Being Social
Lines #4 ©2008 8.5" x 11"
A New Project
The above drawing was made during my day job [looks better if you click the image for a larger view]. Each time we start a new project at work my job description is "Go To Meetings". Lots of talk about what the project is about, how are we going to organize and then all the technical blah blah blah. I listen, take notes, think brilliant thoughts, etc.
And I draw. Mostly lines. I’m really good at drawing lines. I used to draw things but I’m not as good at that and I can’t do that and pay attention at the same time. Drawing lines helps me pay attention, because it ensures I’m awake, which is a key feature of paying attention.
Are You Social?
The current work project is interesting. We are looking at social networking. Hence me finally caving in and going to twitter. We are encouraged to have a social networking presence to understand the space. I think they intend for it to be work related. I have, well, zero interest in that. So facebook and twitter and all that – for me it’s mostly art related.
Twitter has been interesting. Kinda fun. It’s a disjointed conversation but more entertaining than I expected. At some point I’ll figure out how to put my tweets in the sidebar (see that Pam – I said tweets). And more importantly I’ll figure out what the true value of the thing might be.
Be My Friend
Here are a few of my social networking profiles. You are welcome to friend me or follow me or whatever the phrase might be.
All Over the Place
I have a myspace account but completely ignore it as I’m not a musician nor am I 12 years old. I have some accounts on some ning communities but they haven’t taken off yet either and I don’t really have time for them so we’ll see how that goes.
I have a squidoo lens on art quilts with ideas for a more and now we have google knols (I have the outline for one on textile paintings with no content yet).
One of the things on my todo list (ie I have a user story for it) is to get a handle on my web presence and bring some kind of structure and understanding as to the value of each piece and the effort needed to maintain or enhance that value.
What’s your online presence like? Which pieces bring you the most value?
Posted by Lisa in: Art Marketing, Drawings
Tagged: drawing, facebook, knol, social, squidoo, the day job, twitter
Hi Lisa,
I recently started social networking so I could apply it at work as well. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace (which I also ignore but that reminds me I need to get back on it). I just launched a Facebook app, Quilt Block Party (http://apps.new.facebook.com/quilt_ydnqmga) that has some good potential if I decide to seriously develop it further. Right now its in a kind of beta. I reserved a domain name but haven’t built out the site yet, so once everything is in place then I can compare the value of the different parts.
I’m interested in trying out one of the networking sites for artists. It gets lonely here in the studio!
blogging is my mainstay…i have one board I post at irregularly on proboards…and i’m on Myspace but only to check in on family every now and then…since I’m not real active on Myspace I decided that Facebook wouldn’t be for me either…I try to curtail my online life these days but do like to know what is available.
I have a domain name reserved and currently working (not very hard) on how to get it up on a website. I review your blog and website weekly Lisa and enjoy all the artists/quilters blogs as well. I am really excited about having a domain name, but don’t really know what to do with it beyond that. I think I will have to try blogging as a start and then filter out into a website. My niece and nephew have been trying to get me on myspace and now facebook. I track others blogs and websites and from time to time buy as much fabric and items from others. I guess that is the extent of my being a social butterfly on the internet.
I’ve had my web site for several years, and I have a blog. My web site has generated a few sales, so I’m happy with it. My blog seems to just be me talking to myself, but I’m willing to keep at it for a while. It’s good discipline.
I participate in a couple online forums for art festival artists. It was more useful back when I was starting out, but it’s still fun to chat with fellow artists.
I have resolutely been avoiding social networking sites like Twitter and FaceBook. No early adopter I. If I see other artists getting sales or useful leads from them I may jump in, but so far I’m unconvinced.
Guess I’m pretty unsocial. :)
Thanks for responding everyone. It’s interesting to hear how everyone is using the internet and social networking sites.
laura – funny you are checking some of these sights out for work also
monica – yes it does – I think connecting – even if over the internet is nice
jenzycole – good luck getting up and going
Karoda – good to hear from you again!
Barbara – here at work – all the engineers – now that is unsocial :)
I get a little bit scared when I google myself and find a bit of a web presence. There are some people I don’t want to know that much about me but a relative googled me recently and was amazed that I was ‘all over the place’. Its just blog and flickr really so you must be ALL over the place.
