After a Particularly Rough Morning, This Made My Day.

Let's Talk About Paper.li

This morning, when I was busying myself with all of my various websites, I logged into Twitter and saw this under my "interactions" tab.

I've gotten these paper.li things before - this one is probably the 3rd or 4th one. And, up until today, I never really questioned them, though I did find it strange that so many people seemed to have their own daily newspaper (because really, who is going to read an entire newspaper run online by a nobody?). I've always just gone to the site, looked for what they used off my blog, and closed out of it. Nothing more.

I did the same exact thing with this paper.li notification that I've done with every other one - I went to the website and searched for what they used from me (usually entries off of this blog). In this case, this person had posted a link I randomly decided to post on Twitter yesterday, which was this old preview of Family History: Part 1.

In the past, most of these Paper.li papers were related to things like writing and self publishing, so I never questioned it.

This one, however, seemed geared towards genealogy.

Let's face it - even though Family History: Part 1 and Part 2 contain something of an extensive genealogy, the book itself is just a work of fiction. And when most of the articles on this particular "paper" seem more related to, say, actual genealogy (and not fictional families), then I started to wonder.

I took a look on Twitter, too - this guy and I were never following each other, nor did we have any similar followers. Suspicious!


So, naturally, I did what any "modern-day sleuth" would do, and I consulted Google. A quick search of just "paper.li" led me to this blog post - "Paper.li: Clever Curation or Spammy Automation" by Adam Toporek.

"The first time I was mentioned in a Paper.Li I didn’t understand what had happened. It showed up in my Mentions stream on Twitter that I and a few others had made “The ____ Daily” and were part of the “Top Stories.” I thought the person who had mentioned me had read something of mine and liked it enough to tweet about it. I promptly thanked him for the tweet, but little did I understand that the gentleman in question most likely had no idea who I was or what I had written."

So, you mean to tell me that I'm not actually special?

"I had been picked up by the automated service Paper.Li." 

Automated, you say? Well then, I guess that answers my first question.

"For those who are not familiar with Paper.Li, it is a content “curation” system that publishes multiple Twitter and Facebook feeds and makes a newspaper of sorts."

To be honest, I'm not quite sure I understand the point, taking stuff written by others and posting it all in a newspaper collage of some sorts, but to each his own, am I right? 

Posting to your Paper.Li whatever happens to be in the #smalllbusiness hashtag stream when the Paper.Li runs is not curation, it’s topical aggregation.

Oh, kind of like how this guy posted my months-old "Family History" preview post to his genealogy paper?

If you want to know more about Paper.li, I recommend not only reading the rest of Toporek's blog post, but also taking a look at the comments: where this particular writer is saying, "No, Paper.li has no value," others disagree and add in their two cents as to why.

Does anybody here have anything to say about Paper.li? If so, feel free to comment on this below - I want to know what other's experience has been with this particular website.

The Twitter Experiment, Part 7: Now I'm Getting Bored...

The sad part is, it didn't take long: I'm growing increasingly bored of Twitter.

It feels like work now, and it's at the point where I can't even come to my blog and make fun of it. It's all so overdone. Yes, it's one large advertisement. Yes, the things that trend are often so stupid that I feel like I'm hanging around the Guidos of Jersey Shore. Yes, there's that one author who's constantly promoting his one book.

Maybe I'm just not following the right people. Maybe I just need to remove all authors from my list - it might get better that way, I don't know. Honestly though, as of now, the best "person" I follow is Real Time WWII Tweets - a few of which I've retweeted.

Then again, I'm surprised I was using it as much as I did. Honestly, I think it was the novelty - another new website to visit, one I was checking every day. I still have been checking Twitter every day, actually, but definitely not as often as I was. And now it's become more of a ritual of browsing the first 5-10 tweets before returning to Reddit or elsewhere.

