In the first of a new series looking at how editors use social media platforms, Kia Thomas talks about her Twitter motivations and habits.My name’s Kia, and I’m a Twitterholic.

When and why did you start?

I find it very hard to believe that once there was a time I didn’t really understand Twitter. Why would you go on it? What was the point of telling strangers things in (then) 140-character bursts? And then one day in 2012, I decided to give it a go, and I was hooked. A bit too hooked – I lost many, many hours staring into my phone, and a couple of years later I decided to take a break. But when I started my editorial business in early 2016, I knew it was time to flex my Twitter muscles once more.

I went back to Twitter because my former experience had shown me it was – in amongst the political squabbling, Nicki Minaj GIFs, and cat pictures – a powerful tool for connecting with people. It’s a wonderful way to keep up to date with trends, issues and events in your industry – as a newcomer to publishing, this was invaluable to me. And there is, or at least there can be, a real sense of community on Twitter, if you can find the corner of it where your tribe hang out. Editing Twitter is definitely one of those corners – we chat, we laugh, we debate about all things word- and book-related (and food. There’s a lot of food in Editing Twitter).

What do you share?

I try to keep my Twitter posts mostly related to what I do, so at least vaguely connected to words and books and editing, but sometimes I veer off and post things that are more personal, such as tweets about my kids, especially if they’ve been particularly cute/enraging that day. One of the good things about Twitter is it’s easy to stay active even when you’re only popping on quickly – you can share other people’s tweets and content, or take part in whatever meme/game is currently doing the rounds, so If I’m busy and don’t want to spend too much time on Twitter, I do that.

When I do post more of my own content, my main concern is to keep it funny. I go on Twitter for business reasons, but as a reader/viewer/consumer, I want to be entertained, so that’s what I want to do for other people too. Sometimes I’m pretty sure I’m only amusing myself, but some of my original content gives other people a giggle too – a recent thread I wrote outlining a DEFINITELY REAL AND ACCURATE (spoiler: not so much) approach to editorial pricing seemed to go down pretty well. It garnered lots of retweets and several cry-laugh emojis, anyway. I also use Twitter to share my blog posts, and grumble about Microsoft Word (don’t we all?).

When do you share?

I try to tweet most days, but less frequently if I’m trying to stay away from Twitter for time-saving purposes. I spend barely any time composing most of my tweets, because I am naturally spontaneously hilarious, interesting and wise. But If I’m tweeting something designed to be more engaging, such as my #TheDailySwear tweets (last year, I tweeted one compound swearword every day, with my personal preference on how it should be styled), or a blog post, that obviously takes me longer. My ‘comedy’ threads don’t take me all that long, because they’re pretty much just me opening my brain and letting some silliness fall out. The most time-consuming part is arranging the text so the tweets don’t go over the character limit!

Why do you do it?

Well firstly, because it’s fun, especially when I get to be silly. Some people might baulk at that as a marketing strategy, but it works for me and my personality (humour is all I have, dammit! And swearing. Don’t forget the swearing). But I also love Twitter because working at home on your own can be really lonely. Twitter and other social media are like my virtual office, providing me with colleagues to chat to and connect with. It gives me a sense of belonging to a community, and that can be invaluable in fighting isolation. It provides networking opportunities – I have definitely had work and other professional opportunities that I can trace to Twitter. For example, this year I gave a session on swearing at the SfEP (now CIEP) conference, which came about because of a blog post I wrote that was based on my Daily Swear tweets.

What about other social media platforms?

Twitter is the social media platform I find the most interesting and easy to use. I do also have Facebook, but I post very little on there outside of the groups, and my poor business page is horribly neglected. I recently signed up to Instagram, despite the fact that I’m absolutely terrible at taking pictures, and I have my Instagram account linked to my Twitter, so it’s a good, quick way of sharing more visual content on Twitter.

Any advice?

Twitter can be an amazing place to network with colleagues and potential clients and can lead to work. But it’s important not to approach it solely as a marketing opportunity. It’s easy to think you can go on Twitter, say ‘Hire me, I’m awesome’ and wait for the offers to roll in, but in reality it doesn’t work like that. Relentless self-promotion is boring, both to the person doing it and those reading it. Social media networking is like all networking – it works best when you are sincere. Be interested and interesting, help as much as you ask for help, and you’ll find the experience so much more rewarding. I use Twitter to build my online presence in the hope it will help my business be successful, sure, but I’m also building real connections that benefit me in so many more ways than just the prospect of work.

There’s a dark side to Twitter – there are some terrible people on there, there’s an awful lot of news that can make you angry, and it can be an astonishing time-suck – so take steps to protect your time, energy and mental health. Take breaks when you feel overwhelmed by it, realise you don’t have to read or respond to everything, set up filters so you don’t see things that distract you – whatever you need to do to manage your experience and set boundaries. But if you can get the balance right, there’s a wonderful community there just waiting to welcome you with open digital arms. And cat pictures.

Kia Thomas spent 12 years in the arts before becoming a freelance fiction editor at the beginning of 2016. She specialises in contemporary romance and is an Advanced Professional Member of the CIEP. Kia lives in South Tyneside, and she can often be found networking with her colleagues in online spaces (i.e. spending too much time on Twitter).

 

Posted by Abi Saffrey, CIEP blog coordinator.

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the CIEP