So...tsū...
It's a new social media website, sort of like Facebook with mint green borders. And right there you want to stop me, don't you? You want to ask, "Oh Liv, why would I want to join another social media site?"
Why would you?
Honestly, I didn't want to. I would love it if I could just hang out on Facebook and Twitter and get to know readers and other writers and talk about my dog or my kids and sometimes tell them about my writing projects. I probably still will, but Facebook is threatening to change the rules (again), which may limit what I can say.
So...tsū...
I joined about a week ago, and have so far connected with people I knew from FB and twitter, but also with people that I didn't know, that I'm getting to know, which is cool. So far my stream has skewed heavily toward book promotions, but I'm hoping that'll even out some, and allow for more actual communication. So far, I'm having fun, and I've earned $0.21 for my trouble.
I mean, who doesn't want to get paid for using social media? That's one of the main differences between tsū and Facebook. The ads on tsū are blatant, taking up the right sidebar, and don't appear to be slanted at all to my interests. Which is kind of a relief. Sometimes FB can feel a little stalkerish, the way ads for shoes show up ten minutes after you looked at a pair of shoes in a different browser. But the way tsū works - and I might be a little Pollyanna here - is they earn revenue from advertisers, then give some of it back to the users who are providing and interacting with the website's content.
As an interface, I've found it more intuitive than Google+ and a helluva lot easier to use than Ello (which, jeebus, I'll never be that hip). It's similar to twitter, in that you can organize your content by hashtags, but less abstract because you can write in complete sentences, since you're not limited to 140 characters. There are no minions behind the scenes, organizing your stream by what they think you want to see (ahem, Facebook), so if you miss someone's post, you have to go to their page to find it. Also, tsū doesn't have the ability to form groups, though there's a push among members to get the developers to add that feature.
So...tsū...
So far, so good. There may be some deep, nefarious plot to steal my personal data or otherwise ruin things, but I like what I've seen. If you're, interested, here's a link to a how-to post by someone who has clearly drunk the cool-aide. (And I mean that in the nicest possible way.) Or if you want to join, let me know and I'll send you a code. I don't see it replacing Facebook, but I'm hopeful I'll be able to do things on tsū that Facebook won't allow.
Have fun at your holiday parties this weekend...because I know you have holiday parties this weekend. Cheers!
Liv
I plan to look into after the first of the year. Too busy now - I have heard rumblings of a pyramid scheme, but I don't know enough about it yet. I'll leave judgement until I check it out.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're enjoying and choose wisely how your spend your 21 cents ;)
Let me know what you find out, Debbie. I'm keeping my ear to the ground, too, so we'll see what happens...
ReplyDeletetsu isn't a pyramid scheme, but there ARE grumblings about how they can possibly afford to stay in business. They also make it very, very difficult to delete your account, and (apparently) any thing you post (promoting your book, promoting someone else's book, a picture of your cat wearing a Santa hat and looking like she's plotting your demise) remains property of tsu if you DO succeed in deleting your account. I don't understand the ramifications of that, nor can I tell you if that's still the case, but that alone gives me pause.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna spend more time on Tumblr. I don't have many readers on Facebook, anyway, so right now it's not such a big deal.
I recently joined instagram, and figured out I could post pictures from there to Tumblr, which is cool, and likely the only way I'll remember to post to my forlorn little Tumblr blog.
ReplyDelete;)
Or maybe I'm in need of an intervention...
I joined too, Liz. I do think it's user friendly, although I'm not sure I'm using it to the full potential. Sometimes my head wants to explode from social media overload, but I'm always up for giving anything a try!
ReplyDeleteI just heard about someone who's earned $5 from tsu - puts my $0.24 to shame. So yeah, I could do more with it, but for now, I'm happy just to lay the foundation in case FB boots me entirely. I hear what you say about overload, though. It's hard to find a balance.
ReplyDeleteI'm resisting... finding FB too much for me at the moment, and I don't really do Twitter much. WHy can't everyone just all be in the one place?
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to use Goodreads more. I think I need to get my head around that first.
Goodreads doesn't flow for me. I see people's updates (So&So rated BookX or they're friends with John Doe) but they don't lend themselves to interaction. When I join groups, it seems the threads all stretch back over years, so there's no sense that the conversation is happening in real time the way it does on FB or even twitter. I like Goodreads for helping me find things to read, but that's about it. If you change your mind about tsu, Ellen, you must let me know!
ReplyDelete