Of course, many sites that I checked religiously a year ago have been nearly forgotten by now. This time last year, I checked F My Life every single day. After finding Reddit, though, it seems mostly unfunny. I actually had a plethora of similar sites similar to that one that I checked daily, though I honestly don't remember most of them anymore: most of the same content was just as easily found on Reddit.

Will Twitter end up with a fate similar to that of F My Life? Honestly, that's probably exactly what's going to happen, and frankly, I'm not too broken up about it.

The Twitter Experiment, Part 6: Data and Numbers

I've decided that, rather than all of my posts about Twitter saying nothing more than "Tw1t3r suks stfu", I ought to write about something constructive.

I joined Twitter because everybody said that it was a great resource for authors, for advertising, connecting with authors, etc. The question is: has it worked?

First off, for the Twitter data itself: I joined Twitter on 1/20/2012. It is currently 2/7/2012. That means I've been "Tweeting" for 18 days.

In 18 days, I have gained 291 followers and have sent 360 tweets.

I know, I'm ashamed too. I've sent more tweets than gained followers.

Less "hard" data: because of Twitter, I'm scheduled for two upcoming guest blog posts on two different websites, so keep a lookout for those (although one isn't scheduled to occur until April 17th).

That said: let's look at something else. How has being on Twitter affected traffic to Predicted Hindsight?

Number of Page Views Prior to January 20th, 2012.

• January 15th: 8
• January 16th: 12
• January 17th: 13
• January 18th: 35
• January 19th: 28
• January 20th: 32

Now, keep this in mind: January 18th was SOPA blackout day. For whatever reason, my SOPA post attracted a lot of attention that I wasn't used to having. I was actually getting people getting to Predicted Hindsight via Google searches, mostly with terms containing "SOPA" in some form. The dates preceding January 18th are more representative of what I was used to.

Now, what about after January 20th?

(NOTE: I'm not including January 21st, 22nd, and 25th, because I think I might have posted a Reddit link that day, and those tend to skew the data pretty high. Since I'm not looking at "The Effect of Reddit on Data", there's no need to include them here.)

• January 23rd: 5
• January 24th: 7
• January 26th: 28
• January 27th: 28
• January 28th: 25
• January 29th: 49
• January 30th: 8
• January 31st: 13
• February 1st: 17
• February 2nd: 25
• February 3rd: 33
• February 4th: 48
• February 5th: 35
• February 6th: 31

But...What Does This Mean?

To be honest, this is not ALL Twitter. There are a few other things to consider. Like, first off, I established my Facebook Author Page just a few days before (I'm thinking it was about a day or two before SOPA blackout day). Also, I post most every blog post, at least the ones with substance, on the Kindle Boards blog thread. Despite having only 20 likes on Facebook and being relatively unknown on Kindle Boards, these seem to generate quite a bit of traffic themselves.

Also, with any statistic like this, we have to remember to keep this very important fact in mind: Correlation does NOT Equal Causation. 

So, what else, besides the factors mentioned above, might be contributing to the fact that this little blog does seem to be gaining some traction?

Well, first off, it is important to note that I've been working on this little project for more than 2 months now. The passing of time alone might be contributing as more and more people have the ability to run across this website.

Also, the blog also now has nine followers. Quickly: may I give a big THANK YOU to those who have followed? :D

That said, though - despite everything, I do think Twitter has a lot to do with the slow uptick in numbers, ESPECIALLY since my "Twitter" posts seemed to have gained "some" attention on their own. Quickly...

• Part 1: 7 Page Views
• Part 2: 6 Page Views
• Part 3: 22 Page Views
• Part 4: 6 Page Views
• Part 5: 9 Page Views

Also, keep in mind that these are just standalone page views - these don't even count the people who read these posts just be "scrolling down".

What Conclusions can be Drawn?

Really, it's pretty inconclusive. To REALLY gauge where I'm going, I should be ceasing all advertisement of posts on Twitter, but nowhere else. But am I going to do that? Maybe. Though what's the point of that? At this rate, I seem to be doing something right, something that seems to be working.

