So it doesn’t really matter whether you do Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or whatever what matters is that you share a glimpse of what you do, what you think, what you are about. Readers don’t need to know every detail of your life (unless you want to share that!)-what I think most readers are hungry for is just knowing that this book didn’t come out of a vacuum, that an actual person wrote it. The Publicists: If an author were to say to you today, “I just don’t see how social media could help my career and I worry it’s going to suck the life out of me,” how would you reply?”ĬN: I think the key to social media for authors is remembering this: its main purpose is really to show that you are a real human being who lives in this world. And I’ve met so many good friends this way, and had experiences I wouldn’t have had without these tools, that I can only say it is for good more than not. I know, though, that social media has also given us more diversity in our literature, as a diverse range of writers have won new audiences for their writing through social media. And the Facebook algorithm is something that can take an ordinary relationship to someone and turn them into the internet equivalent of a roommate-someone you get sick of seeing every day. The big companies’ services are far too easy to be used as a tool for harassment. That said, it has real problems that are still unresolved. That’s why I’ve stayed on it so far, despite all the not good it brings with it.ĪC: If you think it is bad, it is horrible.
There’s definitely a dark side to social media-and I’m not sure how to fix that, or if we can totally fix it maybe it’s just inherent in its nature?-but at its best, Twitter reminds me how smart, interesting, funny, and genuine people can be. And I’ve seen real-life friendships grow out of Twitter exchanges, and I know of at least one marriage that began there, too. It can be a tremendous vehicle for social good-around the time of the initial Muslim ban, I tweeted that I’d match donations to the ACLU, and not only did people pledge $10,000 (way more than I could match!), others jumped in to match my match. It can be a great place to find and share information, though as is true anywhere, you have to be thoughtful and think critically. At the same time, though, I’ve seen powerful connections forged on social media, and real intellectual exchanges occur. Like most technologies, it can be used for good or evil. I’m cautiously optimistic that over time, we’ll become more sophisticated about using it to prevent violence, take down trolls, and burst filter bubbles.ĬN: This is a little like asking if a hammer is a force for good or not good! It all depends on what you’re doing with it.Ī lot of people use social media to harass others, and the nature of social media in general can bring out some of our worst human impulses. The health of your career shouldn’t depend on the quality of your tweets.ĪG: Yes. The less good part is when people have knee-jerk reactions to writers, or when they dismiss someone entirely because they make a misstep.
I enjoy the literary conversations, the gossip, and the snark when some terrible article about writing or publishing starts making the rounds. I learn so much about forthcoming books via Twitter, in particular, and I appreciate the ability to share my own work. It is a fantastic medium for connecting to other writers, readers, interesting people. RG: Like most things, social media has both good and bad aspects but in terms of writing and publishing, there is far more good. The Publicists: Is social media a force for good or… not good? Up until then, people had been acting as if literary writers didn’t need to do this. The writing, as it were, was on the wall, or, online really. “I posted about it on my WordPress blog,” I said, “and then I shared it on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.” He nodded. “With online, we know what people read.” He then asked me what I’d done to promote the story in his magazine. “With the print issue, we don’t know what people read,” he said. But in 2009 I knew it would matter when I had an editor at a literary magazine tell me about my traffic on their site. At first, people told me I was wasting my time.
For an introvert like me, it’s a great way to interact with others: I get to think about what I want to say before I send it out.ĪC: I am definitely on it for my own reasons. After that, I started tweeting about lit and culture, and found to my surprise that I really enjoyed it.