Success on any social media platform, including a blogging platform like WordPress, requires building relationships with other users.
Here, on WordPress, where I am very active, I have formed warm relationships with other writers around the world; but on Twitter, where I don’t engage much with others, I have failed to do so. That’s why I have incomparably more subscribers on WordPress than I do on Twitter. Really, I should have predicted this from the start.
Twitter is its own community, just as WordPress is, and those who succeed there are those who are invested in it. For me, Twitter has never been much more than a channel to promote my WordPress blog, and this is obvious to anyone who interacts with me there.
I’ve long since given up on responding to any poetry prompts on Twitter. Instead, I have found a number of prompts on WordPress that I enjoy; and whenever I look for sources of inspiration for my writing, I always turn to writers on WordPress. Also, much of my poetry is not well suited for Twitter because it’s too long, and I never bother writing poems for Twitter itself – I only cross-post poems from my blog to my Twitter account.
Most importantly, I don’t engage much at all with other poets on Twitter. Sure, I retweet a lot of people’s poems, but that’s about it ~ and that’s not exactly a major time investment. Most of the tweets I actually respond to on Twitter are those of individuals I know from WordPress.
All of my creative energy goes into The Skeptic’s Kaddish blog – not only into my poetry, but also into creative initiatives, such as Poetry Partners and W3 Poetry Prompt. I have no interest in creating a new poetry prompt on Twitter or anywhere else. Ultimately, I don’t really feel myself part of any other community.
In terms of gaining exposure for my poetry, this is somewhat unfortunate, but, unlike many other writers, I have no immediate intention to publish a book of poetry or market my writing services. So, I have no pressing need to promote myself widely. Besides, the interactions I most enjoy are the discussions that blossom here, in the comments section of my beloved blog, and those take place almost exclusively between WordPress bloggers.
So, in my final assessment, I am deliberately choosing to continue failing at Twitter, and I feel completely okay with that.
Sure, I’ll continue cross-posting my poetry there, and maybe I’ll decide to respond to a poetry prompt at some point… But my heart is here at The Skeptic’s Kaddish blog on WordPress; I simply don’t see myself investing significant time or energy into any other social media platform for the foreseeable future.
The Skeptic's Kaddish ๐ฎ๐ฑ 
Hey, I am also failing at Twitter! ๐ lol Honestly, I would love to make more connections on there with other writers, but I find that there just simply isn’t enough time to manage my Twitter account well, so I do it poorly with random bursts of posts and then week-long absences. Maybe someday…
โค Sarah โค ~ yeah! “Maybe someday…”
There are way too many social media platforms and who has the time to stay relevant on all of them?! You made a good decision sticking to just a few and making them work for you.
๐ Swathi ๐ ~ I’m coming to that same conclusion… But I don’t seem to have the time for taking even one social media platform seriously outside of WordPress… maybe I will at some point in the distant future ๐
Thank you!
David
The warm engagement here is not there on other social media. It’s okay to fail sometimes. โค๏ธ
๐๐๐ป Punam ๐๐ป๐
Itโs definitely time consuming to engage on all social media platforms. This is why I never did start an Instagram. I donโt have the time and energy. I do like twitter because I enjoy the speed of which it flows with shorter poetry and vss (very short stories) and in general the replies are on the short side too. I feel like WordPress is great for longer, more detailed posts and responses, but sometimes Iโve only enough time for Twitter! ๐ In the end, itโs really about doing what you love and finding inspiration where you can. ๐
๐ Tricia ๐ ~ I 100% agree ๐๐ป
โค๏ธ
Ps. Can I put a link to your blog on my blog this week? Iโm doing a bit on the power of poetry and really enjoy your writing
Gosh, of course. I’d be very honored. Thank you ๐
Youโre so welcome.
Well said, especially “beloved blog.” I treasure mine as well and enjoy reading yours.
๐ Susan ๐ ~ thanks! I think we need to stick with what brings us happiness ๐
I find it very useful. Most companies have a presence on Twitter, and contacting their customer service โpubliclyโ (rather than ringing up and waiting an eternity listening to awful music) is win-win for me.
I’d never thought of that! You are a genius ๐๐ป
Meee too. I cannot and no clue how you retweet but thank you for retweeting me. I decided I just cannot retweet as it feels like MLM or something. The engagement it would take is beyond me and right now just managing my blog which is my baby is tough.
๐
yeah, I feel you about the MLM… but that’s kinda how it works, I think. anyway, whatevs – I’m not worrying about Twitter, and my blog is my baby too!