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Are We #Following Each Other? #socialmedia

By 10/06/2015March 23rd, 2016social media
Social media follows

Follow and Be Followed

This week, Daily (w)rite crossed 400,000 hits and nearly 29,000 followers. To mark the occasion, the blog now has a Facebook Page, where I hope to discuss all things Reading, Writing, Travel, and maybe a bit of Social awareness / Culture/ Philosophy.

Not a fan, but tons of folks are on it, folks who don’t have a blog and never will, but are interested in the same topics as me.

Hoping everyone here, my cherished blog friends, can also join the discussion there. I don’t plan to update more than once or twice a week, so I won’t flood your timelines. Also, having nothing to promote, (hopefully) won’t have annoying “author promotion” posts. For those of you not on Facebook, I’m only too happy to stay connected with you here.

In the spirit of connections, maybe all of us who comment and chat at this space could connect on other social media as well. Some of you I already chat with on Twitter and Facebook, but others, not so much. A lot of us are on G+ too, and on Goodreads.

So without further ado, would like to connect with you on any and all of the following social media profiles:

Facebook: Like I said, this page would be for us folks to get together and chat about stuff of interest to all of us.

Twitter: Active here and I love chatting with tweet buddies. Not a fan of promo posts flooding my timeline though.

Goodreads: Here as D. Biswas. I put up my books from time to time, but it is exhausting to update all the books I read all the time.

Google+ : Super-active here. Not so much on posts– I post very little, but I read a lot, and am a fan of the +1 button. I comment every now and then.

Pinterest : Not really very active here. I use this site mainly to find images for writing prompts.

That’s my sum-total on social media. Each bolded out social media name links to my profiles.

Want to follow all of you on your social media profiles, so please leave yours in the comments. (If your comment with your profiles doesn’t immediately appear, it is only because links go in for moderation– I’ll be deluged with spam otherwise. I’ll approve them as I see them.) And while everyone is putting up their social media links, we can all give each other some social media love by following each other? I sound like a social media orgy or lovefest, I know, but seriously don’t see the harm. Everyone who comments on here is someone we might all like to hear from.

Perfectly fine if you don’t want to take part in this social-media-fest of sorts. And feel free to tell me off, if you don’t. We’re not trying any social media marketing or optimization exercises here. Just want to have some fun, and strengthen a few friendships!

To those interested in the “Follows”: What social media are you on? Am I already following you? If not, won’t you leave me your deets?

Please join Daily (w)rite on its Facebook Page if you’d like to be heard by this community. If you liked this post, you can have biweekly posts delivered to your inbox: click the SUBSCRIBE button in the sidebar.

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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126 Comments

  • Recently I’ve been having conversations with a friend of mine on this very topic. So when I went to a business conference on Saturday and it came up there as well I thought I’ve really got to narrow down my scope on these various platforms. There is so much “noise” on all of them but most especially Twitter but a networking group I belong to offered some practical tips on working with Twitter more efficiently although I just can’t spend much time on it or the others. I’m testing a FB page but not sure if I’m going to keep it at this point.

    Posts like this one really help me to think of ways to utilize thes tools more effectively. Thank you ~Steph

  • BellyBytes says:

    Reblogged this on Mumbai On A High and commented:
    For all those like me who are trying to make sense out of the different social media icons that appear on each blog post and how the different social media platforms work, this is a wonderful post that actually explains the differences. A great read for those of you who are still choosing a platform to express your thoughts.

  • One of your comments described him/herself as “a conscientious objector to Facebook” — Love that turn of phrase! I’d like to co-opt it. We’ve found each other on Twitter, and though I’m on most of ’em, I’m only involved with Twitter on a daily (hourly!) basis. Nice topic to pose.

    • You’re welcome to use my phrase concerning Facebook. Being a conscientious objector to anything implies you’ve done your research on the subject and your list of cons far outweighs the pros. Facebook is great if you’ve got nothing better to do than surf the site all day and if you don’t mind being in contact with absolutely everyone you’ve ever known your entire life. I don’t have an account because in truth, I don’t want to be found so easily. I’ve just started my own blog reviewing TV shows and movies so I may have to cave and get an account just for that, but definitely not a personal one. – Bethany

  • I’m a conscientious objector to Facebook and have resisted getting an account despite receiving many, many friend requests. I’ve watched other people on Facebook and it seems to be nothing so much as a giant time drain, soaking up way more of your time than you intended to give. That said, do you think it’s necessary to have a Facebook page for your blog in order for it to be more successful?

