I’m making an effort to write more; fiction, non-fiction, code. I’m really making an effort to create more. I’ve got more head space now than I’ve had in years, and I’ve got time and resources that I didn’t have before. This is something that I’ve been struggling with for the past several years, and I’ve been tackling it in fits and starts, and this is either a fit, or a start. I’m not sure yet.
Today I’ve been tackling how to organize my different channels. I’ve got Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, App.net, a blog, and Google+. I’ve come up with a simple strategy to deal with all of them, dividing them into two separate categories of personal and professional. These are somewhat arbitrary, but I am starting a more professional online career, so I want a place to put the goofy stuff, and a place to put the more serious stuff. I don’t want to bore my family with talking about code, and I don’t want pictures of cats where potential coworkers might find them.
So here’s how things fall out:
- Tumblr -> Twitter -> Facebook
My tumblr is set to automatically tweet when something gets posted to it. Facebook is set to repeat my tweets, so by posting to Tumblr, I can hit Twitter and Facebook at the same time. This is my personal space, where I’m connected with friends and family. This is where the goofy stuff goes; if you are looking, this is where you can find the pictures of cats. - blog -> App.net
Posts to my blog are directed to app.net by a service called pourover. This is where I plan to post articles and essays about code, as well as life, cooking, etc. More serious things than the stuff you find on Tumblr. I love Tumblr, but it’s a like a magnet for the kinds of things people used to forward me in emails all the time. If I want to talk about writing code in Python, grilling a chicken under a brick, or how I’m planning on using my digital assets, this is where it will go. - Google+
Dammit, G+; get with the program. I really want to like G+. Every time I visit, I’m like, this is what Fb should be but isn’t. The easy way you can post something to a specific group of people, or follow their posts, is simply stellar. But I cannot understand why G+ is locked in such a walled garden. It’s nearly impossible to get things in or out of it. My blog is hosted by Blogger, which is also a Google product, and I assumed it would be simple to have my blog posts automatically posted to my G+ account. But it’s not. It’s possible, but only if I do it manually. For each post. Sigh. I spent all night playing with this. My plan is to have Google+ end up as the aggregate for the blog, the way that Facebook is the aggregate for my tumblr. We will see how this goes. - Raioume
I have another site that I created to promote my novel when I self-published it at the end of 2011. My idea was that I would post different things about the fantasy world that I created, generating interest in the book. I still think it’s a good idea, but it took me six years to write the novel in the first place. I just couldn’t find the time to write all of the supporting material that I have in my head. So, the site has sat fallow for over a year now. But hopefully, now that I have more time and headspace, I’m hoping to write more fiction, and Raioume may be the place that I self-publish it.