The Article Writer

Good. I got your attention.

Seriously, I’ve been going through somewhat of a social media crisis these past few weeks, a crisis not entirely of my own making.

Ever since I became very active with social media about two years ago when I joined MySpace, the pressure to join additional networks, add new friends, and really “work” the system has intensified. I still have a presence on MySpace but I largely ignore this medium even when a twenty-something hottie thinks that this near 50 year old writer is da bomb. I know that she was deeply disappointed to learn that I am faithfully married and simply not looking for the type of friendship she has to offer.

What I am regularly finding in my email box these days are invites to new networks I have never heard of. I won’t name them here, but when I looked at the various networks I already belong to (and hardly register a presence there), I thought: do I need to stretch myself any thinner? I think not.

True, I am very active with StumbleUpon and to a lesser extent with MyBlogLog, with little interest elsewhere other than the occasional LinkedIn add. I’ve avoided Facebook, which is probably good as I have learned that Facebook invades users’ privacy. I know that it is virtually impossible to extricate oneself from MySpace, so why bother with Facebook? I’ll let the other 64 million users get to know each other real well, as well anyone can in a crowded environment.

Speaking of StumbleUpon, I am removing “friends” who are no longer active with SU, but I noticed that even as I remove people, SU won’t allow me to add new friends. Apparently, there is a bug in their system that says I have reached the 200 friends limit, but I know that this number is now down to 188. Once SU fixes their bug, I’ll make some changes, but I’m not going to notify them either as it just isn’t all that important to me.

Ultimately, I find this whole “friending” thing to be a bit silly as it diminishes what being a true friend is all about. Certainly, some of my readers would probably be my friends in “real life” but the vast majority of people I come into contact with online are people I probably will never meet.

I don’t know about you, but friends in the flesh carry a lot more weight then online acquaintances, people I can see face-to-face, hang out with, offer mutual encouragement, etc.

No, I’m not giving up my social media involvement, but I must tell you that friending isn’t a priority for me. I’ll gladly trade quality stumbles with you and work on beneficial projects, but I’m not looking to expand an impossible to maintain social media network.

Crisis over.

I’m probably committing some sort of blogging faux pas, sharing link love twice within the same week. What the heck, today is Valentine’s Day and I feel like being generous. Besides, I keep finding these little gems as I scour the internet, pearls of wisdom that must be shared with my faithful readers.

To that end, I offer the following links of note:

How Do You Find Private Advertisers For Your Blog? @ ProBlogger — good information for people who want to monetize their blogs without getting penalized for it.

Unasked For Advice to New Writers About Money @ Whatever — This article is an essential read for all wannabe writers. If you think that you’ll get rich (or even make a living) off of writing, think again.

Freelance Writers Appreciation Week — February 10-16 @ Inkthinker — I knew that those warm and fuzzy feelings I’ve been experiencing since Sunday had something to do with it: this week is Freelance Writers Appreciation Week and I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t stopped by Kristen’s blog. Thanks for the validation!

My Top Five Myths About Freelance Writing @ Catalyst Blogger. Jennifer gets it right: we freelancers don’t work in our pajamas, at least on a daily basis!

Will Write For Botox @ Craigslist Curmudgeon. Yes, get free botox when you write about a charity event. Sheesh!

You Don’t Have To Be On Page 1 To Be Successful @ SeoUnique Blog. Agreed! I score well for several keywords that fall well outside of Top 10. Maybe we’re obsessed with Google positioning?

A Common Freelance Writing Scam @ Chris Blogging. I am a fan of Digital Point, but not for getting work. Lots of the jobs are low-ball offers and the work being done is usually poor. Scams abound too as Chris notes in this post.

Does Flash SEO Still Suck? @ The SEO Consultant. Tim Nash always has a lot of good stuff about SEO and the internet. When I want to dig deep about a subject, I know to run over to one of his sites.

Blog Challenge: Testing Your Blog’s Accessibility @ Lorelle on WordPress. I’m sure we all like to that our blogs are fully accessible, but do you regularly test your sites to see how they perform via different browsers and screen settings?

But I Don’t Want To… @ Write Stuff. There are days when we just don’t want to write, then what? Personally, I build in “goof off” time for those hours or days when writing for work isn’t what I want to do.

I’m not part of the Writers Guild of America nor am I completely “up” on all that they represent, but I have been keeping one eye on the events related to their three-month strike which has finally come to an end. If anything, the strike gave me an appreciation for what other writers do and some clarity about what was at stake.

Television writers went on strike in November to protect their compensation when their work is shown on the internet. If you don’t already know this, many television shows can now be seen online, but up until now the writers have been excluded from receiving their share of the revenue when a show is posted to the internet.

For example, if you follow the show Jericho, which aired on CBS and CTV last night, you didn’t have to tune in to view it. Right now, you can view the entire first episode, Reconstruction, online or watch clips from that or earlier shows. Click on a link and you’ll view an ad before you see the show or clip — it is those ads that make money for the television studios, money that has been kept from writers — until now.

Under the new agreement, the writers share of the bounty will only be 2% which doesn’t sound like much, but given the ongoing explosion of the internet and its worldwide impact, the money is likely to help out more over the long haul.

Your favorite shows are coming back, but it will take some time for the new ones to air. For people tired of watching reality and late night t.v., this is very good news.

Now if CBS needs an extra writer for Jericho, I have the perfect plot idea for bringing down the Cheyenne Government.

Union dues, anyone?