Saturday, August 30, 2014

HOW TO: Run a Twitter account / My twitter life story

Shame on me (or not, hm?), but I have discovered Twitter back in 2009, and I only used to go there to check on what's my favorite celebrities were up to. For quite few months it was fine for me that way, and I had no wish to join said site myself. Until one day when I, after roaming twitterverse all anonymously and spotting a handful of fun accounts run by pretty much ordinary teenagers, decided to give it a try.
I shall be honest, I knew pretty much nothing about twitter and it was also my first time using any social media at all. It was like landing on another planet - everything seemed strange, yet interesting.
My very first twitter account was completely personal and consisted of my thoughts or quotes that inspired me as I was all into writing at that time, I did not communicate much nor followed many accounts, my mentions mostly remained empty and I did not feel any concerned about it. I did not put much effort into my twitter account and as result, by the time I deleted it, it had something around 110 followers.
Why deleted?
I decided to use Twitter in another and for that I created a new account. Started all new.
What was that account for? It was made by me to join Twitter Roleplay community. I LOVED the idea of being able to write a story for a character I like and even getting to present it to whole world itself. In process, I've discovered two more positive sides of roleplaying:firstly, interacting with native English writers has improved my English; secondly, it was a great way to practice my writing skills and motivated me to start working on my own book.
There were bad things too. A lot of it. From simple negative comments and trolling to being cyberbullied. I passed through a lot and never looked back.

There is one thing, which a lot of roleplayers like mentioning - "Never get attached to things that happen in RP, since none of it is real".
I say - BULLSH*T.
How can a human being not be emotionally involved into something they are doing? Just as music or dancing or taking photos or fashion, roleplay is a hobby, something you do for yourself and a little bit of your soul will slip in there anyway.
I have been RPing (roleplaying) for more than 3 years and I never regretted a single thing. My account grew with me and even though the number of followers never meant much to me, I was shocked nonstop ever since it passed 1000 mark.
And nowadays I can say, I figured some helpful tips for those, who want to join twitter for either personal blogging or roleplay.

1. Love your account. I am serious. Truth is, none of us enjoys doing what they do not love. So fall in love with it first. Cherish it, since it is your creation.

2. Be literate. Majority of twitter users prefer English, but if you are in no way friendly with it, I suggest using your native language. Don't constantly use text talk or a ton of emojis, as it's highly irritating for your readers/followers. 

3. Write about things that interest you, don't just blindly follow trends. 

4. Don't abuse RT (ReTweet) button. It is used to share tweets you like / agree with, with your followers, but constantly RTing stuff and never posting your own is a way to lose your devoted followers.

5. Befriend people. Socialize. Try mentioning people yourself and replying to those, who mention you.

6. Ignore "haters". Seriously, as my friend says, "I ain't a dollar to be liked by everyone" aka there ALWAYS will be someone, who dislikes you. It's normal. Do you like everyone you know in your real life? I bet, not. Best solution in times, when you are under hater attack is to ignore (twitter block button will be your saver, haha) and trust me, if people get no response to their negativity - eventually they stop. Why? Because they get bored. And leave to find someone who is weak or silly enough to start a banter with them. Drama queens crave attention and audience. So give them neither in your case.

7.Try to stay positive yourself. If you are feeling down or even depressed, try not to post much, since your feelings affect your writing and sad truth is, people don't really like reading depressive tweets ALL the time.

8. Post inspirational quotes / picture quotes if your muse took a break. It's a great add to your account image + way to motivate and inspire everyone, yourself included.

I guess that's about it? I went all crazy and made this post longer than planned, heh. If you need any more help or have any questions on this topic, just leave me a comment bellow! xx










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