Also, something else of interest: I did a "secret" free download of Family History: Part 1 today. By secret, I mean I advertised NOWHERE - no Facebook, no Twitter, no Reddit or Kindle Boards. As of 9:27 pm MST, there are 15 U.S. downloads and 5 UK downloads. With some advertising on Twitter, Part 2 made it to 24 U.S. downloads and 1 UK download (also: 5 Germany Downloads).

So yeah, Twitter does seem to be doing something. 

• 
  

The Twitter Experiment, Part 5: Foreseeing an Eventual Mass "Unfollowing".

At this point, I'm just making a mockery of myself. Seriously. 

The Twitter Experiment, Part 4: Follow Friday.

First off, let me precede this with a note: Blogger Really Ought to have a "Subtitle" Option."

Because my Subtitle would be appropriately titled, "Follow My Updates on How I Sold Out."


In fact, I could probably do an entire blog just on my experience with Twitter, and why I all at once dislike it and can't seem to stop using it (grrr!).


If my Twitter posts are getting old, I'm rather surprised, because for whatever reason, they seem to be the posts that gain the most attention, though I'm not really sure why. Though my last post, entitled "What My Twitter Looks Like Now", got a substantial amount of views (substantial for me, anyways). Actually, that's funny, because all it really was was a drawing I did in MS Paint.

Perhaps I should make these "Twitter Experiment" Posts more official-like, starting off by linking to the previous "Twitter Experiment" posts. Maybe I'll do that at the end of the post.

Anyways, onto the topic at hand.

Tomorrow is Friday. Actually, for folks in the mountain time zone, Friday comes in about 3.5 hours. And what is Follow Friday?

According to the first result of Google for "Follow Friday": "#followfriday is a game in which people suggest who to follow on Twitter. It helps everyone find interesting Twitter users. You list the users you recommend following and add “#followfriday” anywhere in the Tweet so others can find it. The “#” is very important – don’t forget it!"


Do you want to know something really cool, though?


Somebody told people to follow me!


And that person has a ridiculous number of followers, too (90k+).


Do people actually follow those "FollowFriday" suggestions? Maybe I ought to find people to "recommend".


"Please Follow -> @KT_Hall_Author @KT_Hall_Author @KT_Hall_Author @KT_Hall_Author."


...because that totally works, right?

The Twitter Experiment, Part 3: What My Twitter Looks Like right Now.

Except for the yellow. That was just so I would officially have all colors of the rainbow featured in this picture.

The Twitter Experiment, Part 2: My Experience with Twitter so Far.

What I expected: People tweeting every single moment of their day. "Just got out of bed." "Just ate breakfast." "Getting in the shower." "Showering ;)"

What I Seem to Have Gotten: "Buy my book!" "[TITLE] is free on Amazon Today!" "[Preview of Book]. [Only $x.xx on Amazon] [Link]."

I suppose that's what happens when you just start following indie authors.

What I Like: I've been "tweeting" for a week, and already, I have 72 followers. Considering it's taken me nearly two months to get 8 followers here on this blog, I would say it's not a bad deal, especially with the possibility of people seeing my stuff and thinking, "Hey, I'll totally Retweet that." Is it going to happen often? Probably not; I'm not really all that interesting. And with so many others clogging up feeds with "Buy my book!", what chance is there that my little Family History is going to be mentioned? It's highly unlikely.

What I dislike: Again, the fact that so many authors use it for only advertising, and only advertising. I've already unfollowed one or two people who only posted advertisements, and posted them all. the. time. I've got enough of that without seeing your picture every other tweet.

Also, some of the "Worldwide Trends" that pop up in my side bar seem so inane and stupid. I don't care about Britney Spears being president, or whatever. So far, my favorite has been "Replace Band Names with Doofs."

