I would focus on monthly hits more so. Weekly, there is just too much stuff going on that can affect the numbers. At the end of the day just keep writing. But I might post on this. It’s a tough subject because no one really has great answers.

At the same time, I tweet the good and positive…read a great book, loved the coffee, baked cookies, can’t wait for Burn Notice to start, the WIP is really flowing, got a new contract, etc… those also work to connect people.

I don’t really like 24/7 perkiness. It drives me batty. I like good moods and positive vibes. But if all someone tweets is happy happy, joy joy, all is beautiful and right with the world, rainbows and kittens… I tend to think you’re kinda fake and I’ll most likely go the other way. Maybe I’m cynical and jaded, a bit too much of a smartass and too sarcastic. Even readers have bad days, editors, too. And they say so. I like knowing I’m not the only one. And they like knowing they’re not the only ones.

I try to always be kind, always be helpful if possible, even if it’s giving someone a person to commiserate with when everything seems to be headed downhill from the moment you step out of bed. Not all of us have someone to call and vent with. I don’t attack people, though, I don’t get into twitter wars with others and if something offends me, I’ll either ignore it or unfollow.

Those that follow me, we connect on one level or another. If you don’t like how or what I tweet about, then don’t follow me (70% of the time, it’s about coffee, NASCAR, writing, and what i’ve baked or what i’m craving to bake). We’re not doing each other any good. I don’t hesitate to unfollow someone if they are not my kind of tweeter or if they just make me unhappy when they show up in my feed, and I know others don’t hesitate to unfollow me for the same reason. We’re not all going to get along, no matter the platform we’re trying to build and we shouldn’t force ourselves to. It’s like in instant messaging or chatting… if someone bothers you or is rude or unkind, there are ignore buttons. That’s what they’re for. There are block and unfollow options on Twitter. I’m a big fan of weeding things out, of decluttering what is unnecessary to my happy existence and that includes followers and ‘friends’ on social sites.

I think in all social media there needs to be a balance, more than anything. Too much of one thing one way is not good. Even too much happy, positive, go forth and smile. Too much negative is bad, as well. It’s about balance for me and if I’m being too negatively emotional, I’ll try to find something awesome to tweet or I’ll walk away for a while. But I’m not always going to tweet happy.

I love your posts, Kristen. There’s always food for thought, always something that makes me look at what I’m doing and if it’s effective or not. I’ve applied some things you’ve talked about to my writing and to social media. I haven’t applied everything because not everything is going to work for everyone. This was a great post though and it serves again as brain food. I love that.

We can’t control what others say or do.

So we can take a walk, run, brush our pets, eat ice cream, sing to our favorite tunes on our iPod, and do an attitude shift. Now THAT is what we can control. Set your sights on that high road…the view is awesome!