Blogging

Trying to cope with Twitter

~ beetleypete ~ 83 Comments

During the last year, I have been trying to make some sense of having a Twitter account.

I set aside some time every day to retweet the tweets of those that I follow, and even send the occasional direct message too.

I ‘Like’ the retweets of my own posts, and I am very grateful for those.

But it is like trying to push an avalanche back up a mountain using a teaspoon.

No sooner have I switched from ‘Notifications’ back to ‘Home’, then there are just as many tweets as when I started two minutes earlier.

Some people retweet their own tweets every few seconds.
Is there a setting for that?
I find it hard to believe that they spend the entire day doing nothing but retweeting their own tweets.

So many of you cope admirably with Twitter. You really ‘get it’, and it seems to be second nature to you.
In my case, each new ‘Twitter Day’ becomes a challenge, as I struggle to keep up, and wonder if I have failed to do something ‘Twitterish’.

Then there are the replies and messages. They are almost never linked to the tweet I sent in the first place, so I often have no memory of what I said.
I get included in ‘mass tweets’ sometimes too, and I am never sure if I am supposed to reply. Half the time, I am scrolling through, liking and retweeting, often to discover that I am retweeting the posts of people I have never heard of, because they were retweeted by people I actually follow.

I am overwhelmed by Twitter, like King Canute trying to turn back the waves.
It is relentless, it is unforgivable of those who don’t instinctively get how it works.

I feel as if I am hanging on to the edge of the Twitter crevasse with bitten fingernails.

Is it just me? I suspect it just might be.

Book Confessions: Ten Questions

~ beetleypete ~ 38 Comments

Blogger Suzan Khoja was asked ten questions about books by Nikita.
She answered them on this post.

GUILTY READER’S TAG || PERSONAL BLOGGING.

Here are the questions.

1. Have you ever re-gifted a book you have been gifted?

2. Have you ever said you’ve read a book when you haven’t?

3. Have you ever borrowed a book and not returned it?

4. Have you ever read a series out of order?

5. Have you ever spoiled a book for someone?

6. Have you ever dog-eared a book?

7. Have you ever told someone you don’t own the books when you do?

8. Have you ever skipped a chapter or a section of the book?

9. Have you ever bad-mouthed a book you actually liked?

10. Have you ever told someone you haven’t read a book when you have?

My challenge to all you book fans out there is to follow the link to Suzan’s post, and answer Nikita’s questions in the comments.

You have to tell the truth though! 🙂

Why Don’t Followers Follow?

~ beetleypete ~ 131 Comments

Back on my blogging soapbox about followers again, sorry!

Today is the 19th of November. In the nineteen days of this month, I have already been notified of 114 new followers.

Naturally, this is a nice feeling, and I am very pleased to welcome any new follower to this blog. If they have their own site, and good links, I thank them, and usually comment on one of their posts too.

However, with six notable exceptions, none of those followers has left a single comment on any of my posts during that period. A large percentage of them have not even bothered to so much as to ‘Like’ a post.

That is their business of course, and it is not up to me to criticise them. But why are they bothering? Presumably, they want to grow their blogging experience into something worthwhile. Hopefully, they want to become part of the wider community of blogging, and perhaps get more satisfaction from being a blogger.

If so, that will not happen. Not unless they interact with comments, and also reply to the comments made by others.

It could just be that they expect me to follow them back, without realising that I have been doing this for a long time now, so already follow more than one hundred other blogs. Even so, I might be a lot more inclined to do that, if they could be bothered to leave so much as one comment.

Once again, I am going to repeat myself, as a message to anyone else considering following this blog.

Blogging is not Facebook.
Blogging is not Twitter.
Blogging is not a ‘quick fix’ Social Media platform like so many others.
Not everyone you follow can just follow you back.
Blogging is not just about numbers of followers.
Blogging is about engagement, interaction, community, and friendship.

