How to Twitter Part 1: 4 Myths and Realities

How to Twitter Part 1 is the first of a three post series on how I understand and use Twitter. Twitter is a powerful social networking tool that allows users to spread information quickly and widely in succinct, 140 character conversations. It is an important tool to master and one I misunderstood until recently.

This first post will focus on myths and realities about how to use Twitter. The second will open a discussion on why historians (especially independent historians) should use Twitter. The third post will discuss how you can get started with Twitter.

I began using Twitter about eighteen months ago after I heard other historians talk about how they used it at the AHA 2012 THATCamp. I loved the idea of using Twitter to meet and converse with other historians. However within a few days of creating my account, I became overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information on Twitter and within a few weeks I stopped using it. The source of my frustration: I did not really understand how to use Twitter.

Recently, I attended a workshop on how to Twitter. For three hours, Lauren MacLeod (@bostonbookgirl) walked me and other writers through Twitter and dispelled the misconceptions we had formed about using it

Myth #1: You have to Follow and Keep Up with Every Twitter Conversation

Reality: Twitter is an information blitz. You cannot keep up with every conversation. The best you can do is check in periodically and add your two cents.

Myth #2: Using Twitter Takes Up Too Much Time

Reality: Using Twitter takes only the amount of time you let it. You can Twitter in as little as 10 to 20 minutes per day. I spread out my daily 10-20 minutes to check Twitter at 2 or 3 different times.

Myth #3: Twitter is Disorganized and Hard to Use

Reality: Twitter Lists organize Twitter conversations into user-friendly categories. You can set up lists around hashtags, such as #twitterstorians, or customize them by topic. I have lists organized around friends and family, historians, writers, archives, presses and publishing, digital humanities, Boston news and events, Boston sports, and product news. When I check-in I simply click on my lists and scroll down to peruse what people are tweeting about.

Incidentally, I use Twitter apps such as Janetter on my Mac and Tweetcaster on my iDevices. I have found them easier to use than Twitter as I prefer to follow Twitter using lists; in my opinion their list browsing functionality is better and easier to use.

Myth #4: Twitter is Only for Work OR Personal Use

Reality: You can use Twitter for both. Recent studies have shown that the social media works best when you tweet a mixture of work and personal news. Your followers like to know who you are by learning about your other interests and activities.

With that said, your Twitter profile and tweets are highly Googleable. Therefore, you should decide how you want to represent yourself on Twitter before you tweet. What is your primary purpose for being on Twitter? Professional networking? Or, personal pleasure? Most of your tweets should concern your primary purpose.

My primary purpose on Twitter is professional. With that said, I am also a Boston sports fan and I use Twitter to converse with other fans. I tweet history by day and sports by night.

A Happy Twitter Ending

Now that I understand how to use Twitter I am having a lot of fun with it. The historians, writers, and publishers I have met and follow are very nice and helpful; they always draw my attention to articles, blog posts, books, events, and facts that I might have missed. They are also generous with their time. @OUPAcademic recommended sources on early American diplomacy after I asked if they had similar titles to [amazon_link id="0199640351" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]Remaking the British Atlantic[/amazon_link] by P.J. Marshall. And, several historians responded when I queried about peace talks between the United States and Great Britain prior to 1782.

What Do You Think?

I would love to know more about how you use Twitter and about the great hashtags and people you follow. Please leave a comment if you have suggestions or send me a tweet @lizcovart.

History Jobs: Freelance Writing for the Journal of the Early Americas

Please Note that this publication is no longer in print. It ended its run in January 2015.

Today's post is the first in my new History Jobs series. History Jobs posts will be dedicated to exploring ways historians can earn money using their research, writing, and analytical skills. Posts in this series will appear at least once a month.

Freelance writing opportunities offer historians 2 different options for making money. Option 1: Historians write articles on topics of their choice and sell them to media outlets. Option 2: Historians sell their writing skills to companies who need a piece written on a specific topic. Freelance opportunities for good writers abound and throughout the History Jobs series I will cover where to find them and how to make them work for you.

Historians who write about (or wish to write about) topics in early North and South American history will find a freelance opportunity at the Journal of Early Americas. The Library Journal selected Journal of the Early Americas as one of the best new magazines in 2011. The Journal bills itself as "the premier publication of the discerning history enthusiast and re-enactor portraying the Americas from 1521 to 1848."As such, Journal of the Early Americas strives to provide its readers with high-quality content. Well-researched articles written for a non-academic audience serve as the cornerstone of that high-quality content.

