Threads and BlueSky: New Social Media Options for Writers
Writers are told we need to “build platform”–have websites, grow our email lists, and build community on social media. Many of us have invested many hours over several years to grow a following on the Site Formerly Known as Twitter, only to watch one egomaniacal billionaire destroy that site piece by poorly-redesigned piece. I’m still on there (for now; follow me @ja_alcorn), but I’m engaging less and less as the most interesting people leave the platform and the bigots and haters take over. Instead, I’m trying out Threads and BlueSky, two new social media options for writers.
I’ll share my experiences with both platforms in a minute, but first:
The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writers Support Group day, on which we insecure writers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome co-hosts this month are PJ Colando, Jean Davis, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diedre Knight. Stop by their blogs and leave them some comment love! Each month, the IWSG provides an optional question for us to answer in our posts. This month’s optional question: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not? I’ve done NaNoWriMo several times, but I’m not doing it this year.
Now, back to Threads and BlueSky. Let’s start with an overview of each platform:
Threads and BlueSky: New Social Media Options for Writers
Threads
Threads is owned by Meta (the company behind Facebook and Instagram). It’s closely linked to Instagram and has a similar look and feel, but it works more like Twitter. Posts are short and can include media or gifs; you can like and comment on posts and follow other users. Apps are available for iOS and Android, and there’s a web version as well.
I joined Threads in the summer but didn’t start using it regularly until a week or so ago. It’s now become my favorite platform. Why? One word: engagement. When I post on Threads, people respond. On Twitter, especially since the Egomaniac Who Must Not Be Named took over, engagement has plummeted to the point that tweeting feels like screaming into a hostile void. The Threads algorithm seems very good at bringing people together based on shared interests–so much so that I’ve gone from < 100 followers a week ago to over 1000 today. And they’re almost all real, actual people who share some of my interests–as opposed to creeps and scammers (Instagram) or people who just want to sell me stuff (X-Twitter).
Another difference between Threads and X-Twitter: Threads doesn’t appear to tolerate hate speech, and people are kind. It feels like the early days of Facebook in 2007, when we were all happily posting pretty pictures and talking about our cats and what we had for lunch. It’s so… wholesome.
To sign up for Threads, you’ll need an Instagram account. Once you have one, download the Threads app and sign in with your Instagram credentials. Then follow me. I’m janet.writes.
BlueSky
BlueSky was spun off from Twitter in 2021 as an attempt to create a decentralized social network protocol (similar to Mastodon, which some of you may be familiar with). Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, sits on the board of BlueSky, and the platform looks and feels a lot like pre-egomaniac Twitter. Thanks to degrading of Twitter, BlueSky has gotten more popular in recent months, with a lot of news and media folks joining as well as some creatives and regular ol’ people.
I joined BlueSky a little over a month ago. In that time, I’ve racked up ~100 followers by posting sporadically and looking for and following interesting people. The content on BlueSky, like the look and feel, is very Twitter-like but without the hate and the bots. Some big-name authors from the Twitterverse are there, including Chuck Wendig and John Scalzi. If Threads is a cozy gathering of creatives, BlueSky is more about sharing information and promoting your work.
BlueSky is currently in beta and available by invitation only. I get invite codes periodically, so if you’re interested in checking it out, let me know in the comments or via my contact form, and I’ll send you a code as soon as I have one available. If you’re on BlueSky, feel free to follow me at janetalcorn.bsky.social.
Both BlueSky and Threads are great new social media options for writers and provide opportunities to build platform and connect with people who share your interests. Try ’em out and see which one feels like your new online home.
In other news
Despite spending a ridiculous amount of time socializing on Threads, I’ve managed to do some actual writing and writing-adjacent work. Here are a few updates since my last IWSG post in September:
- I’m about to send out a new issue of my email newsletter. Want it? Of course you do! Drop your email in the Newsletter box on the right, and you’ll get it. You’ll also get a free short story.
- I created a new resource on this site, Books to Help You Write Better: A Writer’s Reading List. Eventually I’m going to create a new Resources for Writers tab on this site and link it there. Check it out and let me know what you think.
- I have several submissions out, including a full request from an agent (SQUEEEE!!!), and a poem and a short story entered in literary contests. Why yes, I am obsessively checking my Gmail every 1.7 seconds. Send help.
- I recorded an interview for the Mysterious Goings On podcast, which will be available on November 29. I talk about how I started a writing career later in life and how to use short stories to build a writing career. Here’s the promo image, created by the host, Alex Greenwood:
The Memery
It wouldn’t be one of my posts without another hot, fresh batch of writing memes to give you a giggle or three:
You really don’t want to look at my search history when I’m working on a new story. Really.
