Social Networking and Writing

Is Everyone into Social Networking by Debbie Roome
Social networking is here to stay. Every day I notice another company has a page on Facebook or is inviting people to follow them on Twitter. If large corporations are seeing the value in this phenomenon, how can it not benefit us as writers?

What is Social Networking
I asked Google to define social networking and the answers that popped up had these factors in common:
· Using internet network groups such as Facebook and Twitter to network and communicate between consumers and businesses
· A means of communicating and sharing information between two or more individuals who are part of an online community
· The practice by which internet users build relationships and bookmark important sites with like-minded people
· Social networking websites allow users to be part of a virtual community
· Most services are primarily web-based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging and discussion groups

How can this Benefit Writers
If you have any kind of content online, this can be promoted through a host of sites. Some people struggle with this concept– but if we write, we need someone to read our words. Posting links to our writing is a wonderful way of finding readers and informing friends that something new is online. Whether you blog occasionally or are a prolific article writer, there are a number of ways to promote your writing.

Which Sites can I use to Promote my Writing
There are dozens of sites out there with more appearing all the time. The most common ones include Facebook, Twitter and Stumbleupon but there are others that can also produce great results. If you look beneath this article, you’ll see a “share” button. It lists nearly 300 links to social networking sites. While it would be impossible to be involved in all of these, it is worthwhile to sift through them and find the ones that will work best with what interests you.

Does it Work
A couple of the article sites I write for automatically post links to my work on Facebook and Twitter. On others I have to do it manually. I sometimes go back to an older article that hasn’t had many reads and post a link to that too. The next day the number of reads is normally higher. It definitely does help.

I would encourage you to share your work and send your words out for others to read. There is an immense online community out there who are waiting to be blessed, uplifted and inspired by what you write.


Debbie Roome works as a freelance writer from her home in New Zealand. Visit her at Debbie Roome or read some of her work at Suite 101, Associated Content and Faithwriters.