Are you on Twitter? Do you follow us on there?
Ever since our first confusing dabbles in the Twittersphere, I’ve become quite a big fan of it.
I don’t tend to use it personally, because there’s just so much going on all the time, but it’s been a surprisingly handy thing for our work.
www.twitter.com
We’ve carefully followed a number of people, from the writers who work with our Fiction team, to a number of social enterprises and small charities.
The beauty of the platform is its democracy.
There’s gold in them thar tweets
Even the smallest local initiative can reach a wide range of people if its posts are picked up and shared. Then they’ll get the help, support and exposure they need.
I’ll grant that there’s doubtless millions of tweets per day that go unnoticed by anyone, but sometimes there’s gold in them thar tweets. And it’s well worth spending the time “panning” for it.
Madlugs, the social enterprise giving bags to kids in care, appeared on our radar through Twitter, as did My Favourite Bench, and they both made great features for our magazine.
It’s also one of the first places to get news.
It’s a bit alarming, really, but things move so fast these days that social media platforms like Twitter can often be ahead of even daily TV news shows.
www.twitter.com
Like most things, what you get from it will be a reflection of what you put in. Or in this case, who you follow.
Though even with very careful curation, you can find yourself exposed to conversations you’d rather not have known about! There’s a lot of politics floating about.
For fiction writers, it’s an absolute goldmine of ideas, tips and writers to chat to, celebrate or commiserate with.
And don’t forget about our weekly 11 a.m. #PFWritingHour on our own page.
Whether you’re an established writer or an aspiring newbie, it’s a worthwhile conversation to get involved in!
But if sometimes it all feels a bit serious on there, there’s always something like We Rate Dogs or The Dodo to cheer us up!
For more from Alex, read his blog here.
Alex Corlett I am the "Friend's" Features Editor, working with the talented Features Team to bring you everything from cryptic crosswords to financial advice, knitting patterns to international travel and inspirational real life stories. Always on the hunt for a new feature idea, I also enjoy cycling and love a good tea room.
