Embrace me or… die, Robot

If you’re reading this now, the chances are you know something of this whole social-media thing. Chances are you are either a dabbler or an embracer of the on-line drip-feed of information and inspiration. 

Personally, I flit between dabbling and embracing. And I know enough about what engages me, and others, and what turns me off. It’s a pity that more 'embracers' don’t.

As a writer I’m here to engage readers, entertain if I can, inform if I’m in the mood, or just shoot the breeze. And Twitter is a great way to shoot things. And you know, it’s not a bad place for publicity either.

But here’s the thing.

When I meet a person for the first time, or I chat to someone as I might on a windswept Sheffield street, or over a pint in the local, you know what I don’t do?

Well, I don’t tell them to buy my book.

Nor do I quote parts of it and then tell them to buy my book.

And I don’t read aloud what others have typed on Twitter in the hope that they’ll keep listening to me and not speak to someone else.

So why do writers think this is a good thing on social media, Twitter being the main culprit?

Sure, I get a few followers, not loads which means I can pretty much keep on top of those who are following me, or follow me so I follow them, and then drop me - in that ludicrous game of cat-and-mouse that some Twitterisers think is acceptable.

These days I'm pretty picky about who I follow back. I don’t mean I follow back only published authors, filmmakers and celebs either. Who I follow depends on the content of their tweets not who they are.

I always look at content first, cos it’s king. Always has been. Always will be. You can spot a Twitter account swollen by a robot from a mile off. They’re the ones that have 80% re-tweets and 20% of actually something to say. And you know, most of what is re-tweeted was boring and irrelevant the first time around.

The second thing that turns off are the constant, repetitive tweets about their books, constant quotes, and constant pressure to buy them. It’s not necessary people. If you have a website, or the book has just come out, or the book is on offer, by all means, Tweet about it to the heavens. But when someone is just talking about themselves all the time, ‘me-me-me-me’ can get pretty lame.

Shame.

And finally there’s those who don’t Robot and don’t Lame. But they re-tweet all the same. Sometimes that’s all they do. Which is BAD. Because when you spend all your time re-tweeting it means you’ve got nothing to say. And if you’ve got nothing to say, won’t the books be the same?

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I’ve been around long enough using social media (blogging, websites, twitter etc) to learn that what you put out on the Internet reflects what you put out between the covers. It reflects your creativity, maybe sense of humour, and world-view. The lot. That’s why when the trolls are outed, the tweeters of immoral politics routed, and all that is murky on the world-wide-web have been laid bare, it has scuppered the careers of authors (some high-profile) who didn’t think-through what they were putting into pixels.

It matters. Don’t believe it doesn’t.

So, the next time you feel the need to enlist the help of a robot to boost followers who couldn’t care less about your content, while alienating those who might, think again what you embrace.

And what you might lose.