Social media is hard to explain to non-participants. Now we have an article from a ‘trusted’ resource, CNN, to which I can point in case anyone asks why I want to meet up and break bread with a bunch of strangers, why I’ve become a Jeff Pulver fan in a matter of months, or why Twitter is worth my time. (not that anyone anyone ever asks me that…)
Due to the little tiny bit of controversy in my “riding fences” post, I asked a few media mavens to answer a few quick questions about their reading habits and how they see themselves as readers.
A big thank you from me goes out to the participants from our small social media circle. Still waiting to hear back from iJustine, but here are the participants in this impromptu study: DYKC, CC Chapman, Annie Boccio, Julia Roy, Eric Rice, Amanda Gravel, Chris Brogan, Jeff Pulver and Ewan Spence.
I am breaking the results up across several posts, in the interest of spacing.
Please leave a comment with your answers/thoughts; I’ve posted the questions below to copy and paste. Thanks, and enjoy!
1. In one (can be hyphenated!) word, how would you describe your career, culture or identity. E.g., “I am a(n) ________.”
2. Do you think this identity has been represented well in art (including fiction, film, poetry)?
3. What do you typically do on long trips (plane, train, auto) for entertainment?
4. What traditional paper & print media, if any, do you read on a regular basis?
5. What is the last fiction novel or short story you remember reading? When was this?
6. What is your preferred genre for fiction and/or non-fiction?
7. Would you rather read a novel or listen to it?
8. Approximately how many page books do you buy in a year for yourself or other adults?
9. Please pick up the book nearest to you now. What are the first and last words? What is the title?
10. You’ve just been given $300 gift card to Borders right before a 3-week trip to an ‘off the grid’ island. What do you buy?
11. What connections, if any, do you see between social media and traditional fiction?
1. In one (can be hyphenated!) word, how would you describe your career, culture or identity. E.g., “I am a(n) ________.”
EWAN SPENCE: Internet-bum
JEFF PULVER: I am Polymorphic.
2. Do you think this identity has been represented well in art (including fiction, film, poetry)?
EWAN SPENCE: Yes, for example Hiro in Snow Crash.
JEFF PULVER: I’m not sure. Maybe in Sci-Fi.
3. What do you typically do on long trips (plane, train, auto) for entertainment?
EWAN SPENCE: Consume media, normally TV shows or old war films on a Sony PSP. I tend to travel with the PSP and use the Wi-fi feature (podcast) and the H.264 codecs (video)
JEFF PULVER: I close my eyes and hear music in my head. I close my eyes and dream about tomorrow and think about the days ahead.
4. What traditional paper & print media, if any, do you read on a regular basis?
EWAN SPENCE: Lots of books (especially one that have that old book smell) from Amazon Z Shops, and The Sunday Post (http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/MAGS/POST/)
JEFF PULVER: while I’d love to say WSJ, NYT the answer is none.
5. What is the last fiction novel or short story you remember reading? When was this?
EWAN SPENCE: Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi, on the flight to Barcelona, so about 4 hours ago.
JEFF PULVER: Most of John Grisham and Michael Criton
6. What is your preferred genre for fiction and/or non-fiction?
EWAN SPENCE: Science Fiction.
JEFF PULVER: Fiction
7. Would you rather read a novel or listen to it?
EWAN SPENCE: Read it.
JEFF PULVER: Read.
8. Approximately how many page books do you buy in a year for yourself or other adults?
EWAN SPENCE: Ehrm, I suspect just under one a week on average, so 45?
JEFF PULVER: I buy books that I never read. Mostly computer/geek books.
9. Please pick up the book nearest to you now. What are the first and last words? What is the title?
EWAN SPENCE: Gregor and winners. (Title, Ewan?)
JEFF PULVER: when, sugars – “the ultimate guide to accurate CARB counting”
10. You’ve just been given $300 gift card to Borders right before a 3-week trip to an ‘off the grid’ island. What do you buy?
EWAN SPENCE: The collected works of Hugh Walters, Lori Summers, and then I’ll put the lights out and grab the balance in random books.
JEFF PULVER: the lastest John Grisham Book.
11. What connections, if any, do you see between social media and traditional fiction?
EWAN SPENCE: I’m too tired, can I just say ‘lots’ and wax lyrical about story telling, camp fires, etc…
JEFF PULVER: well, twitter is my social media tofu. So I would look to twitter as a way to communicate my feelings about books. And authors.
One of my favorite poems. I used the first line as my personal tagline at Jeff Pulver’s Social Media Breakfast. It’s been a favorite for me for well over a decade. The words and feelings always seem to resonate with me in different ways throughout my life. (Found a copy of this poem here.) Enjoy.
