The one where I rant against bad advice

At the beginning of each year, I find myself wanting to take classes. Usually at the end of the previous year I've hit a slump and am desperate to find a way out – a way that's not just butt in the chair hands on the keyboard. Of course I know that's how it's done, but a part of me wants to latch onto new tips and tricks to make the hard easier. So I signed up for a class to help renew my interest in blogging. I've been blogging for ten years. I started blogging with Greymatter. The earliest post still remaining (since I have deleted a few that were dumb) is from September 12, 2002.

Problem is, I'm addicted to Twitter and Facebook which require much less thought. ;) My deep meaty thoughts go into my manuscripts, except for the ones I brood about and say to myself, "I should blog about that." I never do. I thought maybe a class would clear away my ennui and I could get this blog back to the level it once was, with lots of thoughtful (bwahahaha) content on reading and writing, no 'rithmetic.

Also, recipes. Dogs and cats living together! Geology and nursing!

First thing in this class, the instructor sends the group members to Twitter to talk amongst themselves instead of using the Yahoo loop.

Whaaa?!?!

Second thing in this class, this instructor, highly respected in the publishing industry, advises everyone to use WordPress.com for their blogs.

Whoa, nelly, says I to myself, again, because I don't want to get involved in a big row where I have to check back and respond to questions.

But those two items just floored me, me the person who's been an early adopter of all things social media. I actually deleted my first Twitter account because there was no one to talk to!

Now, I'm sure you're asking what's wrong with WordPress.com. Honestly, nothing – as long as you don't care if at some point in time you lose all your content. See, the blogs on WordPress.com are hosted by WordPress.com – not by the bloggers who are filling the blogs with their content. My blog is run by WordPress, yes, but it's hosted on a private server (which the husband and I own with our business partner) which means if my server ever goes down, or closes up shop, I'm not going to lose anything.

Scroll down to the section headed Holy !@&*$$!!!!!*&!@!(&^!&@^#*!%@$%!!*^@$ if you're thinking I'm off my rocker. Free isn't always free.

And about sending hungry newbies to Twitter to get to know each other? And without any instruction about how Twitter works? How is anyone sharing a class supposed to get to know the other members in bursts of 140 characters, 10 of which are taken by the class hashtag? ::shaking head:: I keep waiting for Twitter to totally crash.

Do you know I've actually heard authors say that doing nothing but broadcasting to Twitter with promotional tweets won't cause followers to leave. WRONG. I unfollow people often who do nothing but broadcast promotional tweets. Social media is about being social (as I've said SO many times) and that means interacting. You want to broadcast, fine, but don't expect anyone to listen if you're not engaging, too.

/rantover

Now I'm going back to bed to cough up more lung parts and do some reading and hope my soup and Mucinex and vitamin C kick in here soon. If they do, I'll type up a year end reading round-up post for tomorrow. See? I'm trying!

UPDATED TO ADD: The instructor ALSO told the class that everyone MUST use either TweetDeck or HootSuite for tweeting because it's what the professionals use. Gah. Self-proclaimed experts annoy me. Yes, this person may have a fantastic blog, and doing things her way obviously works beautifully for her, but everyone out there in social media land needs to find what works comfortably for them. Otherwise, there's no fun to be had, and there's a whole lot of WRONG going on.