read write where: facebook?
Published by Read Write Poem July 8th, 2008 in About Read Write Poem, Dana, Deb, Discussion Thread.
To continue with our slightly unusual article subject and format (and the third person narrative started the week before last), we have a new subject to chat about, one we warned you about earlier. Yep. Facebook.
Or to put it as the pundits do: one of the social networking (or utility) tools that has grabbed a lot of attention in the last year or so. One we think works especially well for poets. Why? Because it does seem there are a lot of poets on Facebook.
Some of us are shy about these new technical developments. (It’s just hype: Someone is trying to sell something or influence people somehow.) Deb is admittedly slow about buying into new technologies and outlets. Why, she even lurked around the edges of Poetry Thursday for a good six months before she posted the paltriest of comments, much less got the gumption to start a blog and post a poem of her own. Even at that, it took a long time before she put up her very own face as her avatar, thinking she ran the risk of weirdos and an ex-husband finding out the intimate details of her life. (She’s safe so far. No one has bothered her.)
But when January said in her AWP update that everyone at the conference was saying “Facebook,” Deb was intrigued, even if the tiniest bit skeptical. (Yes, if a pal told her to jump off a bridge she probably would do it, after calculating the drop.) She even signed up for an account (free, BTW), then let it sit there, not sure how to proceed.
Then a couple of other people, including Dana, started talking about Facebook and how it could be used as a promotional device for Read Write Poem. So the whole question about Facebook came up again. Why should RWP be on Facebook? What’s the benefit?
Well, exposure for one. (Of a good kind, not the weird, kinky kind.) There are a lot of published poets and poetry journals and poetry outlets on Facebook. They announce goofy stuff: Dana Guthrie Martin is oblong and has had her knees removed. And interesting stuff: Dorianne Laux is thinking about George Carlin. Poets we all admire are on Facebook. It’s a way of sending notices out to interested folks: Mary Biddinger wants to remind you that today’s the last (postmark) day to submit to the UA Press poetry contest. Without having to do the tiresome email thing.
It’s as interactive and informative as you want it to be.
What about privacy? Well, only people you say can be your “friend” can read your stuff, if you set your account up like that. You do have to use your real name (or it seems like everyone we know there does), but it seems pretty safe, since each person is in control of who gets to see his or her profile.
We like how Qarrtsiluni and other journals keep their readers and hopeful contributors up to speed: Southeast Review is looking forward to Vol. 26.2, which hits shelves in AUGUST and features intimate interviews with Clive Barker, Hal Crowther & Lee Smith, and Daniel Woodrell!
So that’s why we now have a Read Write Poem Facebook account. And why we suggest that all you other poets get one, too. And befriend one another. And while you’re there … answer the question Dana asked recently: Is social networking meaningful for poets, or is it a waste of time? Does it add to the experience of being a poet. If so, how? If not, why not?
Questions, comments, advice? Do ask, tell, inform. The comments are open.
(And again, please bear with us, since all of this social networking stuff is new to us, too, so while we like what we’re doing, we’re not yet sure of all the ways in which we can use tools like Twitter and Facebook.)
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I think a poetic community there is a great idea…..just yesterday Rethabile flagged a beautiful poem (well two, it was translated) via his Canopic Jar group and it arrived like a postcard while I was having a coffee.
I’ve had an a/c for years but never really used it apart from keeping in touch with friends abroad. I also like the idea that there are people around while I’m working, makes me feel less isolated, sad, cough, but true………..So I’m in (and really what more could you want…*cheeky grin*).
In former years I was in the technology business. I never tired of it. However, I did find that the further one spread their availability on the World Wide Web the more one was available (and not necessarily to the type person wanted at your Internet portal). Still Facebook is interesting. I am hesitant to become a junkie to the medium. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, EBlog, Read Write Poem - what will be our new flavor next month?
Darn, I’m glad to get that off my chest. I will pursue an account at Facebook simply because (you Deb have invested hundreds of hours into analytical evaluation) I do believe every person needs to expand their network of individuals participating in their life. A gathering of persons in the poetry community would provide a backdrop for developing an appreciation and expansion of poetic ability and comprehension. Thanks Deb. Regards DCH
I feel kin to Deb on being very wary of joining anything new. Once I do, I am usually usure how to use it.
