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Thursday, April 2, 2009

Twitter-Tweeter, Jibber-Jabber


Last night I received an email from Twitter, informing me that someone was following (or whatever they call it over there) my profile. Until then, I'd forgotten that I'd signed up for that. And the only reason I did sign on was to try and see all the brewhaha known as #queryfail.

Well, I never did see the agent postings, nor could I make sense of how to navigate the site. Rather than waste time trying to figure out how to take part in yet another time suck, I clicked out of it and never went back. Pretty much the same thing happened with Facebook. I don't see what all the excitement is about, so I won't be doing it.

Back when everyone was first getting into MySpace, I was resistant to that, too. But, finally, I broke over and created a page for myself. At first it was foreign territory but, eventually, I learned how to add a few bells and whistles to my page and found the perfect layout to complement my book cover. All of that took time. Lots of time. Now that I'm familiar with the workings of MySpace, I no longer spend much time there. If I get a notice of a friend request or comment, I sign in and okay them, then I'm out again. I just don't see the big attraction.

Lately, I've been wondering just how many more ways people are going to come up with to "communicate" via cyberspace. I feel I already spend enough time keeping up with my friends via email, doing this blog, keeping abreast of my other favorite blogs, and keeping my web site current. Is it just me, or does anyone else feel we may be getting an overload of communication and information out there? Some people, and I'm not only talking about writers, but editors and agents, spread themselves so thin among all these new communication and information sites, I wonder how they ever have time for writing or editing and agenting. No wonder we don't have time to do everything we need to do, we waste most of it. One strange side effect of having so much information and personal glimpses into the lives of editors and agents is that when I sit down in front of my keyboard these days, I no longer feel like it's just me and my story. As I write, I sense all these industry professionals looking over my shoulder, and it's a tad inhibiting to the old creativity.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I'm against these things. I'm just saying I think we need to pick and choose the things we feel are worthwhile and stick to those. I love keeping up with my friends over email, and I love doing this blog. But that's pretty much where I draw the line. Any more than that is seriously interfering in the time I should be working on my manuscript or attending to home and family.

Peace,

Devon

6 comments:

  1. Hi, Devon! Happy Friday!

    I tend to get caught up in the new networking/promo/TMI tool of the moment, so time management continues to be a struggle for me.

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  2. I feel the same. I started off on myspace because the women from the mommy forum I belonged to started getting into it and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I don't stay on there long anymore, but it did become more for my writing under my pen name. It's how I met you and Maddie and so many other writers, so I'm keeping it, just don't fool with it as much as I used to.

    I got my gmail account once I settled on my pen name- wanted an email that wasn't mommy related or had nothing to do with me being a writer and I enjoy using the blog on here. This is my main blogging source, though I do crosspost on myspace and sometimes livejournal(during NaNoWriMo mostly).

    I have a facebook, but it's mostly for my friends from back home. I can't say I have any writer friends on there, but mostly friends I grew up with or went to school with or relatives and on there I'm just me because I'm listed under my real identity.

    As for Twitter- I haven't signed up for that yet and not sure what the hubbub is about- though they mention it every day on Good Morning America! LOL

    I try not to get myself in "too deep" with too many sites/blogs of my own so that I don't stretch too thin. Too much of a distraction, too.

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  3. Happy Friday, Magdalena! I am in awe of you if you are successful at juggling all this stuff and still remain productive. I think time management is a struggle for all of us these days. Have a great weekend!

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  4. Hi Taryn! Yes, that's right. We DID meet on MySpace, didn't we!

    I just don't get this Twitter. Couldn't see how to make heads or tails of it. And I know if I spend the time figuring it out, it will be just one more thing I look at everyday. So I'm staying clear of it. ;o)

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  5. I think the twitter thing could be dangerous. Leigh Collett gave us her account so we can find her on it, but I don't know if I even want to get in to it. It looks like it could be trouble.
    And my time right now is at a premium.
    I have my blog and the KYRW loop and my e-mail, and I'm pretty content with that for now. Maybe when I'm published I'll come up with a website. But that's a worry for another day.

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  6. Jennifer, you could be right. Already, there's been a bunch of controversy resulting from Twitter. It seems the more avenues we have to speak our minds, the more the unprofessional behavior comes out.

    A web site is fun, but when I dwell on it, mine drives me nuts. I go there and piddle late at night. I keep moving things around and adding little touches here and there, and I'm afraid it's looking as cluttered as my house--like Mags blogged about today. ;o)

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