Twitter and What I Found There

Upon googling "twitter creative writing" I was led here and here.

1. What kinds of things do people on Twitter seem to be talking about, debating, arguing about or
otherwise engaging in meaningful exhanges of ideas about? Give us a descriptive and clear sense of the kinds of stories you're seeing in these Twitter feeds.

The majority of the tweets are based refining the craft of writing: links to articles on creative writing and writing challenges. Also the page frequently posts pictures and asks the viewers to come up with an opening line based off of the picture.

2. In your opinion, what are the two most interesting conversations or stories you found in the Twitter feeds? Hyperlink us to the two different Twitter feeds and explain why you found those conversations interesting. Be specific and honest and be yourself. I don't want you to blah-blah-blah this. I want you to really engage.

One of the most interesting conversations I saw was one of the aforementioned opening line challenges based on a picture of a old ship sailing next to a whale with an island on it's back. I found it interesting because of the diversity of responses received, for instance, some people took the picture allegorically and others took it comedically.

The second page I visited quite honestly disturbed me because it was mostly advertisements for online writing classes and books on creative writing. This disturbed me because this page as well as many others were aimed at only making a profit. Also, there were very few conversations which leads me to believe that the majority of followers simply ignored the ads, gaining nothing from the page.

3. Overall, what impression do you get of your discipline based on what you saw happening on Twitter? Were the people in these feeds talking in ways you expected or did not expect, about things you anticipated they'd be talking about or things you had no idea they'd be discussing? Explain in concise specific detail.

I got the impression that my major, creative writing, is saturated with fair-weather authors and screenwriters who believe that following a page on the topic of interest is a significant step in pursuing the career. I am disappointed by the lack of integrity of both the followers and the ad-polluted pages. I wish there was more discussion aimed at aiding the writing process instead of distracting from it.

Rochon, Benoit. "Twitter Logo". 8/1/11 via Wikimedia Commons. Universal Public Domain Dedication.