My online presences are flickr, my blog, and my etsy shop. I’ve used flickr for over a year and a half now, originally I started it so my Mom could see pix of the kids (because she couldn’t figure out how to view a picture attached to an email). Flickr also proved to be useful to reach out to potential customers who had either seen my work in person or through a mutual friend. The need for people to want to find me and my work again encouraged my to enter the blogging/etsy world. I’ve received some random comments and invites from Flickr, but they seem so unattached and out of the blue that I don’t really follow through on them. I’m really enjoying blogging about my work, and I really enjoy conversations started by either commenting or emailing about a particular blog post. Following a blog allows be to feel like I know the person a bit so when I do comment, I feel like it’s a conversation – much more personal than the random flickr comment. I agree that blogging helps me see beyond my “cave of creating” and has allowed me to make some real connections.
The MySpace stuff I’ve seen does NOT seem like my cup of tea. And this new wave of “friending” or “following” someone…um…it seems an awful lot like a bunch of 8th graders trying to figure out who’s going to the mall and who is going to the movies on Friday night – although this is a very uninformed opinion! I much prefer subscribing to a blog’s feed, and have found some great artists by clicking through other people’s blogrolls. Now how this is different from “following”, I’ll never know, but to me it seems more worthwhile.
And as always, I read blogs to be inspired by the work of others, but at some point the reading can get in the way of other things (housecleaning, creating, family…) so for me I’ve got to do it in moderation.
So, that’s probably 3-4 cents from me!
I’m on all of the places you’ve mentioned, but am enjoying facebook the most. I’ve actually connected with several long lost high school friends, which is pretty cool since we went to high school in Germany.
twitter just feels like a bunch of people talking at each other and no one is really listening.
Myspace – ignore it
Linkedin – eh – boring.
Yep Jackie – I’m all over the web – I’ve been on the internet since 1985 – so my public comments go way way back. I didn’t realize at the time the kind of record it would leave. Some of it is pretty funny. The birth story of my 16 year old son, in all it’s vivid detail, is out on the web for anyone to read – if they know where to look. And no – I’m not telling.
Candy – thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think you are not alone with them. I’m thinking a great use of twitter could be to figure out what we should wear each day :) There is definitely a feeling of that jr. high mentality at times. And yes – it all takes a ton of time – see my new post about getting away from the computer. But as you say the real reward is the connections. I agree – blogging is where I make my most meaningful connections.
Cynthia – I’ve connected with a couple of high school friends on facebook also. Fun. My 30 year reunion is coming up in 3 years so it will be more fun if we connect ahead of time. Linkedin – it’s where my software life and art life collide – it’s kind of funny when work colleagues tell me they looked at my blog. It’s so not what I’m like at work.
I like that drawing Lisa, at first I thought it was a quilt and I let out a ‘whoooaaa’. It’s good stuff.
Frankly, I don’t like those sites. I did well with blog catalogue and met some nice people through it that I’ve come to be friends with and had good online interaction. I did finally remove myself from it as after awhile I was inundated with ‘be my friend’ emails and just tired of having so many ‘friends’ that never really took the time to see my blog/art or get to know me nor responded when I tried to interact on their sites. It was all about numbers and ratings. I have tried facebook/linkeden/squiddo and a few art type sites ~ for me it is too much vapidity.
I like the blog thing the most. If people are going to take the time to read the drivel I write, look at my art and comment on it then thats good enough for me. Maybe it would be different if I was selling something that was a hot commodity and people bought the more my name was out there. I’m not getting that that is the case with my art. Slow and steady. It feels like there are a fair amount of women our age doing the blog thing and it feels more real to me.
I love that drawing. My internet presence is a mess — need to work on that now that I have some free time. I don’t post many Tweets, but am surprised by some of the people who have started following, some weird, but also people connected with museums and on-line art mags. Don’t know why, maybe it’s the keywords in my profile.
Pam – I agree – interesting who is following me also. I think it must be from keywords in the profile. I’ve got a home remodeler following me – maybe because of my tweets about my remodel.