Twitter Guide For Authors & Illustrators > ReTweets and Sharing > Why is "Love this! (insert link here)" not a great way to share info?
Index of topics: Main Twitter Guide For Writers & Illustrators page. To go back to my blog for kidlit/YA writers and illustrators, see Inkygirl. You can find me on Twitter at @inkyelbows (focus: writing and illustrating children's books) and @DebbieOhi (livetweets, chat, photos, personal ramblings). Also see my list of Other Useful Twitter Guides For Authors And Illustrators and Twitter Lists of: agents who represent kidlit/YA, kidlit/YA editors, children's book art/creative directors and K-12/teen librarians on Twitter.
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Why is "Love this! (insert link here)" or "Check this out! (link)" not a great way to share info?
While I may be sometimes tempted to click the link if I have enough time, I rarely do.
Why? Because there are SO many people sharing links on Twitter, and it takes time to clink a link and wait for a page to load, then read or look at what the person thought was worth sharing. And quite often, I discover that the post or image they wanted to share wasn't something I was all that interested in, anyway, and then I get even more irritated at the waste of my time.
So instead, I tend not to click links that have no clue as to their content.
This sort of tweet also seems to say, "I can't be bothered to tell you why you should click the link but I want you to click it anyway."
EXCEPTIONS:
When I DO click these kinds of links, it's usually because:
1) There's a context. Maybe it's in the middle of a Twitter chat or conversation, so I already have an idea about what the link's about.
2) If the person rarely posts this kind of link, so I know that what they're posting is worth clicking through to look at.
3) I am interested in EVERYTHING this person posts, no matter what. I doubt anyone feels that way about my own tweets, however, so I usually try to take the time to give some context.
At this point, you may be thinking I'm a big ol' Ms. Crabbypants. "I like keeping things casual and fun," you may be telling yourself. "If you don't click through to my great links, it's your loss."
And you'd be right, of course. I probably miss out on a lot of great info and images and videos because I don't click on "Check this out" links.
But before you write me off as a Twitterlink snob, be aware that I'm probably not the only one who feels this way. Also, many people don't click random-seeming links because they're worried about spammers and malicious virus sites.
If you're an illustrator who is trying to get noticed and are posting links to your drawings, take the time to describe WHY people should click through to look at your drawing instead of posting something like this:
If you want more people to click the links you post on Twitter, I encourage you to take a few precious seconds and add some info.
Last updated on June 1, 2016 by Debbie Ridpath Ohi