Carla Croft's Blog: The Erotic World of Carla Croft - Posts Tagged "faves"
The Demise of Twitter?
Hi Guys
Like all authors I have a presence on Twitter. Many market gurus say it is vital in order to be able to connect with both other authors and readers alike. I have enjoyed many conversations via Twitter in the past and it has lead to new friendships and to lasting collaborations. However, having spent an enforced absence from Twitter due to work I have noticed a sad new trend. It no longer appears to be about connection.
My stream is filled all day long with adverts and pithy tweets designed for no apparent purpose other than to garner Retweets or Faves. Now I am not averse to posting the odd ad for my books or seeking to make the odd pithy comment or two of my own. However I do try to engage with other people as much as possible, yet seem to get nowhere. If I make a reply to a comment by another Twitter user I may just get ignored, Faved or Retweeted; as if that were enough. Err, no I was trying to engage in conversation!
Even worse I now see that one can buy followers or get followers by liking someone's Facebook page. There are even facilities for writing tweets for you and even sites that automate your stream for you so that it is filled with content from sources that you choose.
In my view the whole point of Twitter was to make it possible to engage with people around the world... yourself! I have had memorable conversations with people on the other side of the planet. But now it seems to be a platform solely for egoists and intellectual narcissists alone. That is if you believe that they have written the tweets themselves. I doubt it. A lot of streams are simply pithy comment after pithy comment. It is obvious that some service or other is producing their content. It reads like a stream of one liners from a Stand Up Comic's script writer. I can almost see people tucked away in dark rooms dreaming up ever pithier comments to vomit into the Twitterverse, so eroding the ability to connect even more. There is no longer the excitement of opening your stream to see who you can engage with, it is solely about how many RTs or faves you have. How sad it all is. On the odd occasion that I do achieve a connection I have an overwhelming sense of connectedness to my fellow Twitterer. How great it is to connect AND engage.
I know of many people who, fed up of ploughing through streams of adverts, have simply abandoned Twitter altogether. Yet, I am determined to stay on Twitter just for those rare moments of connectedness.
I do not push my books in tweets. In fact I often recommend other erotic authors. I may if pushed suggest my own books if the connection appears to suggest that it may be welcome. If not I leave it to the other person to note that I am an author and check me out if they wish. I have seen too many authors ram their books down readers' throats. The follow that is met with an immediate DM to buy, buy, buy or 'check my Facebook page' is a turn off. I have even had one instance when I mentioned another erotic author as a recommendation and that author, being online at the time, jumped straight into the conversation and tried to hard sell their books. Needless to say the other user quit the conversation and I never heard from them again. So I avoid such tactics. Instead I prefer to exchange comments in the hope that if people feel a connection they may decide of their own volition to check out my work. It may be old school, it may not be what is touted by marketing gurus but I don't like to appear pushy or rude.
So if you are ever on Twitter, do say hello. I am always open to connecting with fellow authors and readers. I look forward to connecting with you some day in the Twitterverse. Join the conversation, pleeeaaase!
Love Carla x
Like all authors I have a presence on Twitter. Many market gurus say it is vital in order to be able to connect with both other authors and readers alike. I have enjoyed many conversations via Twitter in the past and it has lead to new friendships and to lasting collaborations. However, having spent an enforced absence from Twitter due to work I have noticed a sad new trend. It no longer appears to be about connection.
My stream is filled all day long with adverts and pithy tweets designed for no apparent purpose other than to garner Retweets or Faves. Now I am not averse to posting the odd ad for my books or seeking to make the odd pithy comment or two of my own. However I do try to engage with other people as much as possible, yet seem to get nowhere. If I make a reply to a comment by another Twitter user I may just get ignored, Faved or Retweeted; as if that were enough. Err, no I was trying to engage in conversation!
Even worse I now see that one can buy followers or get followers by liking someone's Facebook page. There are even facilities for writing tweets for you and even sites that automate your stream for you so that it is filled with content from sources that you choose.
In my view the whole point of Twitter was to make it possible to engage with people around the world... yourself! I have had memorable conversations with people on the other side of the planet. But now it seems to be a platform solely for egoists and intellectual narcissists alone. That is if you believe that they have written the tweets themselves. I doubt it. A lot of streams are simply pithy comment after pithy comment. It is obvious that some service or other is producing their content. It reads like a stream of one liners from a Stand Up Comic's script writer. I can almost see people tucked away in dark rooms dreaming up ever pithier comments to vomit into the Twitterverse, so eroding the ability to connect even more. There is no longer the excitement of opening your stream to see who you can engage with, it is solely about how many RTs or faves you have. How sad it all is. On the odd occasion that I do achieve a connection I have an overwhelming sense of connectedness to my fellow Twitterer. How great it is to connect AND engage.
I know of many people who, fed up of ploughing through streams of adverts, have simply abandoned Twitter altogether. Yet, I am determined to stay on Twitter just for those rare moments of connectedness.
I do not push my books in tweets. In fact I often recommend other erotic authors. I may if pushed suggest my own books if the connection appears to suggest that it may be welcome. If not I leave it to the other person to note that I am an author and check me out if they wish. I have seen too many authors ram their books down readers' throats. The follow that is met with an immediate DM to buy, buy, buy or 'check my Facebook page' is a turn off. I have even had one instance when I mentioned another erotic author as a recommendation and that author, being online at the time, jumped straight into the conversation and tried to hard sell their books. Needless to say the other user quit the conversation and I never heard from them again. So I avoid such tactics. Instead I prefer to exchange comments in the hope that if people feel a connection they may decide of their own volition to check out my work. It may be old school, it may not be what is touted by marketing gurus but I don't like to appear pushy or rude.
So if you are ever on Twitter, do say hello. I am always open to connecting with fellow authors and readers. I look forward to connecting with you some day in the Twitterverse. Join the conversation, pleeeaaase!
Love Carla x
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