The Journal seeks articles in the range of 500 to 2000 words. Authors should cite their research in endnotes using the Chicago Manual style. Presently, the Journal pays $50 per article.

Historians interested in submitting articles to the Journal of the Early Americas should visit their writers information page.

If you know of other freelance opportunities for historians that you have either tried or would like to know more about, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Why Join a Professional Historical Association?

Being a historian can be expensive. In addition to all the costs we shoulder (research trips, journals, books, reproduction fees, computers, software, etc.), we must decide whether to spend money on memberships to professional historical associations. If you can swing it, I believe you should join at least two professional historical associations: the American Historical Association (AHA) and the primary organization for your specific historical field.  

Why join the AHA? 

The American Historical Association is the organization for our guild, even if you work outside of academia. The organization advocates for government funding for archives and historical research, and it keeps tabs on legislation that has the potential to either benefit or hinder our work. Basically, they focus on and monitor potentially important issues so we can concentrate on our historical pursuits.

The AHA also facilitates the largest discussion forum for issues relating to the profession. Non-Academic historians should particularly care about this work as one of the organization's main conversations is about how to dissolve the gap between academic and non-academic historians.

Aside from this advocacy work, I find that the AHA has 3 practical benefits that makes membership worth the cost:

1. Subscription to Perspectives on History: AHA's publication about the guild, Perspectives provides short, concise articles about technology and software that can improve our productivity, how other historians work and teach, happenings we should be aware of, and updates on the organization's advocacy work.

2. Fellowship and Prize Board: Historians need fellowships and the AHA makes it easy to search for them on their website and, as the association for the guild, most prize-granting organizations advertise through them.

3. Reduced Admission to the Annual Conference: The annual conference focuses on the profession not a specialty. The conference features many networking opportunities, panels where historians from different fields make connections across time and place, and a plethora of panels that discuss methods to improve the way we work or techniques we can use to market ourselves to potential employers. Read Kenneth Pomeranz's Perspectives article for more on why the AHA offers a great conference.

Why Join an Organization for Your Specialty?

Specialty-focused organizations provide journals and annual conferences that keep their members abreast of the work and conversations going on among historians of the same sub-field. Membership in these organizations is particularly important for non-academic historians as we work apart from the scholars who drive the historiography. As it becomes more difficult for historians to formally publish their work, especially for those of us who lack institutional affiliation, we must keep abreast of the conversations in our field so we can keep our work relevant and know how to pitch ourselves to editors.

Leaving the Academy: How To Become an Independent Historian

Do I want to be an academic historian? I began having doubts about my career path during my last three years in graduate school. I had applied to grad school to become professionally-trained version of David McCullough. However, in my first quarter I replaced that goal with a desire for an academic career. No one forced this ambition on me per se, but my seminars, department workshops, and training were all geared towards preparing me for a tenure-track job. After imbibing on this academic dream for seven years, I found it difficult to confront the fact that I did not want to be a traditional academic. At first, I pushed my doubts from my mind by focusing on my dissertation. As my dissertation neared completion, I turned my attention to academic job applications. I told myself that getting a job would vanquish my fears about an academic career. Last year, I opened rejection letters and e-mails from nearly every university I had applied to. Even the two campus interviews I went on did not pan out. Through it all I remained surprisingly upbeat. Rejection, my positive attitude, and a job opportunity for my partner in Boston made me address the fact that I was pursuing an academic job for all the wrong reasons.

It took me over a year to admit that I really wanted a non-academic career. With all of its promises for intellectual stimulation, I found my decision to leave the academy a hard pill to swallow. Moreover, I want to be a historian. I yearn to produce original, high-quality scholarship that will be accessible to a broad audience. I also desire the opportunity to earn the respect of my academic peers. Although all are lofty goals, the latter will be the most difficult to achieve; many academic historians shun outsiders and view non-tenured or non-tenure-track historians as amateurs little deserving of their time. Still, I am up for the challenge.

Presently, I am working as an independent historian. I am revising my dissertation into a book, writing articles for academic journals and popular history magazines, and working to improve my writing and editing skills. I plan to use this blog as a forum: a place to share my successes and failures in figuring out ways to get paid for my work, methods for getting around the various barriers that come with being unaffiliated with an academic institution, my passion for history, and any tools and/or techniques that improve or hamper my ability to research and write.