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comment by Floatbox
Floatbox  ·  4142 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Best way to organically spread my writing?

I don't think there's a way to share your work without getting into social networking.

Don't worry though! By social networking, I don't mean "pushing product by spamming accumulated channels" which is probably the most result-driven and cynical way to look at it. Come to think of it, all the terms people use like, "leveraging a platform" just feel slimey. I don't mean that you have to do that.

Take hubski. If thenewgreen posted a submission tomorrow that said hey, I'm launching a podcast -- I would listen. That's because I recognize him, he's a familiar presence, I like his perspective, he's really active here. I would read and share his work because he's invested in this community in a way I appreciate so I know I would be likely to find value in his work.

Hear that, thenewgreen? Seriously, do it.

Art needs a community to receive it. Established institutions have that community baked in already. We aren't backed by institutions, so we need to be directly involved in making the community and the less cynical, the more generous that involvement is the better.

There's better and worse ecosystems for what you want to do. Facebook is not it. Reddit can be OK, but lacks a robust follow feature in a big anonymous sea. Hubski is good, but it's small. I don't know much about tumblr or wordpress or goodreads social features, although I hear goodreads is good.

I've been diving into Google+ lately and... it's actually really good. I wanna write more about it soon in it's own thread, but I'm incredibly impressed. I think it might be the next big thing. Really very solid and seems to be the best of all worlds... plus, your posts become searchable throughout google. Really powerful stuff and worth a look into... the community Poets of G+ is well run, a diverse 3k strong and active from what I've seen at least.





thenewgreen  ·  4142 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hey, thanks Floatbox I appreciate reading that. I will continue to podcast, check out the #tngpodcast tag. I've fallen away from it but I will return with vigor!

One of the things that baffles me is that some communities discourage people sharing their own creations. I suppose the Hubski architecture makes it less "spammy". If you don't like what someone is posting, don't follow them.

If you know any burgeoning authors, please let them know that they have a safe place here at Hubski. I love all of the short stories and poetry being posted of late. It's wonderful. Plus writers tend to have interests outside of writing and post other interesting content.

Floatbox  ·  4142 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Woa... didn't even know you already had podcasts up! I'll definitely take a look.

I agree about the original content. The writing here, as well as most things on hubski, is always interesting if not straight good. I think the size and architecture both work against the spam. Also, I'm trying to introduce a talented poet friend of mine lamenting a way to find content online... man I hope that happens. I'll start posting some of my work too!

_refugee_  ·  4135 days ago  ·  link  ·  

We have a great #poetry tag! Would love to see your stuff, and definitely bring your friend.

thenewgreen  ·  4142 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's great, I hope that your friend stops by, dips a toe in the water and decides to swim. That's the best way for Hubski to grow and stay interesting, by referral.

I look forward to you posting your work. Enjoy those podcasts. I really like the space video cast that steve put together.

_refugee_  ·  4135 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Can I just say, though, the Poetry community is G+ is active...but it's not necessarily great. At least, not the one I'm in.

Also, thenewgreen totally do a podcast! I'm a podcast fangirl (got a couple friends who are really into them/produce their own) and I would absolutely add you to my list. It's the new free media, the new radio. I also agree with Floatbox about why he/I would listen; because tng is a familiar presence in the community I feel I have a sort of bond with, and so I want to check out his stuff, help him out. Honestly my personal connection to the community is partially why I'm willing to share poems here.

thenewgreen  ·  4135 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Thanks for the encouragement _refugee_, I appreciate it. You can checkout my past #tngpodcast's by following that link. I would recommend checking out the video casts that steve has put together for them, which are also in that tag. Enjoy!

Floatbox  ·  4135 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Whicb one are you in?(Poets of G+) is really well run... though I wouldn't say the quality of actual poetry is of hubski standard, there are gems, but there have been some extraordinary discussions had. I know the structure of PoG+ has just changed to greatly limit the volume of poetry so it might be worth checking back if it was crap before.

_refugee_  ·  4086 days ago  ·  link  ·  

48 days later I respond. I'm in like "Poet's Corner" or some nonsense. Mostly I ignore it.

Floatbox  ·  4086 days ago  ·  link  ·  

yeahhhh.... no Poets of G+ is the only one that's moderated it looks like. And the moderation is the best I've seen online. People can only submit once to specific contests that then are curated into a flipboard newsletter. The (eight) mods are all hubski standard and active. I've met and discussed with many great people with broad expertise.

That being said, I've lost interest currently. I want to jump back in... but it takes a lot of work still to power through the sludge. I wish G+ controls were a bit more fine grained so I could filter out specific categories. They've got 100 newcomers in the last week. That's a lot of enthusiastic newbies.

But, if I had a poetry book to promote, it would be the best bet. All you have to do is give people the slightest of feedbacks and you're in their good graces. The community is good about keeping spam off though, so you have to circle pretty aggressively and then let them know outside of the community. Also, if the mods like you they will give you a shoutout in their own (sometimes impressively big) sphere. louderwords -- maybe you might have success promoting Hool this way?

humanodon  ·  4142 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've been wondering about G+ but I don't really know anyone that uses it. I guess it would help if I actually took the time to check it out for myself . . .

Floatbox  ·  4142 days ago  ·  link  ·  

They've set it up so you don't have to. They've got communities that function as better subreddits, then architecture similar to hubski with tags and circles (although it would be great to have something like a badge), most people are using real names and photos so it's got a more intimate feel, but the privacy controls aren't built to emphasize voyeurism (looking at you facebook), so it feels safe enough to minimize posturing (looking at your again facebook). They've got hangouts built in so you can live cast or conference really easily. And everybody seems eager to interact and circle ya back. Plus (lol), the more you use it, the better the whole google platform gets for you.

Worth a shot I'm telling ya.

humanodon  ·  4142 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Cool, thanks for the intro!

_refugee_  ·  4135 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm on G+!

humanodon  ·  4133 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Cool. Do you use it for poetry stuff?

_refugee_  ·  4133 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I repost what I write up there, but otherwise, no, not really.