Self Publishing

This post is somewhat a follow-up to the Unplanned Obsolescence one from about a week ago. In that time, I think I've got a handle on how to use some of the new self publishing tools. As before, this isn't a guide for anyone else, but simply what works for me.

The one that confounded me the most at the start - Twitter - may turn out to be one of the most useful day-to-day. A personal Twitter account seems well suited for sharing a quick thought that really isn't worthy of a full blog post or for one that I don't have time to write. Also, its original purpose of answering the question of "what are you doing" type status updates for anyone who cares to know, does work well.

The rich media content and access control obviously are part of what makes Facebook successful. Good for sharing family photos and updates that have no value in the public space. Many seem to use it for status updates also. The eureka moment for me was when I found out that Twitter and Facebook could be linked together with a Facebook application. Short thoughts and status updates now only need to be posted in one place. Longer family and friend related posts still go directly into Facebook itself. After reading today's paper, I have to say that I didn't have anything really in mind when I chose my profile picture though.

I don't think there is anything new to expound on related to the virtues or uses of blogging. However, just like using a RSS reader to follow a blog, there are new options for potential readers using Twitter. Using TwitterFeed as an intermediate mechanism, blog posts can also be followed via Twitter.

I'm still wary of oversharing, privacy risks, security and other elements of these mediums. Also, the parodys abound, particulary about Twitter. At times its easy to imagine that I'm just speaking into cyberspace, but if you've read this far - maybe not!