World Class Poetry Blog

Should Poets Be Twits?
5 July 2008, the poet @ 7:56 pm

I’ve wondered whether I should start a Twitter account. It just seems like a lot of work. And since I kind of have two online lives - my business and my poetry, which is sort of a profession-hobby - and the two hardly meet, I’ve been a little bit cautious. I’ve been separating my friends from both worlds in my social networking profiles for almost all communities except for StumbleUpon, and try not to water them down. This is more for practical reasons than anything else. I don’t want to annoy my business friends with poetry stuff in which they have no interest and likewise I don’t want to annoy my poet peers with business information about which they have no interest.

But Twitter seems like as much a time commitment as blogging and I’m not sure that I can afford that commitment. So I’ve been reluctant. And I had no idea if there were any poets on Twitter, which would be the purpose for which I’d use it since I follow all the business information I need through blogs and RSS feeds. I don’t need more. But could Twitter be used for poetry?

Well, it evidently is being used for poetry. But it seems that 9to5 poet isn’t the only poet who has become a Twit. There’s also ReadWritePoem and PolkaDotWitch. I’m sure that’s not all.

If you are into microblogging and you use Twitter to communicate with your fans about poetry, I’d like to know. How’s it working out for you?

2 Comments a “Should Poets Be Twits?”

1. kimberly bock — July 8, 2008 @ 12:46 am
   

   You know what? twitter has been a source of various degrees of inspiration for me.
   It has inspired me to feel anger towards the greed and selfish marketing tactics that can be ‘tweeted’ in 140 characters or less. It has inspired me to feel warmth for those who selflessly Tweet their environmental concerns in those same few characters. It has inspired me to laugh with a Tweeted photo, put on a old song I haven’t heard in ages because someone Tweeted that they were listening to it, and has given inspiration through learning of someones brand new baby that has been brought into the world because they were so excited they had to Tweet it immediately for all the world (or followers) to see.

   I do not always participate in the commentary as I once had. But I never regret building a Twitter profile. There’s a lot to be learned from a ‘distance’.

2. the poet — July 8, 2008 @ 11:37 am
   

   Thanks Kimberly. There is a lot to learn from a distance, as you say. But isn’t it time consuming to post all of those Tweets?

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