Hey, work is work. And it prevents Britney Spears from tweeting about how cute it is her kids are playing in old refrigerators. “We’re recycling, y’all!”

According to the New York Times, writers are being hired by the famous to update blogs and social networks for them, too.

But don’t knock it. It may be that Twitter is actually good writing practice. Poetry is the art of packing meaning into a few carefully selected words. On Twitter you’ve got 140 characters to say something that counts. On Facebook, 160. Web 2.0 could produce the next Hemingway.

That’s not so weird. People are already publishing Twitter novels. Stories told 140 characters at a time. Of course, the reader has to follow in real time. Otherwise the story just comes out backwards.

So, tweet on, fellow wordsmiths. Call it an exercise in concision.

This is the 21st Century and anyway that’s just mean. That’s why you gotta love a resource like Duotrope Digest—like all good things, the site relies on donations. Google can’t really define “duotrope” as a word, and it sound a bit like swallowing, but this online digest/resource is seriously useful for writers wanting to get published.

Duotrope is a database fiction and poetry writers can search to find not just publishers, but descriptions, pay scales, length requirements, genres, and awards. They even keep track of acceptance/rejection rates, average response time, whether simultaneous submissions are okay, et cetera. Pretty much all the questions an aspiring literary type would want to know.

Anyway, beats hurting your eyes and wasting highlighter ink right?

In accordance with my last post, I had decided to make a follow-up of the first Twitter review I wrote. I’ve been invited to join Twitter many times during the year before. I must admit, I had resisted jumping on the bandwagon at first. It wasn’t long before everybody was talking about it and I just HAD to join. As mentioned before, when adding friends in Twitter, you’d be “Following” them. If anyone else adds you back on the other hand, they’d be your “Followers.” Simple enough isn’t it? The beauty of Twitter is that the page shows what you say as soon as you hit “update.” It’s definitely better than, say, mass emailing your contacts when you have something to say. Here are some observations which could help you start out.

1. The probability of being added back by someone you add to your “Following” list is not always high.

Twitter is a place wherein people can communicate in real time. If you add anyone who adds you back, who’s to tell it isn’t a stalker or a hater who’s come to hang on to your every word so they could blackmail you with it later? If the people you add are people from your niche and you’re a fairly recognizable persona, that’s a different matter. But if you’re an unknown, randomly adding people to your Twitter list won’t ensure you get added back. As a tip, make sure you’re an active comment poster in one’s blog, for example. You could also participate in Twitter profile exchanges to pad your Followers list.

2. People who know each other tend to go into conversations.

Don’t be afraid to jump in. When people on the list you’re following know each other, chances are they’ll get into conversations within Twitter. Don’t be a wallflower and jump in. Offer your insights, be friendly. Communicate and mingle.

3. Including links to your posts in convos could bring in traffic.

Of course, one of the main reasons to use Twitter in the first place is to network and promote your blogs. Hence, include links to your posts on your updates. If you’ve managed to build up a substantial number of followers, you can update them on what currently writing about in real time. You can even ask for their reactions or if they have information they want to share with you and even conduct real-time polls.

4. Updating often is best.

Don’t allow people to forget your presence. Update often during the course of the entire day. I’m not saying you should update your Followers even on bathroom breaks, but if it’s interesting and shows your true character which you think your Followers would find appealing, then do so.

5. Pictures definitely help.

All updates on Twitters would be read in a mish-mash of text. Pictures or avatars really help make you stand out from the crowd so that people know which ones are your updates. It’s a part of branding. If you’re easily recognizable, you tend to be remembered. Just think of advertisements. If you see a particular commercial several times within one day for a few days, you’d know what commercial it is on its first second. If you don’t want to use a pic of yourself, use a caricature or a drawing like I did as you can see on the picture above.

1. When you add people to your friends’ list, there is a potential to add you back.

When you decide to Stumble, search for the categories of your niche, find people who are active within those categories and add them to your list of friends. Not all of them will add you back on one go. But in time and if you’re on the right track, they will. How do you know you’re on the right track, you say?

Simple. First, make sure you’re Stumbling posts worth reading. If there’s such a thing as quality posts, there’s also something called “quality Stumbles.” Posts worth reading are usually well-researched in-depth articles, breaking news, funny stories, head-turning facts and anything similar.

2. Don’t forget to use StumbleUpon Photoblog.

When you begin Stumbling articles, you’ll find that you have the option of Stumbling photos too. These photos would appear on your StumbleUpon Home page. It serves as an icebreaker, sort of a reprieve from the monotony text on the page. It also has the potential to catch people’s eyes if their only intention, initially, was to skim through your Stumbles. See below pic for reference.

3. You can’t only Stumble your web site.

They’ll block your URL if you only Stumble your own. Make sure to Stumble other pages in your niche too. One way to take advantage of this is to Stumble pages and web sites which link back to you. That way, you’re still driving people to your web site albeit in an indirect manner

4. Reviews mean a lot.

When you Stumble pages, you’re given the option to leave a review. Reviews are greatly appreciated by people who view your StumbleUpon home page. They’ll want to read what you think about a certain issue.

5. Stumble other people’s stumbles.

Go through other people’s Stumble and as long as they’re in your niche, the probability of them stumbling your Stumbles back is quite high.

6. Update regularly.

Make sure you Stumble web pages at least once a day. Don’t let your home page die. You need to build your network of SU contacts and the only way to do that is to constantly update so people would find you.

These are my initial observations about StumbleUpon. So far, I’ve only stumbled short new articles. I’m planning on doing an experiment on Stumbling linkbait and see how much traffic SU brings me. I will update here, of course, on how it goes.

Let’s Start with StumbleUpon

To make use of StumbleUpon, like all other membership-based communities, you need to sign-up. You will then be required to download the StumbleUpon toolbar for either Firefox or Internet Explorer. I had to start using Firefox again (I’ve been using Opera since last year) ever since I decided to become active in StumbleUpon. Anyhow, upon installation, you would have an extra Firefox toolbar, which would look something like this:

The toolbar is quite easy to navigate and sufficiently self-explanatory. Whenever you come across something you like, simply click the “thumbs up” button while on that page. A pop-up window will show:

You will be prompted to input a review as well as the tags for the article. Then you can submit your link. You can also Stumble pictures as well as videos if you prefer. When you’ve stumbled quite a few links, StumbleUpon will determine the topics you’re interested in, depending on the tags you use. Everything you click the “Stumble” button on the toolbar as seen on the second pic, you will be forwarded to a relevant page. It means you can find web sites in your niche and at the same time, others can find yours.

When you sign in, you’ll find a user panel like the one above. Every link, picture and video you Stumble will show up on the panel. Now you can start using StumbleUpon to your advantage.

1. Upload a Picture

Every time you leave a review on someone’s stumbled page your avatar is shown. This is another chance at branding. Upload a pic you use everywhere or an artwork, icon or computer manipulated image you’re best known for or would like to be known for.

2. Find People of Similar Interest

When you click on the “People” tab of the user panel, you can find a list of StumbleUpon users. You can search people and then add them as a friend afterwards. You can also send invites to the people in your address contacts lists if you want.

3. Participate in Discussions

Leave reviews on others’ Stumbled pages to entice them to leave reviews on yours.