Lucille Clifton
I Am Running into a New Year
i am running into a new year
and the old years blow back
like a wind
that i catch in my hair
like strong fingers like
all my old promises and
it will be hard to let go
of what i said to myself
about myself
when i was sixteen and
twenty-six and thirty-six
even thirty-six but
i am running into a new year
and i beg what i love and
i leave to forgive me
Here I still sit, straddling the fence between two worlds.
Social media mavens are usually high achieving business people who love marketing, technology and the fast lane of constant connectivity. Writers are lone warriors, working alone for hours a day, with fierce determination at times and horrible block and depression at others. I’ve been drifting between the tech/business and the writer/academic worlds for my entire adult life. Just recently, I’ve noticed that they are slowly beginning to meet. Well, “meet” is putting it nicely.
Most writers don’t have any clue what social media and ‘web 2.0′ are. They have never heard of Chris Brogan (who seemed to call everyone I know last night) or CC Chapman or Jeff Pulver or Twitter or Qik or Seesmic. Writers, then, are like most people. Still in the dark as to what is coming.
Social media mavens don’t have a clue, in general, of what is going on in the publishing industry. They don’t read books much. They are on-line, but they haven’t moved over to reading entire novels on a screen. Younger generations are more accustomed to this, but social media people would rather listen to a podiobook than go to the library to pick up page book.
Here is one example of a fence skirmish between the mavens and the writers I witnessed recently. Back in November, I wrote a post for my NanoWriMo friends about Book Trailers, mini-movie previews for your written novel (not a movie trailer for a feature-length film based on your novel, but a trailer for just the actual novel). I see it as a great development and marketing tool. It’s combining two arts, film and novel-writing; it could be a new way to get people excited to read. What’s not to like?
But a writer’s group I joined last week in Yahoo has some genuine curmudgeons insulting the new art and practice of the Book Trailer. I didn’t jump into the discussion; I can sniff out unchangeable minds in a listserv like a police dog screening for coke. I’ll allow them their culture and stay perched on the fence (the view is usually pretty clear from up here anyway).
If I thought the writers would listen, I’d say that a more relevant and useful discussion would be to address concerns about the reading experience. For example, let’s chat about casting. Many writers purposely avoid describing their character’s physical characteristics so the reader (i.e. ‘user’) forms their own mental picture. A trailer may hinder the novelist’s intent to engage the user’s imagination. We can also chat about plot twists and spoilers. A trailer, in using film’s unique way of portraying human nuance and slight communication, may give away basic plot structure. We could talk about human psychology and storytelling in film and novels for hours on these questions alone. But to get to these discussions, more writers have to approach the fence. Right now, it’s mostly back-turned resentment. On both sides.
As you know, I’m a big fan of social media, blogging, vlogging, and technology in general. But the mavens need to take a step closer to the fence, too. Writers study human nature. They tell tales that give insight and into our past, present and future lives. They speak to our spirit, our very core of existence. Just because you have your own .tv channel doesn’t mean you have the skills to produce that magic that comes from consuming a great story or poem. Reach out to some writers in your village, whether it be a webtown or hometown. Appreciate their talents, and they’ll adopt your strategies and include you. Social media stories will show up in literature that will be more relevant to your lives (which is why the soul seeks out art). I am writing my novel with social media in mind. I’m not the only one.
Writers, get involved. Get into blogging and podcasting, even if you are just consuming it. You belong in this social media wave even if the mavens wonder why you don’t “produce content.” It is up to writers to come out of their shells and accept new media into their space. Listen to the new stories and see the new art around you. These people can inspire you, get you work, and market your book.
Neither side is evil and neither side is sinless. But together, I think we can raise the level of literacy across all platforms and cultures. And, as we all know, more literacy means more peace.
I’m out. Gotta keep riding this desperado fence until I find a place I can call home.
What fun! Jeff Pulver of Pulver.tv is hosting a bunch of early morning get-togethers for people in various cities. Today was Philly’s turn! There were some faces there I knew from on-line meetings, two or three people I had met in Real Life before, and a bunch of new people! People and companies are doing some exciting things out there, and it was energizing to hear about them. I had so many ideas for the novel on the way home, but I was driving on the highway! Hopefully they’ll come back. But this social media thing, being back near/in/by/around technology again has really fired up my creative spark. Although it may look like it from the outside, I really am not wasting time!
Thanks, Jeff! Great to meet you, Geo, and everyone in real life! Hopefully we get together again soon.
Tags: article, explain, Jeff Pulver, Media, Twitter 
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