I’m not all that into the social media scene, although I network all the time. I have visited Facebook (SPAWN has a Facebook presence) and I am on Twitter. I Tweet when I remember to. I read and hear about problems in social media world—people being rude, sarcastic, mean-spirited and even crude.
I don’t even know if there are still chat rooms. But I remember visiting a few of those some years ago. I happened into some with what appeared to be some pretty stupid people with a lot of time on their hands. Somehow, they even appeared in chat rooms for gardening, pets and grandparenting, for example. So many of the messages were nothing but swear words, non-words with lots of exclamation points and comments that didn’t relate to anything reasonable. I guess some of this is going on at the social media sites, too.
It’s as if people think they have an air of anonymity—or there is no tomorrow. They can say and do what they want no matter who they hurt and it will never affect them. They adopt a similar attitude as some people do behind the wheel of a car—“I’m invisible.”
I know that many of you who are seeking freelance writing work and who are promoting books use Facebook and other such sites. How is it working for you? How are you using it? Maybe you’re overusing it—being too pushy with your sales pitch.
Yesterday I came across Alice Wisler’s article in Dan Case’s Writing for Dollars newsletter on how to more successfully (and politely) use social media and she gave me permission to post her suggestions here.
1: Be polite and treat others kindly. Remember words are powerful, and you can’t retrieve them once they are out there for all to read.
2: Ask yourself why you are joining the site. What do you expect to get out of it? New friends or only a way to sell books?
3: “Change your status often,” says the staff at Writers Digest in their recent article on social networking. This shows you are a constant presence, serious about being “present” as well as an active participant.
4: “Think about being a respected expert,” is advice given by those who feel that Facebook will get you more visits to your personal website if you have something noteworthy to say. I write for a website on grief, and hope that by sharing that link, fellow Facebook friends will read the articles and learn how to reach those with broken hearts.
5: “Getting others to gain an interest in your work takes time,” the team at my publishing house tells its authors.
6: You are part of a community. Always be willing to lend a helping hand.
7: Show that you are more than what you’ve had published. True, you might have joined to push your books, but if that’s all you do, others will soon tire of you. They might even “unfriend” you.
8: Have fun! Others will see that you are an exciting and caring person and then might be interested in heading out to purchase your novels or read your articles. Think of your presence on Facebook as you would if you were at a party or family reunion. Bring some life and laughter, compassion and encouragement and show others who read your words that you are someone worth getting to know.
Published in Writing for Dollars March 2, 2010.
Alice J. Wisler, author of the Southern novels, Rain Song, How Sweet It Is, and Hatteras Girl, lives and writes in Durham, NC. She teaches online grief-writing courses and designs remembrance cards. Visit her website to learn more and read her blog: http://www.alicewisler.com
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