    • Damyanti says:

      I did object to FB as well, but everyone I like and love are on it, so I’m there, too. I spend a few minutes a day catching up on links that some of my peers post — a load of my FB friends are in writing and publishing, but that’s it.

      I don’t care really, if my blog is successful, only that I get to discuss stuff with people. A lot of people l like and respect are on FB but do not blog. The FB page is an effort to interact with those people.

      I have a minority of FB-hating friends and family, and for them (as also for the wonderful people who love blogging as much as I do), I have this blog.

      • I may need to consider having a bare minimum Facebook page to serve as an interface with those not of the blogosphere.

        • Damyanti says:

          If you’re not on FB, it might be hard for you to get people to come to your FB page, so… 🙂

          • My sister has a huge Facebook circle and keeps in contact with friends, relatives and acquaintances in numbers that boggle the mind. Maybe I’ll just ask her to post a link to my site on her Facebook page and call it a day.

      • I thought it wasn’t considered appropriate to post links to your blog on someone else’s, but everyone here seems to be doing it. I do reviews of TV shows and movies and love for you to come visit me sometime: http://reviewsbybethany.wordpress.com

        • Damyanti says:

          I asked for all the links so I could follow folks. I don’t allow links on any other posts 🙂

          Thanks for sharing your, Bethany.

  • fpdorchak says:

    It’s all about promotion and communication…either of yourself or your product(s). Were I not a writer…I wouldn’t be on [most of] this stuff! :-] Thanks for doing this. Nice work, Damyanti, and thanks for visiting my blogs, btw! My info:

    RealityCheck blog: https://fpdorchakrealitycheck.wordpress.com/

    Runnin Off at the Mouth blog: https://fpdorchak.wordpress.com/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/fpdorchak

    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fpdorchak/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/F-P-Dorchak/624941894190230

    Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7905945-f-p-dorchak

    • Damyanti says:

      Thanks, I followed you back. I’m on most of the social media because I like the sense of community and communication, and hope we’ll keep in touch.

      • fpdorchak says:

        Thank you!
        I’m basically an outgoing loner. :-] And though I admit I got onto it all for the writing, I’ve made some pretty good friends and met some cool people (like yourself), so it has been and continues to be a great experience! :-]

  • pragati says:

    Hi there..Twitter at @kamalkitchen and facebook at fb.com/kamalkitchenfans Let’s start with this and move to other networks later 🙂

  • Congrats on your hits and followers!
    Love the idea of sharing and hope to make some new friends.
    I like using Google+, Facebook, and Pinterest. Bloglovin’ is also a great way to share.

    My blog: https://www.cookingforkishore.blogspot.com
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cookingforkishore?fref=nf
    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/cookingforkis/cooking-for-kishore/

  • My FB URL is: https://www.facebook.com/CindaCrabbeMackinnon?fref=ts
    I also do: http://www.pinterest.com/CindaMac/
    (I think you follow me on my blog: http://cindamackinnon.wordpress.com… at least I follow you.) Thanks for asking!

  • Good summary. I like Goodreads the most, but FB is second. G+–I have trouble keeping up with all the activity.

  • Dharmesh says:

    I am new here and working my way up. Hope to be friends with some amazing people.

    My blog: https://storiesbydharmesh.wordpress.com/
    I post twice a week.

    Facebook: https://
    http://www.facebook.com/dharmeshchaubey0
    Quite active.

    Twitter: twitter.com/@chaubeydharmesh
    See what’s up, occasionally.

  • anichan133 says:

    Congratulations on reaching this milestone and hope you cross many more! I’ll try to keep with your posts across those networking platforms you have mentioned, although I have a slight bias towards the good old Facebook. Cheers once again and here’s hoping to read more from you!

  • smaliyekal says:

    I think in any social networking sites, if we give something we may get it back.
    If we follow, we may be followed.
    We should not expect others to follow us without bothering to follow them…

    • Damyanti says:

      I don’t really expect anyone to follow me. I mostly follow people whose posts I like, and sometimes I will not follow back those whose content is something that not only doesn’t interest me, but puts me off. Like in life, I try to choose those I interact with. No point in following someone you don’t like.

  • Nidhi Arora says:

    Congrats! Following you on FB & Twitter.

