I’ve tried to write this column three times and my computer keeps shutting down before I can finish. This would be fine if the Word document would save, but unfortunately my computer is in full rebellion. Here’s hoping today lucky number four.
Something to think about when you are using a social networking site to advertise your book and your writing is audience. While this seems obvious, recent articles have come out emphasizing that the differences between MySpace and Facebook aren’t just limited to design and platform, but fall along class lines as well.
In June danah boyd, a doctorial candidate in the School of Information at the University of California-Berkeley, wrote a blog essay entitled, “Viewing American divisions through Facebook and MySpace.” boyd’s studies have led her to her thesis that the previously reported on mass exodus from MySpace to Facebook is not quite what it appears, and instead it is the affluent children of college educated parents (and who are seeking college placement themselves) who are heading to Facebook while those with a working class background or feel disenfranchised prefer (and are drawn to) MySpace.
How does this affect how you market your book? That’s up to you. It all comes down to knowing your audience, whoever they might be.
Thoughts?
You can view a video of danah boyd discussing the evolution of social networking sites on the internet here.
2 comments:
Thanks a lot for that. I had been wavering between MySpace and Facebook for my shop. Decided on facebook for two reasons, liked the cleaner feel to it and being in Canada, Facebook is where everyone's at.
That's very interesting. I use both myspace and facebook, but I use them differently. Facebook is more personal--it's my friends, people i know. Myspace is where random people add me all the time, where I write book reviews, where I do all of that. I'm not the only person I know who uses them separately that way, and I always thought of Facebook as being less, less "commercial," I guess, because most of the people on it are students and everyone uses their real name, pretty much, stuff like that.
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