End of the Month Panic

Summary

The author likens their use of Twitter's retweet function to honking a car horn to communicate urgency and intent to an audience, reflecting on the effectiveness of social media engagement for writers.

Abstract

The article titled "End of the Month Panic" delves into the author's experience with using social media, particularly Twitter, as a tool for gaining visibility for their work. The author draws a humorous parallel between aggressively using the retweet button and honking the horn of an old Renault Dauphine to signal intentions to others. Despite acknowledging the limitations and sometimes ineffective nature of retweets and likes, the author admits to resorting to these methods when their read counts are lower than desired. They suggest that writing additional stories could be a more constructive approach to increasing readership without the stress associated with relying on social media algorithms. The article concludes with a playful invitation to readers to take a quiz to assess their potential as writers.

Opinions

The author finds their own use of Twitter's retweet function reminiscent of the urgency conveyed by honking a car horn.
They consider the use of turn signals, akin to clear communication in writing, to be superior to the aggressive signaling of the horn, or in this case, social media engagement.
The author views the effectiveness of retweets and likes on Twitter as somewhat lackluster compared to direct engagement or producing additional content.
They note that the strategic use of punctuation and hashtags can revitalize social media posts, but also that asking directly for retweets is often ineffective, save for one's mother.
The author maintains a humorous tone while suggesting that the stress of social media engagement may not be worth the potential gain in visibility.
They propose that writing more content is a preferable method to increase readership, though they acknowledge the potential benefits of combining this with social media use.

When my read counts are still too low…

I admit I find myself honking my Twitter re-tweet button the way I used to use the horn on the old Renault Dauphine that I drove in college.

People knew I wasn’t playing. They moved.

At the time, the use of the turn signals caused a foul electrical smoke to pour out of my steering column, so my horn was one of the last ways I could let traffic know I had some idea of what I intended to do.

Now that I am older and wiser, I find that occasionally, the way I communicate with that great cosmic publisher is with social media.

I must say the Ls and the Fs are pretty lame on a per-follower basis, compared to the big Twitter. And there is the RETWEET function that can be used right up to the limits of good taste when needed.

The simple change of adding a colon or a hashtag can give life to an entirely new series of tweets and retweets. Don't bother to ask for an RT, because only your mom will do that for you.

I still maintain that writing an extra story or two during the month would have the same effect without the wear and tear on your computer and your nerves.

Or you could do both, I guess…