My Twitter journey began in 2009 when I joined for the purpose of helping promote Womentorz, an exclusive marketplace for female inventors, during the “Momprenuer” (not my favorite term) boom. After a failed audition for Kelly Ripa’s Homemade Millionaire, I learned that I was a natural connector and promotor of people, and found Twitter to be one of the most viable spaces to connect proverbial dots.
Thirteen years and 30,000+ tweets later, I’ve authored a kids book, the first social media guide of its kind, “@Sophie Takes a #Selfie – Rules and Etiquette for Taking Good Care Before You Share” (2014) and was able to get editorial blurbs from Barbara Corcoran and Emme, among other notables, all thanks to Twitter. I’ve also written a debut YA novel, “Betting On You,” inspired by real events, for which I’m currently seeking representation.
Personally, I’ve always preferred quality over quantity when it comes to followers, and have worked hard to cultivate genuine connections. Twitter has been the least problematic from a mental health standpoint, even during the most chaotic times. I realize this is not the case for everyone for a variety of reasons, including the personal choices we make while using an app that has been likened to people walking down the street shouting their random thoughts and beliefs in various states of happiness and rage. If you’re looking for a fight, it’s not hard to find a mob to join. No matter what you’re looking for- support, laughs, friends, the next great book, recipes, causes, or those timeline cleansing animal photos, Twitter has it all.
Elon Musk had this to say about his plans for Twitter and free speech:
While all of this sounds great, I, like many others, worry about what this means for people’s freedom to use the platform to attack and threaten users, and also spread damaging misinformation. Regardless, I will continue to use Twitter the way I’ve been using it since the beginning- to connect with likeminded people and also learn from people I might not always agree with.
I will stay because, as a writer who dreams of becoming a traditionally published author, I’ve worked too hard to carve out my humble little corner of cyberspace. These days, agents and publishing houses want to see that you know your way around social media and self promotion. The bigger following you have the better.
Will you stay or will you leave the nest?
Thanks for stopping by,
xo Jen
J. J. Cannon 