Mass Information Explosion

Pat here:

According to caslon.com , there were 184 million blogs in March 2008.  If the bombardment of people telling me about their new blogs is any indication, that number has probably doubled by 2009.  No one knows how many of those blogs are active, or if anyone is reading them, although statistics show 77.7 million people read blogs in the US, alone.  Or maybe 94 million, depending on your source. No one really knows, but the numbers are staggering.

And now there is Twitter, which in March 2008 was producing 3 million Tweets a day, and I’m figuring that’s probably tripled over this past year.  If you want to figure out trendspotter  predictions (I can’t even figure out the visuals), the question now is whether we’ve reached the peak and are about to topple over, or if the entire internet will simply explode with an overload of trivia.

I know everyone loves new toys, but haven’t we just about reached the limits of static noise in our lives yet?  How much of this “news” has any bearing on anything, much less reality?  I scarcely have time to read our wenches blog—and I enjoy the sharing of information here—much less keep up with everyone else’s, plus write my own. Yet when I have the opportunity, I’ve found some valuable nuggets on blogs I’ve been directed to, and seen news of layoffs in NYC shortly after the laid off people were notified.  So I know there’s tons of immediately useful info out there, but how does one find the time to sift through the chatter? 

And will someone please explain Twitter to me?  Our own Sherrie has been on top of Twitter since its inception, but the idea of my mailbox filling with one-liners from total strangers makes me wish for a quiet cave in the Sierra Madres.

Has the information age gone too far? Up until recently, I’ve been thinking the internet would soon become our TV/newspaper/bookstore, but now I’m wondering if cyberspace hasn’t become a grunting time hog destroying civilization as we know it. Okay, maybe my imagination is a little overactive.   Is there any hope for someone whose head is about to explode?

Comments

[Maggie Robinson]

Pat, one of my online friends (Tessa Dare---Goddess of the Hunt coming in July!) just got Twitter. I told her I feel like a grumpy curmudgeon, but I don't want to keep abreast of everything and everybody. I mean, I have to work all day at the circulation desk, so how am I going to check tweets? Bad enough I sneak a peak at my e-mail and check to see if anyone's left a comment on my blog a couple of times a day (hope my boss is not reading this). I have really tried to cut down on my Internet time to write. I have Facebook and MySpace pages but ignore them almost entirely. Maybe I'll feel differently if I ever get published, but right now, I don't need the distractions. I've even stopped cleaning my house, LOL.

[Linda Banche]

Well, people come to these sites for different reasons. Some want to talk, and some want to sell books.

We're all stuck. I have a blog. I also have 3,(count 'em) 3 group blogs. Then I have facebook, myspace, goodreads, over 50 yahoo loops and various other social sites that I've joined but done nothing with. No twitter yet.

Most of this stuff is noise, but it all takes so much time. And when we get to the bottom line, does any of it sell books? I have no idea.

What does drive sales? The one thing I keep hearing is "Write another book". If someone likes your books, she'll buy your whole backlist. I buy my favorite authors' backlists, when I can get them.

Now we come to e-books. Pat, most of your books are out of print. If the only way I can get your books, and all the other Wenches' books is e-format, I will buy e-format. I have been buying used books, but the author receives nothing. I would rather buy an e-book and have the author make a few pennies.

I suggest you post on your website which sites sell your e-books. Also, tell me which site pays you the biggest royalties, and I will buy there.

[theo]

**stands up, clears throat** I am...a twitterholic. I'm considering designing a twelve-step program similar to AlAnon.

I do have a small group of people I follow, mostly authors and agents, and it's fun to read their back and forth. Oh, and a couple book related blogs as well.

I have to admit, the first three days I had it, I was fascinated by it. What a time suck! But now, I get the little pop-up (I have Twitterfox) when someone tweets and I glance. If it looks interesting, I'll read it, if not, I move on.

Hmmm...my twelve-step program is working! :D

[Kathy Kremer]

There are only so many hours in a day. I just can't find the time to read a lot of blogs. Further, she says in a shamed whisper, I don't even have a Facebook or MySpace page. As for writing a blog, unlike the authors on this page, I have no life that's interesting enough to write about. I figure that most important issues will pop up on the news or in the newspaper eventually.

[liz m]

I love Haring.

The internet is like the bookstore / dvd shop. You can't do it all, trying is madness. I read this blog, smartbitches, I glance at the Janyes, and then I have my own where I communicate (and vice versa) with a limited number of mostly real life friends and family. If it takes more than a half hour of my day, I skip it. And I don't feel bad. I also have stopped watching television. I follow two shows now. I think the internet has just replaced other information streams.

Twitter will never happen. It's the opposite of on demand - it demands me to be on. That's my internet line and I don't cross it.

[Patricia Rice]

Wow, it's such a relief not to have a downpour of disapproval hit my head! Maybe I'm not the only one struggling. I think I could see where Twitter might be as addictive as our very first email loops--listening in to what the "big guys" are saying. But after a while, I should think it would all blend into the background noise.

Writing a good book is very good advice, except that right now, there are probably two million good books out there. So how does one get theirs noticed? That's what the internet is about, except I fear what that accomplishes is getting people who are good at marketing noticed. Not good books. I have no answer.

