You probably use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to interact with friends, family, and people with similar interests.  If you are a writer, however, these and other social media avenues can be powerful tools to help you expand your horizons.  Here are the top ten social media tips for writers.

Top Ten Social Media Tips for Writers

At the moment, heavy hitters in social media are Facebook and Twitter, but you have other platforms such as Google+ and Tumblr that are a solid as well.  These sites have a greater reach than many smaller specialty sites and can help get the word out about your writing in a more efficient manner.

Don’t just set up a profile – interact

Don’t forget the whole “social” aspect of social media.  Sure, you can make Facebook statuses and tweet all day long, but if you don’t actually respond to any comments, you could lose followers rather quickly.  Actual interaction will also open up new conversations amongst your followers.

Keep things interesting, yet concise

Try to elicit responses and build conversations with topics that are fresh.  You don’t want your posts to read like medical journals, so keep them concise and in a conversational tone that engages readers.  Remember that Twitter has a character limit for tweets, and Facebook will cut off extra long updates in news feeds.

Be professional

You may be tempted to lash out at the world through your account on a lousy day, but doing so will put you in a bad light.  You want to use your accounts as promotional tools that reflect who you are as a person, but some things are better left unannounced.

Stress quality over quantity

Having plenty of social media followers is great, but if they don’t pay attention to your updates or don’t show interest, they likely won’t help you achieve your goals.  Having a small group of followers is fine.  This allows you to build loyalty, and they could bring even more quality followers into your circle.

Avoid a sales tone

Pushing products on followers with a never-ending stream of tweets and status updates is a great way to get unfollowed, defriended, or blocked.  You want to promote your work and style without shoving forceful sales pitches down everybody’s throat.

Don’t overdo it

It’s good to be confident about your skills, but if you constantly boast about your writing, you could turn people off.

Change things up

You should make it a habit to change your profile picture at least once every few months.  It’s also a good idea to try to maintain a minimum amount of posts per week to keep your profile fresh and in people’s minds.  If it looks as if you have abandoned your profile, you could lose followers who think you lack the necessary interest in social media.

Use graphics when possible

If you come across an interesting graph or chart that’s relevant to your writing or general interests, post it.  Graphs and charts are a great way to convey information in a brief manner and will often attract attention.

Follow others who you admire

Whether it’s a famous writer or internet guru, follow people that are where you want to be.  You can learn valuable lessons from them and may even get the chance to interact on a personal level to develop extremely valuable connections for your future.