Social Media Writers Connect The Webs Communities
Just as various famous celebrities, companies, colleges and schools use today’s social media to promote their campaigns and products, one form of media which has suffered in the internet age, publishing, has begun to take advantage of this new trend. Much of the money in writing was previously in print, but online publishing offered a wealth of more profitable opportunities.
Old industries must adapt to new technology such as online communities. As sales of print newspapers and books have plummeted, writers have recently found themselves in a dilemma. If their books aren’t being printed, or are tucked away on a hard-to-find smaller site, then what?
Cue online social networking. Before the present mass use of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and recently Google+, the question writers commonly asked themselves was “will anyone buy my writing?” Today this has become, “will people even see it?” With this new and ubiquitous medium, writers can make their names and works widely available. The issue is more of a concern than in previous times, when a bookstore experienced no shortage of customers, and the printed author name was hard to miss. Nevertheless, because of the worldwide nature of the internet, publishers can now directly mass target the globe.
While non-established writers might have something to fear in a platform which promotes fame and heavily punishes anonymity (or non-anonymity), social media and social networking also provides potential writers with the chance not merely to promote their name and works. It can help them directly earn money in a more efficient manner than in the past. Some social media websites offer competitions, on which writers post their work, which are judged, and win a prize should their piece fulfill a criterion. These days the Beatles would been singing about a “social media writer” instead of a “paperback writer”.
Social network websites also offers opportunities for publishing companies. Just as writers feared the internet’s effect, publishing houses have feared a loss of business. Instead, if they exercise prudent marketing strategy, they can harness the power of the social networking site to more easily promote their corporate wellbeing more than ever before.
