Zakiya Lathan
Zakiya Lathan is a freelance writer. Prior to freelancing, she worked in broadcast news as a web producer and online journalist for CBS affiliate KTVA-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. Follow Zakiya on Twitter. You can also become a fan of her newly-launched Facebook page.
This is a guest posts on using Twibes and Twitter to make friends and grow your business. If you would like to be considered for a guest post, please email adam@twibes.com with an idea for a topic.
Writing is a solitary craft, albeit one that is difficult to practice in a vacuum. Freelance writers who originally hail from print and broadcast newsrooms understand this all too well.
Working outside of the realm of cubicle life acquaints freelancers to the double-edged sword of freedom. There is the autonomy to set one’s own hours and to choose one’s own writing subject matter. But while freelance writers get to set their own paths, they also have to navigate those paths on their own. Gone is the brainstorming, banter and camaraderie of a lively newsroom. There are no colleagues with whom they can compare notes, troubleshoot, commiserate–or even compete.
While there are a fair share of media newsroom alumni all too happy to be done with the intricacies of office politics, there are probably just as many who dearly miss the unique social interactions that can only be found in the writer fraternity.
Writers can use Twitter and Twibes to reconnect with like minds. They can follow and interact with others who speak their native tongues of word count and plot development. They can once again find colleagues with whom they can compare notes, troubleshoot, brainstorm, banter–or even compete.
Wordsmiths can also use Twibes to mine for sources. There are groups formed around many different fields and interests represented on the site.
Twibes is like homeroom for Twitter–a base camp that makes the process of finding kindred spirits that much easier.
“Homeroom for Twitter” – I like that concept! With many folks getting a serious twitter following it’s hard to catch the significant twitters as they fly by! A Twibe homeroom offers a place to touch base and check in; find out what’s important for the day and then head out to wider twitters. It’s also valuable that Twibes allows you to “just hang out” in the Twibe and build relationships and “hold meetings”.
Thanks for the many great ideas you put forward in this post.