Ouch.
I attempted to run regularly for awhile, and I agree with that meme. Running was the one thing in my life more exhausting and frustrating than writing.
Replace “Crying” with “Mindlessly scrolling social media”, and that pie chart sums up my life pretty well.
And on that note, gotta go check my Threads. I have, like, 50 notifications.
Have you tried BlueSky or Threads? Where do you hang out on social media? (’cause I want to follow you)
20 Comments
Natalie Aguirre
Congrats on the request by the agent. Fingers crossed for you. I’m still on Twitter but am not on there much. I never have been. Threads sounds like an interesting possibility, though I’d have to join Instagram too.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I just followed you on the Site Formerly Known as Twitter. Threads really is fun.
Esther O'Neill
Hi, and thanks for the links.
The Nameless One hasn’t lost me. Several years ago, a friend messaged from her Blackberry – She was in Senegal . Painfully slow broadband and no signal here, still, and the Heath Robinson antics required to tweet somehow lacked spontaneity. Even the local birds don’t tweet or sing – ravens, buzzards, peregrines.
Social media ? None. ID fraud sent me down a burrow. How on earth do I expect anybody to find me ?
Esther
Janet Alcorn
I’m so sorry you had to deal with ID fraud. I don’t blame you for keeping a low profile after that.
Jennifer Lane
Good luck with the agent, Janet! Sounds like you’ve found social media that aligns more with your beliefs.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! And yes I have, one of those beliefs being, my day is more pleasant when people aren’t calling each other slurs and acting like jackwagons on the internet. I’m amazed every day at the things people will post for the world to see.
Jean Davis
Congrats on the full request! That’s awesome!
I’ve avoided Twitter in any form, focusing on other social platforms instead. That one just wasn’t my thing.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! It took me a long time to “get” Twitter, and when I did, I enjoyed it–till the last year or so.
emaginette
I’m not much for social media anymore. I never know what to post. I also feel like I’m shouting into the void to the point that I’ve become I’m phobic. sigh
Janet Alcorn
I get that. I’ve struggled with where to focus my limited social media time. I want to engage with people, to learn, to have interesting conversations. I used to be able to do that on Facebook where my real-life friends are (or were). Now it’s almost all ads, and most of the people who made it fun have left.
C. Lee McKenzie
Hi Janet,
Great to connect with you. I really appreciated our rundown on Threads and Blue Sky. I have a Threads account, but I haven’t put a lot of time in there yet. I’m definitely finished with X. What a catastrophe that has been. Thanks for visiting my Substack and for offering to lend a hand with my launch. I’ll get in touch. I need all the help I can get! Also huge congrats on the agent response.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I’m still hanging around on X-Twitter b/c of a few people whose content I enjoy and who don’t appear to be on another platform.
Reach out whenever you’re ready. Good luck!
S.E. White
Congrats on the full request! And good luck with your submissions.
Ironically enough, Chuck Wendig is the reason I have my own website and try to stick with it as an author. He wrote a post (pre-egomaniac-X-dismantling) with his take on blogs/websites and why they’re valuable and my main takeaway from his post was that it’s valuable to have your own internet space which you know you can rely on, because the big ones are owned by other people who don’t have your interests in mind and can shatter your carefully constructed platform back to kindling any time. Kinda prophetic, given what we know now.
Anyway, thank you so much. Your review of Threads and BlueSky is enough to convince me to finally jump in and try Threads. I’ll look for you!
Janet Alcorn
I’ve heard that advice from quite a few people, and it’s solid. Have a website and a newsletter, because you control those. First Facebook de-emphasized content from pages and now X-Twitter is imploding. So many people invested lots of time and energy into building platform and community on those sites, only to be left with almost nothing.
Alex J. Cavanaugh
I’ve heard a lot about Threads but haven’t joined. Will check out Bluesky as well. Thanks!
Janet Alcorn
I hope you like them!
Jemi Fraser
Yay for the full request!!! Good luck!
I’m shrinking my social media instead of growing it. It’s so time consuming and I’m not a social enough being – I’d rather play with the words 🙂
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I’m looking for one or two places on social media to focus on, because I’m spread way too thin.
Elizabeth Seckman
I didn’t like twitter even when it was twitter. It’s always been my least favorite platform. It feels so chaotic, so I’ll stick with Facebook/Meta. 🙂
Good luck with your submission. How exciting! Also love the book list. Great idea!
Janet Alcorn
Thanks!