My sincere thanks to all those followers who have taken time to actually ‘follow’. To leave likes and comments, or links and discussion topics.

For the rest of you who follow for reasons best known to yourselves, I understand. You may not feel confident enough to comment. My blog may well have proved ultimately disappointing for you. The fact that I didn’t follow you back might have caused you some offence. Maybe you just followed far too many blogs at once, and became overwhelmed?

Do you need help, advice, or encouragement? I am here for you. My contact email is on my about page. Feel free to use that more private method to contact me, anytime.

Until then, before you click to follow another blog, think about what that really means.

A little domestic upheaval

~ beetleypete ~ 50 Comments

Next Monday, we are having the painter back, to paint the living room. It should have been done in the summer, but other stuff got in the way.

This means clearing cupboards, shifting furniture, and some cleaning before he starts. All being well, he should be finished by next Thursday morning, ready for the new carpet to be put down soon after.

The only reason I mention this domestic drudgery is that I may not have the usual amount of time for my blogging routine.

So if I seem to have ignored your posts, forgot to comment on something, or missed thanking you for commenting on mine, that will be the reason.

The same applies to my current serial, Russian Sector. If the next episode is late, or doesn’t appear, don’t worry. It will follow on soon.

And if everything gets done on time in the house, you might not even notice much difference.

Best wishes to everyone as always, Pete.

Postcards From Blogging Friends: Part Nine

~ beetleypete ~ 51 Comments

Despite the onset of wintry weather, I am pleased to report that blogger’s postcards are still arriving for my collection.

From the warmer climes of Mississippi in America, chuq sent me this peaceful view of that famous mighty river.

British blogger Jude, now residing in Cornwall, sent me this lovely retro Art Deco image from Penzance.

Photo blogger Sue Judd escaped to the warmth of Spain for a while.
She sent me this delightful Flamenco image from Seville.

Fraggle from north-east England had to attend a wedding in Oxfordshire.
She sent me this card of the Cotswold town of Burford.
(Sorry about the focus, probably my eyes)

I am so pleased to still be receiving these cards, and by the response to my original request.

If you haven’t sent me one yet, what are you waiting for?

The Books of my Blogging Friends

~ beetleypete ~ 42 Comments

I am always happy to buy most books published by my friends in this blogging community.

I never ask for free copies, but sometimes take them when available.
Mostly, I buy them. That way, I can review them as a ‘Verified Purchase’.

That’s a small price to pay (usually) to promote anyone I respect as a writer, and consider to be a friend.

But I thought I would add a note, for your information.

Just lately, I have purchased or pre-ordered quite a few of your books, albeit on Kindle editions only.
It is going to take some time to get to them all, in between the books I have bought that are not by bloggers.
I only read in bed at night, so how much I get through depends on how tired I am, and how early I go to sleep.

So just to let you know, in case you wonder why I haven’t reviewed them yet.

Cartographically challenged ~ Tallis Steelyard (aka Jim Webster) on tour with THREE new books…

~ beetleypete ~ 18 Comments

Wonderful writing from ‘Tallis Steelyard’. (Jim Webster)
A feast of imagination, written in a unique style.
This is my kind of imaginary world!
Immerse yourself in the everyday life of Port Naain.

Sue Vincent's Daily Echo

People will remember that I do sometimes lecture at the University here in Port Naain, and over the years I must have taught numerous young people. Perhaps I ought to merely say that they were exposed to my wit and erudition. I’m not sure whether many of them learned anything. Still, there were some whom I felt would go a long way in life. Indeed I always felt that Illus Wheelburn was one of my more promising students.

But he expressed some dissatisfaction with the life of a poet. Frankly he felt that he couldn’t cope with the slow, irrevocable slide into penury. But still he was a genuine creative artist and needed to express himself. He wrote a little, published less, and in point of fact survived because people asked him to write letters for them. Not so much because of his eloquence as because he has nice handwriting…

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