Being a Better Tweeter

Someone on my grad school's Facebook page posted today about Cosmopolitan's fiction opening.  And yes, I did consider applying, but the deadline is in a few days; too short a time for me to plan out a year-long project.

Something in particular about the posting caught my eye: it included three Twitter posts per day from the protagonist's point of view.  It got me thinking about how could better manage their Twitter.

Consider this: Twitter, like all social media, requires that you actually use it.  But there are extremes to this.  On the one hand, you could say nothing and have a pointless platform that ultimately serves no purpose of any kind.  On the other, you could inundate the world with meaningless gibberish about every little thing you're doing.  In polite society, the latter are known as Twitter whores.

So I don't recommend being on Twitter every minute of the day, because, uhhhh, you should really have a life beyond that quirky little bluebird.

Daily, I would suggest a minimum of three to four posts: one bit of advice, one bit of encouragement to others in your field (writing or otherwise), one bit of randomness to jazz things up a little, and one work-related update perhaps every other day at least.

Furthermore, I would also suggest tagging someone once a week in a post.  For example, letting your followers (that sounds cult-ish) know about a friend's new publication in case they'd like to follow that person, or promoting another friend's upcoming reading.

In the end, I think going this route helps a writer stay active enough on their social media to keep others updated while also giving them some distance in order to get back to work.