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Social media sites.

edited June 2016 in Writing
Having to reach out for advice here. About social media sites and how to attract followers to them. Have manage to set up a few now, but am at a lost as to where or what to do to attract the right type of people to my posts, tweets etc, to gain their attention.

How do you start with these things? Just start jumping into people's 'conversations?'. A blog, for instance, where do you go to find out similar minded people who might find your irreverent take on life etc, with additional serious posts on political topics, just where do you find the right type for those messages on all media? Is there a 'tool' or something that allows you to find them? Do you 'stalk' celebrities, wth similar outlooks, in the hope of impressing some of their fans to your sites??? Confused again.. Help!

Comments

  • If you're on FB, try joining groups that cover your kind of thing. I follow various groups to do with historical writing, and the Scrivener page, and assorted others including Talkback. if you post there or answer someone else's post, eventually you'll get your name known.
    Link your blog to FB and to Twitter - it will then happen automatically whenever you blog. People are following me on Twitter all the time (no idea why) as a result of my link. I rarely go there myself.
    On your own blog, use keywords: remember that they must be the sort of word that people will actually punch into search engines. Think of a word you'd find relevant and do a search for it - that's how it works.
    There's a thread on here about blogs - why not add your address/es there? Take a look at some of the blogs mentioned there, too.
  • I'll do all that. Someone is still helping me set up my sites properly. Since I decided I would merge my personal sites, with my business ones, she is going to assist me on that.

    Where do you do a search for a word on Facebook? In the little box in the left hand corner? I'll check that out. Thanks for that Mrs Bear and I'll search out those threads, on here, which mention blogs, and add mine, once it has been converted to my business name..
  • A good way to let people know you exist is to follow them on twitter and reply to their tweets, comment on their blogs etc. Not everyone will automatically do the same in return, but quite a lot will at least take a look.

    If your comments are interesting/fun/useful then you'll gaon followers that way.
  • Will try that as well. Once everything is set up properly. I shall check out some of the tweets etc of people who have drawn my interest and see if I can do likewise, with them and their followers.. It's having the right things to say, as you suggest, to excite some interest back from them.

    The only proviso I can think of, is that, as someone who is majorly affected by her disabilities, I am not actually able to get out and about to join in with the type of things that might be being discussed by these people, or don't have the same life experiences to be able to engage on the diverse topics that are important to them, and interest me too, but that I have no real knowledge on. How do I get around that?

    Was just listening to radio 4's Woman's Hour. Do you think listening to those type of programmes would give me insight into more evolving issues, rather than my own restricted outlets...?
  • How do I get around that?
    Don't try to. People don't have to live the same lives as us for them to be interesting.


  • Woman's Hour can be interesting, but topics are not always the most current.
  • It does help, surely, if you can identify with one or two aspect of a person's life/words? Otherwise, your lifestyle and messages would just sound so 'other' that no one on that tweet etc would be able to recognise what it was you were trying to convey to them, and just ignore your them...?
  • Have just had a quick look through my social media feeds and the main topics are - writing, plants, food, cats, cake, what people have watched on TV, castles, the weather, cats, wine, celebrity gossip, ferries, dogs, gardens, books we've read, music we've heard, horses, flowers, family and friends, writing, health, politics, ships, animals ...

    Some of these are subjects I'm interested in or involved with, but not all. I'd be surprised to learn there weren't at least one or two aspects of that list which you can't identify with.
  • Yeah, true. It's just that I'm not that informed on most things. Trying to hone up on those type of matters, like politics.

    And then there's the other problem in that I am to the extreme of left, when it comes to my political views, which makes it difficult to communicate with more traditional thinking types.. My ideas don't tend to go down well with conservative types, with a small 'C'..
  • You could start with more of a light-hearted approach, Lydia - just general chat, like you would if meeting new people at a party. Relationships develop, even online.
  • Strong political views on general sites like Twitter really put me off, especially if people are preaching at me. That's where the mute button comes in!
    I don't think it is difficult to communicate with people with very different views on certain things - we all have many aspects to ourselves and our lives. I would think the trick is to keep those views to the appropriate forums and not try to infiltrate a forum about e.g. gardening with discussions about communism or whatever. But there is no reason why a socialist and a tory shouldn't discuss gardening perfectly happily!
  • I don't comment on anything political or contentious. Social media's not a good place for informed debate. I stop following anyone who has a 'message'. I stop following anyone who posts anything unsavoury, no matter how important they feel it to be. Social media, to me, isn't about sharing doom and gloom, blood and guts. I don't want to see photos of abused children, animals, etc. I'm not ignoring the problem, I just don't want it to appear as I'm having a cup of coffee. I can read about those issues using other media.

    If too much personal opinion is shared, readers – potential readers – might assume the writing's just more of the same. A subliminal negative seed will be planted.

    Engage – communicate.
    Entertain – either seriously or with humour.
    Exploit – when you have a product to sell, use that network.

    The books I've bought because of Twitter and Facebook are written by authors who have followed those three steps.

    There's no reason why you can't have two profiles – one to express your opinions and another to promote your work.
  • I have to agree. I scroll past anything preachy. I don't want to be told what to think. Debate is slightly different, but I never engage in anything political.
  • I too agree with BB, Heather and TN. I'm not interested in other people's sharing of doom and gloom or harping on about political subjects. There's enough of that on the TV, radio, etc. There are also dedicated forums for that sort of information so go and vent off there please, not on my FB feed, Twitter, etc.

    I block anyone who posts anything that I find remotely offensive or unnecessary and I don't care who they are. If they're spouting on about things, even posting rubbish adverts, I've no interest in them and I don't want to waste my time scrolling away from them.







  • You're right. I tend to be the boisterous puppy, jumping up with enthusiasm at everyone, and getting my muddy paws all over their clean clothes...

    I must learn to 'tone down' my keeness at being able to exchange ideas. Leave the long ramblings for my blog posts where people will only see them if they venture willingly onto there..

    And I agree that, however important the topic is, at that goes without saying, I do not wish to.be bombarded with news about child abuse or domestic violence. That is so.upsetting. so keep.it short and light seems to.be the general advice here. Still learning..


  • Heather: "...there is no reason why a socialist and a tory shouldn't discuss gardening perfectly happily!"

    Left handed secateurs?

    But seriously, my advice to Lydia is to steer clear of the political stuff. Consider instead any of the wide range of topics kindly suggested by Phots M.
  • You're probably right, and mostly they upset me, those serious topics. So perhaps for my own sanity to stay clear of them? I believe I have a good sense of humour, or play, so maybe I should try to cultivate that more... And look up online on topics that I don't know much about so I can join in the debates..
  • Lots of good sense being aired here. I have friends who are dear to me but who regularly post stuff on facebook that I don't want to read on a daily basis... rants against Israel, rants about vegetarianism/healthy eating, rants about politics, rants about the government v NHS - etc, etc. None of this is wrong, per se and I also occasionally share stuff that is important to me (never, ever politics though!), and the key word here is 'occasionally'.


  • Engage – communicate.
    Entertain – either seriously or with humour.
    Exploit – when you have a product to sell, use that network.
    Great post Baggy Books.
    To retain readership interest it has to be about the quality of the writing as much as the content. My mantra: and something I always say to would-be writer students....

    "...there are no dull subjects, only dull writers..."

  • Think you've both illustrated that with the power and selection of the words you've used here to evoke your intentions... No higher accolade needed...
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