Through Lattice Windows: Tackling Twitter
"It took me a long time to get into social networking. Many blind people are connected - I know that - but it was one of those things which I shied away from, because of the exposure more than anything else. My world was quiet, contained and therefore serene without the clamour of traffic. I relished its simplicity and the lack of pressure to respond to messages.'' writes columnist and novelist Leanne Hunt.
However, something occurred in my life a couple of months ago that altered my perception. It always happens that way. You go along comfortably, thinking you are just fine the way you are, then the stakes change and you realize you're on a losing streak. For me, it was the act of self-publishing my novel. The experts say that publishing has to go hand-in-hand with promotion, and that the best way for a stay-at-home writer is to promote online. This means using every avenue open to you. Moreover, it is apparently far more effective to create a series of continuous ripples emanating from a central point than to rely on a big splash.
The answer, they say, is to use social networking media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. In fact, the manual I was reading [downloaded from the Kindle store and read out loud by the Text-to-Speech facility] recommended Twitter as the place to start because it is at once geared for news flashes and simple to use. Encouraged by this assertion, I immediately went to my laptop with a view to informing myself about the Twitter experience.
Now, my teenage daughter took exactly ten minutes to open her Twitter account and get tweeting to all her friends and connections. For me, unaccustomed as I am to appearing on the global stage in real time and without the benefit of sight, it was a much slower process. I first had to think up a user name which I could live with. That ruled out the obvious choices … Blindasabat, Alienpresence, Deeplyconflicted and Godfreak. I had to find something rather more respectable, more in keeping with my web presence as it already exists and supportive of my self-publishing goals. It took five hours … but then I came up with the perfect solution: Latticewindows!
That mountain behind me, I had next to select a suitable application for my Twitter account. The book said there were many options, depending on your personal needs. I did a Google search to find out what other blind people favoured. Well … that took another few hours because I got majorly sidetracked in the maze of blogs and articles about accessibility tools. Granted, I learnt a lot from the exercise - time spent discovering useful sites is never wasted when you're trying to develop a new skill - but eventually I went back to the Twitter site and discovered that the accessibility there is fine. It just takes a little getting used to, like everything else in the world of blindness.
So then, to the sign-up page. I am a stickler for doing it right. It is, I admit, purely a function of being petrified of doing it wrong - so my next detour was to the glossary of terms and the frequently asked questions page. I even read through all the terms, conditions and privacy provisions. As the moment drew nearer when I would finally press the Save button and commit myself to becoming, in my husband's words, a genuine Twit, I looked for more things to distract me. Who should I follow? What sort of profile should I display? What if I said something that broke a cardinal rule and the whole establishment came crashing down on my head? Would it be possible to put up my hands and say, "I'm sorry, I didn't know! I'm blind, you see …"?
No. I refuse to use that card. I'm perfectly capable of observing proper internet protocol. I doubt my teenage daughter and her friends even stopped to consider transgressing any online legislation. Taking courage from her example, I lifted my finger and depressed the enter key.
Presto! An email arrived in my box asking me to confirm my account details. Call me behind the times, but I am always amazed by the instant response that one gets from automatic message centers. I confirmed my details and landed on my home page where I was immediately told what to do next.
it's rather addictive once you start, really.
My account is bringing me much more pleasure than I initially anticipated because, by following forty or fifty really knowledgeable people, I get a constant stream of fresh links to articles in my personal field of interest. It's like having a custom-designed newspaper delivered to me every day, and I don't even have to harness up my guide dog to collect it!
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Do read Leanne's novel Roses Aren't Everything which is being serialised in Open Writing
http://www.openwriting.com/archives/roses_arent_everything/