    Do follow me as well.
    Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chiclifebyte
    Twitter: twitter.com/nidhsarora

  • Rasma R says:

    You’ll find me all over the net. Sometimes I wonder how I keep up but I sure love the interacting with everyone. https://www.facebook.com/rraisters
    https://www.twitter.com/rosygypsy

    My blogs http://nothingbutpoetry.wordpress.com
    http://yamarella.wordpress.com
    http://musicisajoy.blogspot.com

  • dabhibrendan says:

    Hi Damyanti,

    My blog has a Facebook page too, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/brandywhiskeyandallthat

    And here’s my Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/BrendanDabhi

    I know you already read my blog so I’d be happy if you leave your comments there. i’d like to know your thoughts on my work.

  • Dave says:

    You are a star. And I loved reading your A-Z book. I’m a writer and editor (at EconomyEdits), and fairly active on FB (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008263659457) & G+ (https://plus.google.com/u/0/109684812142723401917/posts). Thanks for this. 🙂

  • Thank you for the run down of various social media sites and for your links! I’m new to social media, but you’ve inspired me to look into all these crazy link buttons that appear at the bottom of my blog posts! 🙂

    • Damyanti says:

      Hi Jen. I’m not very big on social media myself, but I love the links on my timeline, the opinions, the chats. It isn’t worth going insane over, but it is a nice way to keep in touch with folks you like to hear from.

  • Birgit says:

    I am on facebook but I don’t do much there except looks at pictures friends of mine have taken or to (omg I am admitting to something) play a game. I am on there though so good luck in reaching out to people:)

  • ..am new to your blog..loved it.. 🙂

  • Quirky says:

    I love discovering new and exciting, funny and informative blogs 🙂 I’m currently blogging about my experience and adventures as a substitute teacher (https://quirksintheclassroom.wordpress.com/) and my sister blogs about being a first time mommy/structural engineer (https://structuralengineerhasbaby.wordpress.com/) check us out! I’ll be looking through everyone else’s stuff!

    • Damyanti says:

      Thanks for the links, and I hope everyone on this comment thread is following each other (if they like what the other person has to say, of course!).

  • Sonia Lal says:

    I am pretty active on Twitter! I am here on twitter: https://twitter.com/soniawrite

    And facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonia.lal.505

    on google+ I am soniawrite. Not very active there though.

    I am following you now on both places.

  • ccyager says:

    Happy to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter! I’m also on Goodreads as C. C. Yager. Here are my links:
    Facebook Perceval novels: https://www.facebook.com/percevalnovels
    Facebook Eyes on Life: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eyes-on-Life-by-Gina-Hunter/133306250119946
    Twitter Gina Hunter/Cinda Yager: https://twitter.com/eyesonlife_gina
    Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8182648.C_C_Yager

    I hope you’ll give my novel, “Perceval’s Secret” a read, like the Facebook pages, and follow me. I will do the same for you! Also, I think I’ve already reviewed your book at Amazon — my reviewer handle is “Phoenix Reader.”

    Cinda

    • ccyager says:

      Just checked at Amazon — I haven’t yet reviewed your book! Sorry. I will….(smile)

      • Damyanti says:

        Thanks, Cinda, for the comment and review. We already follow each other on a few of these, I think. I don’t really review books these days, but I’ll get to yours soon.

  • Hi Damyanti. I appreciate your +1s. I am also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sues-considered-trifles/149688428537835 and recently started a third blog Sue’s words and pictures wondering about Instagram!! Sue @suesconsideredt

  • Peg Glover says:

    I would like to be part of this group. Here are my links:
    https://www.facebook.com/pegglover.write.escape
    https://twitter.com/authorpegglover

    I started following this blog

    • Damyanti says:

      We’re less a group on this blog, more a loose community of those who think alike. Welcome to Daily (w)rite and I hope to see you often, Peg. 🙂 Following you on FB and twitter!

  • lesleysky says:

    Hi Damyanti. We are new to each other, through facebook, the Macmillan Charity Anthology (which I chief-edited). You can find all the details you want about me and my books on my website: http://www.lesleyhayes.co.uk but just to make it easier to share the details, I’m also to be found on my blog: http://www.blog.lesleyhayes.co.uk I don’t tweet much at the moment (pressure of work, catching up with my own WIP after helping to launch ‘You’re not Alone’) but I can be found https://twitter.com/hayes_lesley last time I checked. And having checked again, I’m now following you! Lots more links, facebook pages etc, but for now… Namaste. 🙂

    • Damyanti says:

      Happy to meet you, Lesley, and I’m following you right back, both on your blog and twitter! Looking forward to the anthology, and if Ian sends in his words, we’ll hear more about the anthology on this blog. Namaste 🙂

  • lexacain says:

    I was seriously just on your amloki blog and saw your twitter handle and ran over there to follow you! (as @LXCain) Your blog stats and google+ stats are amazing! I like FB. Lots of funny pics to laugh over. Twitter is too fast & too limited, but I’m trying to get a handle on it. GR is just a ridiculous thing. No regular readers go there (but I’m on there too…). Just joined Pinterest and LinkedIn and haven’t done a darn thing with them. I find three-quarters of my writing time is taken up by social media now, but if you publish and you have no network to display your books, you might as well not publish.

