Jonathan Franzen is out of his box again and this time the target of his wrath is Twitter. Though I agree with his sentiment that social media can really take over people’s lives, I think that once again he has proven himself out of touch with technology and the necessity for writers to use sites such as Twitter to promote themselves and their work.
I feel that this blog – and the way I used it – has really helped me get back into writing fiction. Furthermore, I really enjoy the essay style posts that I put here a couple of times per month. I don’t think it is stopping me from writing, nor is it a frivolous waste of time.
I don’t have a Twitter page and I don’t want one simply because I fail to see how it could benefit me or my writing. But I know that some of the blogs I subscribe to and some of my subscribers do use it, and that’s fine if you feel you are making effective use of the media. I wish you all the luck in the world with it.
I must admit I had to chuckle at the other suggestions that Franzen could speak out against: “photography – because real pictures ought to be painted” and “emoticons, because it takes 600 pages to accurately convey emotion” are my two favourites. Scroll down The Guardian article to see more humourous suggestions.
The link didn’t work. I like blogging, but that’s because I like blogging. I also guess I am building my author platform on it too, I guess. But I wouldn’t discount all the naysaying about twitter. I think like all things, some folks get a little carried away. Check out this post:
http://jwmanus.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/im-doing-it-all-wrong-and-i-really-dont-care/
Corrected. There was a rogue ‘z’ at the end – no idea how it got there
I agree with your sentiment and understand the frustrations of the other blog. What I object to is the manner in which he is doing it. He is out of touch with technology and sees it at as all bad with zero redeeming qualities. This was the guy who said that epublishing is not for serious readers or writers.
Ah, one of those. Well, I guess that’s his opinion…