Wednesday, August 5, 2009

The Twitter Connection

There are still folks among my friends and acquaintances who think Twitter is a fad. They think it's a passing fancy, destined for the vast web landfill within two years. I don't know. Maybe they're right. But does it matter? Can't we enjoy the opportunities and the fun while they last?
Heck, yes. And just to feed the current frenzy, I offer you four fun follows and their blogs:

@GayleGresham -- Coloradoan, librarian, writer, and lover of history. Her blog is called Colorado Reflections.

@terryheath -- Writer and goat farmer from the Seattle area. He blogs at The Goatherd's Tale.

@Jugbo -- This is Gary from Oregon. He's just a totally funny guy with a funny profile photo and an even funnier bio. Pretty cool photographer too. From time to time he even posts here: droll exhaust...

@JanetRudolph -- Janet is a Californian who focuses on mystery (Mystery Fanfare) and chocolate (Dying for Chocolate). That's an irresistible combination as far as I'm concerned.

I'm continually on the lookout for those who make me laugh or offer links to excellent blog posts about books, social media, or writing. Do you have any favorites you'd like to share?

15 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Thanks, Patricia! I'm always looking for some fun folks to follow. @ writingislife has had some great links to read lately.

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Terry Odell said...

Have yet to take that step. I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into Facebook. No more time sucks. There's enough to do without watching what people eat for breakfast.

Patricia Stoltey said...

Good morning, Elizabeth. I'll add @writingislife if I'm not already following.

I can't deny that Twitter sucks up a lot of time, Terry, but the number of visitors to my blog jumps every time I post the link on Twitter. And sometimes the visitors go up when I'm just answering other folks' posts (the link is in my profile). It can't be all bad.

Karen, try posting a food or preserving hint a couple times a day. Make sure you're following a lot of others with similar interests. The reason you're out there is to network and bring people to your blog. Those connections lead to folks who might want to recommend (or buy) your book. Your subject matter is well-suited to Twitter marketing.

Jane Kennedy Sutton said...

This sounds like a very eclectic list of links – I intend to pay them a visit.

Terry Heath said...

@Patricia: Well I'm honored, flattered, and all the above that you included me in your post. Thanks for the other recommendations too, I'll start following them right away!

@Terry Odell: Great first and last name. The "Terry" part is obvious and Odell is in my family tree!

Terry Odell said...

Ah -- hubby does some geneaology on the Odell family tree. It's not often I find others who spell it right. :-)

Elspeth Futcher said...

I'm just starting to get the hang of twitter and am hoping to connect with more writers so thank you Patricia for the recommendations!

joe doaks-Author said...

@thecreativepenn (From Australia nonetheless) post lots of useable, writing-related information with no, “I just fed the cat,” tweets. She’s not dropped by my site, however. But, that’s true for most of my “followers.” Wonder why that is? Why do they “follow” if they never drop by. Yeah, they could come by and not comment, but my visitor stats don’t support that. Maybe It’s all just a numbers game. It is what it is. Shrug.

Best Regards, Galen
Imagineering Fiction Blog

Terry Odell said...

At last month's SleuthFest meeting, one member said he had 17,000 followers.

To what end? Are they really interested in him? I doubt it. Does he care what they're doing? My gut says it's just so he can say he has 17,000 followers and everyone retweets everything (whatever that means).

He says he writes for a bit, then checks his Twitter account, then goes back to writing. How much more could he get done if he kept writing straight through.

I've got over 700 "friends" on Facebook, but I doubt any of them would help me move.

Kerrie said...

No matter what you tell me--I'm not going back to twittering. My energy will go toward my blog, visiting other blogs and maintaining two websites.

Happy Tweeting
:-)

Terry Odell said...

Kerrie, I have to agree (although I'm not even starting with the Tweet stuff). I commented on a heavy-traffic romance blog this morning, and my web hits have more than doubled, most of them coming from that site, and from there, to my blog.

And it only took about two minutes of my time.

Patricia Stoltey said...

You two (Kerrie and Terry) are so stubborn. But I don't blame you for trying to keep the amount of time spent to a minimum. The one I can't really get a handle on and don't visit more than once a day (if that) is Facebook. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Galen, thanks for the new "follow." Like Terry said, the best way to get those return visits to your blog is to visit that person's blog and leave a comment. And, of course, you can find those new blogs to visit on .... ta da ... Twitter.

Helen Ginger said...

Good news is I was already following two from your list. The better news is I'm now following the other two. The best news is that you did this post. What fun!

Helen
Straight From Hel

N A Sharpe said...

Cool! I'll definitely check them out - I'm always appreciative of finding good blogs and great folks to follow on Twitter.

Thanks!

Nancy, from Realms of Thought…

Gayle Gresham said...

Thanks for including me,Patricia! What an honor. I have a new theory on what caused Twitter to crash today. It must've been your blog post and so many new follows!

For those who enjoy my blog, be sure to check it tomorrow. I'll have a new post about my trip to Salida and Buena Vista that includes a bear story!