A brief aside here in this blog that's dedicated to all things haunted and horror, a blog, I should point out, that's directly linked to my Twitter account. I started said account ostensibly to promote my blog and my novel. Many learned folks on the Internet said this was a good idea and so therefore, I reasoned, it must be true. After I set up an account, I did what everyone does - I searched for my favorite celebrities and began stalking...I mean, following them. Soon, I discovered a couple of interesting things. One, I have no idea what the hell most of them are talking about. And two, they never, ever respond to "tweets" from their loyal fans and followers. No one says they have to, of course. And no one put a gun to my mouse and said I had to follow them in the first place. A goodly number of these famous somebodies do nothing but engage in shameless self-promotion. William Shatner's an example, and there's nothing wrong with that. That's why I'm there. But the others, the ones who tweet dozens of times every day about everything (usually nothing), really have no excuse to ignore the people who made them famous in the first place.
On quite a few occasions, I happened to be on Twitter when a famous someone I follow posted a comment and I replied with a witty and/or thoughtful observation or question almost immediately. There is no way they did not see it right away. How hard is it to type, "Thanks" or even "leave me alone, you weirdo?" I understand some of these people have hundreds of thousands of followers, but guess what? Not all followers reply to the tweets. Not even hundreds. Dozens, tops. The famous will respond to their friends and fellow celebs, though.
In essence, Twitter is a massive platform for celebrities who are little more than exhibitionists, but it's also a place for voyeurs to get their jollies legally. A win-win, I suppose. However, consider this: Charlie Sheen opened a Twitter account and within a day had over a million followers. Now, do you suppose these folks are his fans or drooling voyeurs who can't wait to hear what nutty thing the unemployed actor says next? This begs another question: are these the kind of people I want reading my blog or buying my novel? As it turns out, yes, yes they are. So does that make me a hypocrite? A voyeur? Or just an opportunist, perhaps? Actually, I think it makes me a struggling novelist doing what he has to do with the tools available to him. What's Charlie Sheen's excuse?
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