I think social networking can be helpful, but why would I go to a poet’s Facebook instead of his/her blog?
Looking at the Facebook page for RWP, I don’t understand what can be done there that cannot be done on RWP’s blog. Exposure is a good reason for the RWP page, but it does not convince me to have another account name and password of which to keep track.
Actually, Donald, there are a lot of really accomplished poets on Facebook, which is one of the reasons we decided to start that site up. And I sure hope RWP isn’t a flavor of the month.
Jenn, to name a few things we can do on Facebook:
-Easily e-mail the entire group with updates about RWP and with poetry, poetry news, etc ~ the way Jo describes in her comment.
-Create and jump into discussion threads.
-Find and appeal to a wider audience, which speaks to marketing RWP. We are dedicated to growing the group, and the more exposure we have, the better. (Also, the more participants we have, the more people will see *your* work each week, so marketing the project ultimately benefits all its participants.)
-Plus a lot of RWP participants are on Facebook more than they come to this site, and every time we update something over there (often announcing things going on over here) the entire RWP FB group will be pinged, so it allows us another way to give folks a heads up about RWP goings-on.
There’s more, I am sure, that we will discover along the way. But the bottom line is it’s another way to reach out and will work synergistically with this site. And people are by no means required to join up if they don’t want to. It’s an enhancement, if you will, and an optional one at that. Think of it like levels of trim on a car: You can have the basic model if you want, or have the decked out version. With these new RWP ventures, you can pick the level that suits you and have more options for participation in the project than ever before.
I assume you won’t make announcements there that you don’t make on the blog? So, I could get much the same result by adding RWP to my google reader (which I also tend to under-use)
Hi Catherine,
Please do add us to your Google Reader, whether or not you join Facebook.
In answer to your question, we won’t make announcements there that we don’t make here, but we will be using some of the functions listed in my response to Jenn (above), so there might be additional things we send out (poetry links, poetry news and the like) that we don’t have a good way to communicate otherwise.
Deb might have more thoughts on that ~ just my two cents.
For your third act, may I suggest you get everyone on StumbleUpon?
(It’s actually the only one of the major social bookmarking sites with any kind of poetry community.)
Dave, we can’t take all this change. It’s too much. We have to ease into these things. (But seriously, thanks for the recommendation.)
I’m good with Dana’s comments; they jive with what she and I were thinking about when we wrote these posts: Introduce Twitter and FB as additional resources that augment, but in no way replace, our blog-based enterprise (”our” in the wider, community sense of the word “our” - meaning “you!” as RWP participants).
About StumbleUpon: Let us catch our breath and make sure FB and Twitter are not just ways to distract and procrastinate before making a foray into that locale!
(But seriously folks, Dave usually has his fingers on the pulse!)
These little goodies won’t be for everyone. And some folks may fade in and out of using them, too.
What we do here at RWP will never depend on those outlets. So join, or not, and feel right at home at RWP!
Yeah! Totally!
I hate stuff like this. I always end up getting a bunch of people who want to talk to me that I don’t want to talk to. Regardless, though, I can just ignore them. I added myself to your group.
why?
i need to know that there are other people out there
that think the same way i do,
that like what i like,
that think in words, in paraphrases,
in rhythm, in rhyme…
i need that…
i live in a small town where i know no one
who likes what i like…
Noah, just don’t friend those peeps, and then they can’t see you or talk to you. It’s awesome. Like rolling up a window when you don’t want to hear traffic noise.
gkgirl, why don’t you check out the RWP Facebook group’s page, and take a look at its members. If you don’t want to play there, you can leave the group. But you might find people there who think like you and who you want to play with.
Deb…Evidently you are the moderator for this site however, contacting your is an impossibility. I would appreciate an email address to which I can send some comments and observations to you. Thanks.
Donald Harbour
dharbour@harbourcom.com
http://woodennickle.wordpress.com
Hi Don,
Yep. I manage the site. You are welcome to send any information, thoughts or comments to info at readwritepoem dot org.
A description of everyone’s “job” is on the “brought to you by page” and all the email contact information is on the “get involved” tab.
deb