What I would like to see more of: So far, this entire endeavor feels very impersonal. When I see a tweet about something other than "Buy my book!", I'll often try and respond, just to try and open up a conversation with somebody, though I've had very little of the same. In fact, most of my "personal messages" are from people I've newly followed telling me to "Check Out [X]." Today I had a "personal message" from somebody saying "We make book trailers for $150!" Most of the book trailers I've seen have been nothing more than something of a powerpoint-type show with pictures, music, and words, and I've never really heard of them helping generate any type of sales. If I have $150, I'm probably going to spend that on advertising my book somewhere. But that's another post for another day.

So far, I can't say I'm disappointed with Twitter. Again, I was pretty anti-Twitter ever since I heard of the website, and still am, to some extent. I suppose this was more or less of an experiment, since I kept hearing that it was an excellent social networking tool for reaching out to readers and other writers. And it is, really. Like I said; I've gotten 72 followers in a week without doing anything other than following others. However, I was hoping to use this as a tool to "connect" with others; thus far, I feel like I've entered myself into a not-so-successful advertising campaign.

In other news: there's this awesome new site that's been created by a Redditor, Reddit Authors. The point is to show off Redditor-produced content. The site is new, though it looks sleek and professional already. And, from what I can tell, the creator seems like a pretty nice guy. Also, I'm on there (but, for whatever reason, Family History: Part 1 is not, though Part 2 is. Weird.) and I didn't even have to request it. Seriously - if you're a Redditor, I suggest at least stopping by and taking a short look around, and not just because I was somehow automatically thrown into some "Yay! You're Affiliated!" category.

This is Totally What's Going to Happen in 10 Years.

If you didn't already see it in the top right corner, this is from Cracked.com.

"7 am."

"Skewl."

"English."

"Mth clss."

"Home."

"I nap."

"I wake."

"Dine Time."

":)"

":("

"o.O!"


"!!!!!!!!!"

"???"

"Bed."

"4got Hw."

"Job."

"Nu iPod."

"DJ Weezy."

"Help me"

"My tweets"

"r bng sent"

"by my 15"

"Year old."

"No its the"

"Gov'ment."

"[THIS POST HAS BEEN CENSORED BY SOPA.]"


Aha ha ha...that's a terrible joke.

The Twitter Experiment, Part 1: I Guess I'm Tweeting Now

Right now, I'm not sure if "Ew" or..."Ew."

When I first heard about Twitter back in 2006 or 2008 or thereabouts, I thought it was the silliest idea ever. I STILL think it's the silliest idea ever, actually. It's like a website dedicated to Facebook statuses, only they can't be long winded. And sometimes, you just need to be long winded, right? That's why I wrote a book or three.

And now, I'm supposed to be tweeting? I'm only doing it because that's what "they" say I should do. I would rather write long-winded posts - that's why I got a blog. And Facebook - I can put notes and long statuses up on Facebook.

Is my distaste to Twitter unprofessional? If I don't like it, why did I bother joining up? Well, maybe I'm confused as to why I went from selling at least one book per day to nothing. I'm doing some more free promotions coming up soon, but nevertheless, all of this waiting is frustrating. I'm hoping for results. Is that bad of me, wanting results? Wouldn't you want results?

Anyways: Follow me, @KT_Hall_Author on Twitter. Don't expect brilliant quotes at 140 words or less, though.

Also, I'm following WWII in Real Time.

Facebook 'Like Button' Added.

You see it there, on the side?

Yeah, if you have Facebook, you really ought to click that little button?

Why? Well, because then, I won't have to spend money on advertising. Now that I have or will do that anyways.

Also, boyfriend really wants me to get a Twitter account as part of advertising. No offense to Twitter users, but I've been staunchly anti-Twitter since it became popular, so unless I start seeing a very large benefit of getting a twitter account anytime soon, there will be no updates from me on Twitter.

Also, don't forget to download a free copy of "The Night Life: Chapter 1" today...or Friday. Whenever, really.