HYDERABAD: Doesn’t everyone want thousands of likes and comments on their tweets, YouTube videos, Instagram pictures and Facebook posts? Okay, not everyone, but today, businesses, content creators, artistes, and even the police are seeking to establish a bold social media presence to boost their influence in the virtual world, which is undeniably affecting the way people think, buy and even vote.
Similarly, there is a curious new trend on Twitter among the writers and authors community to get a ‘lift’ to gain more prominence on the platform and in the process, ensure their work reaches a wider audience. They are asking their peers and those from the community on Twitter to share links of their work or their profiles to gain more followers. They could tweet a request for followers, ask writers to share links to their work or offer to review books. This tweet is usually accompanied by appropriate hashtags such as #writerslift, #amwriting and #writingcommunity, to name a few.
More engagement on Twitter usually snowballs into a trend and subsequently, a greater visibility on the social media platform; that’s marketing 101. In this scenario, writers don’t need to pay hefty amounts to publicity relation companies and an occasional ‘lift’ by their peers is all they need. Though the trend started among authors in the US, Indian writers are slowly getting on the bandwagon. Express spoke to some prominent authors in Hyderabad to get their views on this new trend.
Jhilam Chattaraj, academic and poet
“I see #writerslift as a useful marketing tool for those who write fiction. I am not sure if poets would benefit, given that poets reside in more niche communities. However, only the quality of writing matters in the long run and that can happen when people invest in shared reading habits and critical analysis of literature. Can strict word limits and waning attention span, both consequences of social media, override hashtags and digital trends?” asks Jhilam.
Sandeep Kulshrestha, poet, fiction writer
If the writers are helping their peers in the world around them, then a writers’ lift is a good idea, says Sandeep. Talking about the concern that such an exercise might limit a writer’s work to only a sort of a pool of just the writers’ community, Sandeep says: “Today, word goes around easily. If I like somebody’s work, I might send it to ten other people to check it out. People usually spread the word these days among others, who are not writers but are interested in reading good content,” he says. Sandeep says he would definitely take part in a writers’ lift if he comes across it on his Twitter feed.
Mahboob Hussain, author, founder of Hyderabad Readers and Writers Club
Twitter is not really a place where the literati is on, says Mahboob. “Twitter is more a place for elitist political discourse than a space for writers. Probably, some writers on Twitter are trying to carve out a niche for themselves on the platform. However, how can writers leverage Twitter, which is dominated by political discourse?” he wonders. On the other hand, Mahboob feels that the new voice-only social media platform, Clubhouse, is a place that is buzzing with writers connecting with each other. “Clubhouse may be a stronger bonding experience for writers and readers,” he says. Facebook too, he says, is the space where writers usually inhabit.
Devika Das, poet, author, theatre artiste
“I think the writer community needs to support each other because we need our tribe to grow. If we don’t support people from our field, we can’t expect support from the external audience,” says Devika. The author, however, makes an exception that one should not promote mediocrity. “If you find real worth in the content of a fellow author, there is nothing wrong in promoting them,” she says. Talking about the need to deliver good content, Devika says the community needs to unite and even call out bad content.
Harimohan Paruvu, author, former cricketer, columnist
Harimohan is not so active on Twitter but should there be a request for a writers’ lift, he would be happy to oblige. Promotions are great, he accepts, but he still advises writers to go through the tough way. “You need to strike that balance. It is easy to get complacent when people praise and promote your work — your writing suffers. You need to keep asking yourself if it is affecting your work, are you getting better,” he says. “I know people who have stopped writing after someone said something nasty about their book. For them, this exercise will help. Because you evolve as a writer and such a lift will help them to keep writing,” he says. But the author shies away from promotions in general. “Whatever happens to a particular work, will happen on its own accord. I don’t need to worry,” he says.