And Linda, I'm working on the e-book thing. Random House has a lot of my contemporary backlist in e-book format, and I get very good royalties there. Belgravehouse.com has just produced the first Magic book, and as the direct source, they provide the best royalties. We're working on the second book now. But even though it seems e-books ought to be instantaneous, they're not. They're faster than NYC though!

Haring. I love the term, Liz!

[Linda Banche]

>>That's what the internet is about, except I fear what that accomplishes is getting people who are good at marketing noticed. Not good books. <<

What I've heard is good marketing is the best way to kill a bad book. Good marketing always helps a good book. I certainly hope so.

[Mary Jo Putney]

But too much promo kills the time it takes to write good books. The mere thought of Twitter makes me want to dive under my desk. I love e-mail, which keeps me in touch with family and friends. I have this blog. I have a website (which I need to update.)

And even that, which is pretty modest by internet standards, takes more time than I should allows. I'd say I'm a functional addict who isn't increasing her dosage. :)

Mary Jo

[Louis]

Ms. Pat...

You are very right about the Internet. TV was once called a "Vast Wasteland". I think that can also be applied to the Internet.

Anyway, I spend a goodly amount of time browsing there. Have several Blogs (this one included) that I check daily.
I don't have Facebook or Twitter as that would definitely take away from my reading time.

[Sherrie Holmes]

I confess, I love Twitter. It's dead easy and doesn't clog my inbox because you go to the site to read Tweets. You're limited to 140 characters per post, so that's about 2 sentences. And you get to read the brief Tweets of those you follow. It *is* addictive if you let it be, but I have found it far simpler than Facebook, Myspace, etc., and it's like getting all your daily blogs in one place instead of visiting individual blog sites, which I just don't have time for.

I follow some fascinating people on Twitter, many of whom make me laugh: Ellen Degeneres, a female helicopter pilot, writers, publishing houses, a fireman/EMT, rubber stampers, dog trainers, newspaper journalists... Through Twitter I've seen more followers to my own blog because of the recipes I'm always posting there, and I've gotten jobs from those I follow.

As far as the Internet is concerned, I have a love/hate relationship with it. It has put me on a first-name basis with some of my idols in the writing world (present company included). It has broadened my horizons, educated me. It has also made me resentful of the time it steals from me, and caused a backlash as I rebelled by refusing to turn on the computer at times.

I hate to sound like a walking talking advertisement for Twitter, but one of the things I like about it is that authors I follow usually post Tweets daily, often several throughtout any given day, while their Web sites remain stagnant and outdated.

[Patricia Rice]

Oh dear, and this is where the guilt factor kicks in. My blog is stagnant. It's stagnant for a reason. I can't think of a single thing to say that anyone would want to read. So what could I possibly say on Twitter? I answer questions just fine, but who wants to hear me Twitter that I wrote 3 pages of an urban fantasy today and 6 of a historical? Yawn. Maybe I need to get a life... But then I wouldn't have time for the internet. No winning this one!

[Patricia Rice]

Oh dear, and this is where the guilt factor kicks in. My blog is stagnant. It's stagnant for a reason. I can't think of a single thing to say that anyone would want to read. So what could I possibly say on Twitter? I answer questions just fine, but who wants to hear me Twitter that I wrote 3 pages of an urban fantasy today and 6 of a historical? Yawn. Maybe I need to get a life... But then I wouldn't have time for the internet. No winning this one!

[Helen]

I love visiting blogs and I love my facebook but I don't have twitter I figure I spend enough time on the computer LOl

Have Fun
Helen

[Sherrie Holmes]

"My blog is stagnant. It's stagnant for a reason. I can't think of a single thing to say that anyone would want to read."

Pat, believe it or not, readers will find that interesting! I think they are interested because it gives them a little glimpse into the private life of a bona fide writer. It's basically like legal eavesdropping, so yes, there's probably a slightly voyeuristic element to it.

[Patricia Rice]

the problem being that on days like today when I might actually have something to say, I've been too busy to say it. On days when I'm yawning, I can say I'm yawning, but I don't think readers want to see that regularly! Balance. Somebody find me the balance!

[liz m]

Marketing wise - I can think of several books I wouldn't have read without the SB push. (Duke of Shadows, Sherry Thomas') I'm the wrong generation for net marketing, tho. I don't watch the commercials, I'm not into the current book trends.

I think (with some exceptions of course) that good books rise to the top on the internet because people can't stop talking about them. I can't think of an author driven buzz that made me purchase an author I didn't already follow - but all buzz starts somewhere.

[Janice]

That would be interesting, Sherrie, to follow some authors who are on twitter. Can you name some names? And Sherrie's right, Pat; I can't be the only one who enjoys a glimpse into the life of a working writer, even if it is occasionally mundane-seeming.

I'm on twitter because a friend used it from Sundance. It was kinda fun.

[Sherrie Holmes]

"Can you name some names?"

I can name bunches of names, Janice: Susan Wiggs, Andrea Pickens, Carolyn Jewel, Jacquie Rogers, Nina Paules, Grammar Girl . . . *racking my brain*

Here's an idea--just go to my Twitter page: http://twitter.com/sherrieholmes and see who I'm following. There's a mix of published and unpubbed and some cool oddballs, too. *g* Or do a search on writers.