    • Damyanti says:

      I’ve followed you back on twitter, Lexa. I try to be disciplined about my social media, because they cut into my reading and writing time. Nowadays I find not watching TV helps loads.

      Those stats are mainly because both my blogs are now seven years old, and loads of folks have now met and chatted with me in these years.

      I can, of course, do more. But I have to stay sane, too. Without reading and writing, I would wither away– so those come first.

      As I was telling someone today– I’m so happy to be unpublished– no worries about marketing books etc. I blog and go on social media for the joy of it– cos I meet so many interesting people who teach me so much. I dread the day I would be published– and be asked by the publisher to hawk my book.

  • That’s a great way to connect and get feeds about ur work. An effective way to discuss ideas on social media platform. Great initiative.

  • oshrivastava says:

    Reblogged this on oshriradhekrishnabole.

  • My main blog is WordPress but I maintain FB and LinkedIn accounts which I rarely visit.

  • k8baldus says:

    I am following and enjoy your blog. My blog is Proto Libro and I am @k8baldus on Twitter.

  • jowensauthor says:

    I’ll follow you as I can. I myself have quite a few social media sites. Facebook = facebook.com/jeanne.owens.author Google+ = google.com/+jeanneowens Pinterest = pinterest.com/jeanne.owens.547 Twitter = @risscobalt Goodreads = goodreads.com/jeanneowens Tumblr = jowensauthor.tumblr.com

  • I’ve followed you on all, except Pinterest (which I’m active on), but your Goodreads stopped me in my tracks, asking me which book was the most influential in my life. I’ve read so many, you could just as well have asked me which part of today’s oxygen intake did I enjoy the most. :-p

    • Damyanti says:

      Woelf– that Goodreads question is meant to throw potential friends 🙂

      I’ve got some amazing answers over the years, and not a few rants. Thanks for following me, and I shall follow you back, too. Maybe you should leave the links to your profiles here, so others can follow them, too?

      • Well, the question made me stop and take stock of the books I have read in the past. For that I want to say thank you.

        As for my links, here they are:

        My blog
        Kōsa Press
        The Collective
        Goodreads
        Facebook
        Twitter
        Pinterest
        Google+

        Congratulations with the achievement and here is to many thousands more. You rock!

        • Damyanti says:

          Thanks! Your name fascinates me- I wonder how Woelf is pronounced? Thank you for the links– will connect on the platforms we’re still not connected on.

          • It sounds like Woolf when you pronounce it. It’s a pen name I took from Wolfdietrich, which I thought made sense at the time, given that I weave a lot of lore and myth in my stories and I wanted my name to reflect that. 😛

            I look forward to connecting on the other platforms.

            • Damyanti says:

              Sorry about going on about your name. As a writer, names lead to characters, and characters lead to stories. Thanks for telling me the history of your pen name– I thought it was your real one.

  • TheLastWord says:

    I have profiles everywhere… Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Triberr, Tremr, Scriggler, Google+ even Pinterest.

    I find Twitter tiring, Tumblr weird, Google+ a little cluttered, Triberr confusing, Tremr only slightly less so. Scriggler expects you to copy paste your blog there …

    I use Facebook a lot, and much of my traffic comes from there.

    You will find me on Facebook as Ajesh Sharma and also have a page for SloWord
    Twitter @Sloman2608 and @LeggieLefty
    Google+ as AjeshBS

    Add me on – I love to chat!! ( Of many things, even cabbages and kings …)

    • Damyanti says:

      That’s a lot of social media! Good to see you sharing a story chapter by chapter on your blog. Following you now.

  • Great idea! I’m more active on Facebook and other sites.

  • Sarahj says:

    I am a real technophobe if only I knew how to cross reference it do it was easier!

  • Archana Kapoor says:

    whoaaa… awesome Damayanti…. and congratulations… would love to connect with you on FB and Twitter… am Archana Chaurasia Kapoor on FB and delectable_doll on twitter….
    Cheers 🙂

    • Damyanti says:

      Archana, thankyou. Found you on twitter, and FB: loved your update today: We will either find a way, or make one.

      Indeed we will.

