Using Twitter for networking and education with hastags

First of all, I'm sorry to the late post. If you follow me, then you know that I always post on Wednesdays and Fridays. I was out of town with no Internet access and had scheduled this post to come out on Friday. However, Blogger apparently didn't like me last week so with out further delay....

As a mom, author and CEO of my household, I’m always looking for ways to maximize and safe time. For me, a groundbreaking discover was Twitter. Of all the professions, I believe that writers have managed to really tap into the power of this networking tool. Writing community hastags are plenty and if you can take a few times a days to follow the Tweet Deck streams of these groups, then you can learn a lot while networking in an easy, fun environment. The wealth of knowledge on Twitter is vast so it is a useful place for continued education and industry discussion.

I love to follow #MyWANA, #WeWrite and #ScriptChat. #MyWANA came about from Kristen Lamb’s ‘We Are Not Alone: The Writers Guide to Social Media’ Her groundbreaking social media book has connected writers through Twitter at the frequently visited hashtag, #MyWANA. This is a group for writers that help writers promote. Whether it is to connect with writers or to look for an article to read and retweet, #MyWANA may be the place for you.

#WeWrite is a great place to learn about the writing process and how writers approach their work. #WeWrite was created by authors Anna DeStefano and Jennifer Talty. Sometimes specific topics are discussed and sometimes people just love to throw questions out there.

Recently, I have found #ScriptChat. It all started when I spent the wise price of $10 to take a pre-conference class on screen writing at the RWA National Conference several weeks ago in NYC. I have studied many forms of writing from journalism to creative structure but I’ve never done anything with screen writing. This seemed like a fun challenge and a learning experience. Bill Pace taught the course and was great. After the class, #ScriptChat founders Jeanne V. Bowerman and Kim Garland ran a panel discussion on social media. I loved hearing their approaches to Twitter and Facebook. They spoke about #ScriptChat and since I loved the screen writing class I made a point to attend the next chat session, which occurs every Sunday evening. It was very informative. Most of the time, I’m guilty of lurking with this group but I highly recommend them.

By targeting specific hashtag groups on Twitter, you can easily accomplish some continuing education and valued networking. Twitter can become an addiction. I recommend scheduling times to check Twitter and use it for brief breaks. You are the only one who can discover what works for you.

Announcements:

If you know me, then you probably know that next to dogs my favorite animal is a shark. I love diving with them and studying them, therefore one of my favorite weeks of the year is Shark Week on Discovery Channel. It starts July 31 this year. As a lead up to the festivities, the largest shark tank in the world at the Atlanta, GA Aquarium has set up a live streaming video from inside the tank. They have Whale Sharks in there guys and this is my new addiction. Enjoy it on this Monday.

Thanks for all the well wishes for Oscar, my dog who has been in and out of the hospital. He is going to be fine. It turns out that Oscar is just stressed and may have to go on a tranquilizer. We are not surprised. He feels the need to run everything and puts so much responsibility on himself. He is the best dog and I am feeling so much better knowing that he is fine. You can read my book that he inspired, ‘CARING FOR YOUR SPECIAL NEEDS DOG.’