32 Poems Magazine » Facebook

Did Facebook Kill Goodreads?

32poems — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:05:56 +0000

Before us non-college types were allowed on Facebook, we had Goodreads. Writers could congregate there, review books they’d read and share their reading lists with others. I was a fan of Goodreads, because I’m always looking for a good book to read at an inopportune time such. If I call a friend at 3 a.m. and ask them what should I read, they will not be my friend for long. I’m seeing how this could be handy. But, I digress. Goodreads entered the internetosphere and became my 3 a.m. friend.

Even though I’ve not used the site in ages, writers still “friend” me there and I can’t friend back because I no longer remember my password or the email where a replacement password can be sent.

I suffer from a severe case of toomanypasswordsitis. I’m doing what I can to treat it and the prognosis is good, so please don’t worry about me too much.

This poetry blogger discusses being found via Goodreads. Maybe it’s time for me to consider visiting again.

It seems to me that a better place to out oneself as a literary citizen is on a site like Goodreads. After all, Goodreads is presumably frequented by literary types who like to read, right? Turns out Goodreads is a good site for literary networking. Tonight I received a message via Goodreads from the editor of Gently Read Literature, a newish-but-impressive lit-blog. He asked if I would consider submitting a review of a poetry collection I’d recently read and done a two-sentence review of on Goodreads.

Do you use Good Reads anymore? Did you ever use it? What did you like about it?

Facebook for Poets

32poems — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:45:58 +0000

A long time ago, I wrote a post called “9 Effective and Slightly Badass Ways to Use Facebook.”

You can read that article, and I’ll summarize here.

Add a photo: Let people see who you are. That’s the point of Facebook. If you’re John Smith, people want to know if you’re the John Smith from the Peabody Prep School they attended back in 1980. Let them know, so they can friend you (or avoid you).
Don’t write on your own wall: Facebookers will think you’re strange if you write on your own wall. It’s not IM.
Write on other walls: When people post new photos to their albums (or profiles), take a moment to let them know you like them (if you really do).
Incorporate your RSS feed if you’re a blogger: You can add your feed to your profile page.
Incorporate your Twitter feed if you Twitter: This is easy to do and keeps people updated on your meanderings.
Create a page if you run a magazine: I’ve become fans of a lot of literary journals. Steve Schroeder of Anti- makes great use of Facebook to promote his magazine. I always get a notice about new poems on the website and often go to read the new issue. Hey, join the 32 Poems Facebook page! Become our 311th fan today. =-)
Be careful: Read the TOS (terms of service) for Facebook and make sure you follow the rules. I’ve seen organizations sign up as people instead of creating a page for their organization. If you are an organization, you need to get your employees to create profile. Then, they can create a page for your organization. (I can explain this more if anyone is interested.)

What Facebook advice do you all have to share? What did I miss?

9 Effective (and Possibly Hip) Ways to Use Facebook

32poems — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:00:07 +0000

Loving Facebook. I wrote an article on Facebook basics —
useful for poets, useful for anyone.