Looking back 10+ years in my blog, I came across this little gem of me trying to figure out the logic behind a little thing that used to be called Twitter….
An odd way to realize you’re getting old…
No, I’m not telling kids to get the hell off my lawn (which is more like 90% moss) or complaining about how I went ten miles through snow to get to school — uphill both ways. No, this is the whole “technology is leaving me behind” feeling. Everyone around my age grew up just as computers became a household thing. Vic 20, Commodore 64, that sort of thing.
You probably also remember how not every adult out there was as excited as you were to use it. They’d let you show them how it works, they understood it, but in the end they were just more comfortable with doing things the way they’d always done.
I think I’m getting to that point now, but in a different way. It’s no longer about the hardware, but the applications. Sure, I have an iPhone, a Blackberry Playbook, computers and consoles… but I still for the life of me don’t “get” Twitter.
This revelation came to me during, of all things, a Dove commercial for men. That, by the way, is a whole other level of weird — trying to market Dove soap as a masculine product using hockey player Wendel Clark — and I noticed on the commercial they had a hash tag — #madeformen. And I realized I don’t know what the heck the hashtag is for on Twitter. Well, I do, but I don’t understand the relevance. Do people actually check a hashtag to see what others are saying about “madeformen”? Really? Checking Twitter, it became clear that Dove For Men has its own Twitter Account — which it actually updates and gets people posting about. The hell?
This made me all too aware of the explosion of social media out there and how I am feeling increasingly left behind. It’s a billion people out there all shouting for your attention, and quite frankly, I think I’d rather spend my time reading a book or writing one. Who’s got time for it all? And yet, for the struggling author, it’s a very important part of self-promotion.
Ghah. I wonder what kind of stuff the pulp writers of the 40s had to deal with?
Heh, kind of funny to be confused over THAT having its own Twitter account, whereas now I just assume everything does, at least I did until Twitter became X. Who knows anymore?
As far as self-promotion goes, though, it’s still sadly true. If anything, it’s worse. I post my stuff on Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastadon… all in the hopes someone who will like my stuff notices.
What do you think of the necessity of social media in terms of self-promotion? Is there a better way?
Same generation, Me. I made accounts in Fb and X when Twitter, years back.
Where does anyone find time to follow up social media?
I know how to click on Messenger in Fb. Then I get lost.
I like your blog. Did one of those too and ran out of time/ energy.
.. Anne