Less than a week after declaring to a friend (for the final time, as it turned out) that I saw Twitter as one more datastream than I could handle — well, I’m now on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/Bartography

Why? Because of context — or the lack thereof. I’m typically a slow writer and slow blogger, and what slows me down more than anything is my need to put things into context, like I’m doing right now.

But Twitter’s 140-character maximum makes context not just unnecessary but impossible. So as observations and announcements and news and other information come along — such as my agent’s new website — I can get them into circulation much more quickly and frequently, and follow up them here later.

I’d wondered how I would possibly juggle my presence on Twitter, this blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, and my email newsletter without them feeling redundant to others or overwhelming to myself, but it all seems obvious now:

Twitter: For me, this is a forum solely for matters relating to children’s/YA literature. And given how broadly that can be defined, isn’t that plenty?
Facebook: This is a more personal space, though not that much more personal, and with less emphasis on my literary life, though not that much less.
LinkedIn: Here, I’m all business, though much more for connecting with folks than for updating them on my doings.
Bartography Express: This is for anybody who can easily get their fill of me in a bimonthly newsletter. If that’s you, please sign up on my home page.
Bartography: I expect to use this blog for the same sorts of posts and with the same frequency as you’ve seen here recently. Context included.