where the info is more complete, usually less flippant and you get covers, but where I can find the info I want without being bombarded with hundreds of little messages.
I know that some people live to Tweet, but really I don’t want to be tied to a device in hopes I don’t miss the one message that is actually worth reading, while sorting through countless meaningless ones (though they may be fun in the scheme of life they just aren’t important).
Please don’t Tweet. It won’t make me love your books more than I already do. And I find it hard to believe that someone who receives a short tweet will end up buying a book they virtually no nothing about. Save your time for your family and writing
That’s just my 2 cents worth.
Hi, Beth,
I don’t Tweet either–I’m not a huge fan of life shared in teeny tidbits. Maybe I’m just not adept at creating or appreciating the electronic equivalent of soundbites
Anyway, as Carrie said, it wouldn’t change our perception or appreciation for your books! Just keep on writing 
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one. I felt as if I was so behind the eight ball and being old-fashioned.
And thanks for the kudos! I’m writing now – in between checking blog posts anyway.
Look at me posting a day late. I certainly can’t find time to tweet. I’m in the same group with Carrie and Fedora. It would take a huge chunk of my time.
I have family and friends that tug at me constantly, but with the time I do have I devote to my books; reading, visiting author/reader blogs, buying them.
I prefer to visit author blogs to get a complete description of their books and covers, and follow on tour with latest releases. And no, you are not old-fashion. Just spend the time with the other things you love to do.
Maybe I don’t tweet right, but I never really pay attention to the whole “what are you doing?” aspect to twitter. I view (and love) twitter for its “what are you thinking?” users. It’s a giant party you can join and leave at will, and if you don’t like reading about the people who are folding their laundry (and some may–more power to’em) then go drift off to another group who are discussing their favorite historical romance, or the group who is gushing about last night’s great TV show, or the one who is asking if anyone has favorite links or places where they research X topic.
Enjoying twitter is about what you put into it and what you take away, but I really don’t think it’s something anyone should do because they feel they have to. A clear lack of enjoyment or sense of obligation will come through, and I’d choose laundry & banana bread over that any day. (Though I found a new banana bread recipe on twitter because I asked everyone for links to their favorite ones–I love the group repository of awesome information.)