I am naturally reticent. I hate talking on the phone or addressing
the class for prolonged periods. I dread public speaking events and as an
author this makes me a marketing liability for my publisher. But with Social
Networking I can connect with the world without having to speak.
Websites where people with common interests or shared
histories can publish their own content and connect with others are called
Social Networks (De Rosa, Cantwell, Havens, Hawk and Jenkins, 2007). Those in
vogue currently, and they are rather
transient beasts, include Facebook, Twitter, Google+1, Flickr, YouTube and Linked
In. There are countless others.
A few years ago, on the advice of my publicist, I started up
a blog and an author’s page on Facebook. I enjoy blogging. I can surround
myself in book reviews and thoughtful comments and feel as if I’m closeted. I
have neglected the author site and aside from linking it to my blog I rarely
use it. However I post to my personal page weekly and check statuses every day.
I try to keep my author self and my personal self separate as many in the writing
world do (Woodhead, 2011a). I also find I waste a lot of time when I could be
writing (Baverstock, 2011).
I’ve tried Twitter and hate it. It’s like a crowd shouting different
messages with no-one listening. Twitter connects strangers, not old friends (Woodhead, 2011b). As
a retiring type this makes me nervous. I am concerned about privacy and making
an idiot of myself. But in the writing world Twitter is an ideal way to build
your profile and connect with readers as its medium is concise text (Woodhead, 2011b).
I am keen to master Twitter and use it as a marketing tool. It would help if I bought a mobile phone, I
guess, and learnt to use it. As a budding T/L and blogger I see merit in Linked
In, Delicious and Flickr. All I ask for is the time to master these tools. Then hopefully
I could be a connected professional librarian and a marketing success.
References
Baverstock,
A.(2011). Using Facebook to Promote Yourself as a Writer. Writers’ Forum #115, June
De Rosa, C., Cantrell, J., Havens, A., Hawk, J.
& Jenkins, L. (2007). Sharing privacy and trust in our networked world:
A report to the OCLC membership. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC. [ebook] Available http://www.oclc.org/reports/pdfs/sharing.pdf
Woodhead, R. (2011a). Facebook: Share but Beware. Writing Magazine, May
Woodhead, R. (2011b). Build Your Profile on Twitter. Writing Magazine, Feb
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