  • Just followed along on Twitter, FB, and Goodreads! Look forward to seeing your posts all over the place. Congrats on the milestone!

    Cheers, Gretchen

  • wwannwrites says:

    Hello, My twitter handel is @annwrites75, and If you want to follow me directly from the link it’s twitter.com/annwrites75 If you see comments from Ann McBryant Harrison, that is me on facebook. I have an author page called author Ann Harrison on facebook too, but I was unable to set up an official facebook website for it. Please feel free to follow my blog as well.

  • All the best for Facebook discussions. I sometimes have to stop and vacuum the house… etc. WordPress and creating a story a day takes all my sit-down time. I need an extra life to fit things in! I don’t know how you do it!

    • Damyanti says:

      Thanks, Bruce. Yep, I know all about vacuuming the house lol. I think creating a story a day is crazy-hard, having done that for a month a few times. Kudos to you for all that you do.

  • That’s a scary amount of followers here! Crap, I only have about three thousand. (That I know of.)
    I’m not on Facebook, but I’ll make sure I am following you elsewhere.
    And yes, you are very good with the plus button on Google+.

    • Damyanti says:

      Alex, you have a ninja army, bar none.

      I think we’re following each other pretty much everywhere else. The G+ button is what I do when I’m in between places, cooking, or at waiting rooms– helps keep me distracted.

  • Sammy D. says:

    Damyanti – I have both vision and physical constraints that demand I get away from computer screens and the body positions of reading and typing. Thus I choose WP blogging and reading, and accept I’m missing out on the rest.

    Hopefully you bloggers I cherish most will not abandon your WP blogs ?

    • Damyanti says:

      Sammy, I hear you. I’ll never ever abandon my WP blog– I’ll get withdrawal symptoms too torturous to imagine. You do a great job on your blog, and I wish I hadn’t spread my attention out on social media. But now I know so many nice folks on twitter and FB, I can’t quit them either. 🙂

      • Sammy D. says:

        ?. Thank you, Damyanti. I’m very glad you have developed such a significant presence in the cyber community; you provide such thought-provoking conversations. I’m breathing a sigh of relief you are a ‘permanent resident’ on WP ?

  • bamauthor says:

    Following on google plus and email…

  • I am more active at wordpress. Now learning Facebook. Learning to catch up.

    >

  • upasnabarath says:

    I loved reading this

  • Hi Damyanti, We are connected on G+. Realized I am not following your blog, so followed. If you have a Linked In profile, please share. I will send you a invite for the group Blogger India. My twitter handle is @schakrabarti1 and FB page : https://www.facebook.com/ManagementDaily

  • Kalpanaa says:

    Great idea Damyanti! I follow you on Google + and on twitter!
    @kalpanapster is my twitter account and my Google + is https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KalpanaaMisra/
    i’m very active on twitter, not so much on Google +
    Facebook isn’t that appealing and Pinterest is more for ideas and relaxing. Nothing like lovely photographs to up the happiness quotient.

    • Damyanti says:

      I’m following you on FB and twitter, Kalpanaa. I agree about Pinterest– I geek out there, not really interested in networking 🙂

  • Congratulations on achieving the milestone. Honestly, these days I don’t get much time to go through all the posts, so I am more in touch with Dan Antion and Cheryl KP. I think my reading capabilities have minimized mainly because I read, research and write at work as well. After that I really want to take my eyes off the screen and do something else. Give my mind a break to unwind.

  • Dan Antion says:

    I follow you in most places Damyanti – I need to make sure we are connected on Google though.

  • Rahul says:

    Congratulations on this amazing milestone. You writing is really riveting. I like your blog posts and I learnt so much from your writings about writing. All the best!

  • Arlee Bird says:

    Actually I’m not sure how many of these I follow you–I think most. I don’t understand a lot of this stuff and find keeping up with it all tiresome. I get tired easily these days. Pinterest? No interest. Well, I’m a bit curious, but I’ve just not taken the time to think about Pinterest. Maybe eventually.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

    • Damyanti says:

      Hi Lee, I think we follow each other on everything. I hear you on Pinterest– but I remember you saying the same thing about Twitter a few years ago– and now look at you– you have thousands of followers! 🙂

      • Arlee Bird says:

        Yeah, now Twitter seems kind of mindless–I can do it without thinking. I did get really confused when they changed the Tribrr format. I couldn’t figure out what was going on anymore, didn’t want to think about it anymore, and gave up. I get impatient like that sometimes.

        Arlee Bird
        A to Z Challenge Co-host
        Tossing It Out