The Brown Bookshelf’s Tweetin’

Personally, I think social networking is going to be the death of us all. We’re just going to network ourselves to pieces.

I’m not totally convinced that it’s the marketing tool of ages that others do. For the most part, if you were a popular business or entity before you Myspaced, Facebooked or yes, Twittered, then you’ll likely be popular on those networks. Some unknowns get “discovered” via social networks but I’ve yet to see the social network as marketing tool provide significant – let me repeat, significant exposure.

Be that as it may, when you put social networks into perspective and know going in, why you’re bothering with one platform over the other, I think they serve a multitude of purposes.

The Brown Bookshelf is now on twitter at: www.twitter.com/brownbookshelf.

And here’s why:

1) Although you may comment on the blog, Twitter will provide a more interactive experience for those who want it.

2) It would be great to see an active community of authors, illustrators, readers (psst…and those in the pub biz) of color alongside those who have interest in creative material revolved around people of color (just like we have here). Twitter seems just as good a place to attempt that as any.

3) It’s another way to reach out to a larger variety of people interested in books. Myspace was primarily good for reaching out to librarians. My own theory about significant exposure could be disproved, if some of our regular visitors tell me they discovered BBS via Myspace. Not sure if many libraries are tweeting…I’d think not because it would definitely distract from real work. But I believe agents, editors and a lot of others with a vested interest in books are.

If tweeting can expose more folks to the authors we profile, can help get African American children’s books implemented more solidly within mainstream outlets, get more folks thinking about multicultural books and generally keeps us top of mind – then it’s worth it.

If you’re already on Twitter, follow us and keep up with what we’re blogging or talking about.

If you haven’t yet given in to the Twitter bug, no worries. We’re happy to have you along no matter which way you ride.