The power of social media

A tweet, I recently stumbled on, goes like this:

I’m more well-read as a result of social media. There’s simply no question. I’ve been guided to more information, learned more and been able to deepen my study. Just thought I’d say that today and thank those who’ve supported my continuing education.

— #Prisonculture (@prisonculture) 1 November 2018

It is so true! Through social media I am connecting with other like-minded people who help me pick interesting books I normally wouldn’t come across so easily. Thanks to social media, I’ve read Headscarves and Hymens, Daring to Drive, Woman at Point Zero, We should all be Feminists and The Story of Zahra: A Novel, to only name a few. All part of my research into feminism in the Middle East and Africa. I am hoping to share more reviews on here soon!

A writer is most likely an avid reader as well, and so it should be. I get so much inspiration out of reading books, articles, tweets and other blogs. When I was much younger, all I had was books. And I loved them, because they made me taste other worlds, experiences, love (my all-time favourite The unbearable Lightness of Being), not all necessarily realistic, but opening the gates to new words, meanings and impressions. I was so hungry back then and couldn’t wait to go travelling and start experiencing all of those things, I was reading about. And they also helped with my writing by enabling me to try, share and discuss. One of my most active times in terms of writing and developing my writing can be traced on kurzgeschichten.de (now wortkrieger.de which translates to wordwarriers.de). Mind you, it’s all in German!

So, this tweet got me thinking, and I realised I’m too perfectionist a lot of times. I go over my writing a million times, before I’ll be happy to share it. Unfortunately, that has slowed me down a lot! When I look at the writers, that I follow, they seem to be more interactive and proactive. Read, read, read and write, write, write.

It’s certainly about how you use social media. For me, it has been an educational experience. And I guess, like #prisonculture, I’d like to thank everyone, who’s been part of my educational journey so far!