By Dana Kaye
I know we’ve all had the Twitter/Facebook discussion before, and everyone knows that I’m a Twitterer. Did I also mention I’m on foursquare?
(If you are unfamiliar with foursquare click the link and discover all its wonders)
My girlfriend has zero participation in any sort of social media and my obsession with it can sometimes drive her nuts.
“Why do you feel this compulsion to let the world know what you’re doing all the time?” she asks as we’re sitting at a restaurant and I’m “checking in”.
I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. It’s the same compulsion that made me start blogging years ago. I had something to say and wanted to tell people.
I don’t take my social media obsession to the extreme of posting photos of my breakfast each morning or Twittering every move I make. But if I see an amazing movie, my Twitter followers and FB friends will hear about it. If a news item pisses me off, they’ll hear about it. If there’s an event or sale or special happening nearby, I’m posting it. And I’m not the only one.
But the reason social media sustains is not because everyone wants to talk about what they’re doing, it’s because we want to know what they’re doing. Facebook is the prime example of this. How many ex-boyfriends or co-workers or old high school friends have you looked up? How many hours did you spend going through their pictures and reading their updates?
I believe the need to catch a glimpse into other people’s lives is what gave reality TV its start, it’s what maintains the world of blogging and social media sites, and (here’s where I bring it back to crime fiction) it’s what gives authors the perfect outlet to promote themselves.
Readers want the inside look. They want to know that you’re a baseball fan or have a pug or eat at the same restaurant they’ve eaten at. They may not care what you had for breakfast, they may not even care that you were just reviewed in some newspaper, but if you update with something they can relate to or something you both have in common, you’ll have a reader for life.
So although girlfriend doesn’t share my compulsion to update everyone on her every move, she does share the desire to get a sneak peek into other people’s lives. It’s why she watches reality TV and why she’s asked me to follow @Indigo_Girls. And I bet if Michael Cunningham twittered, she’d follow him too.
