Social Media Waiting to Inspire Us

The power of a name can draw a pretty big crowd, especially when it applies to social media.  Take James Franco, for example: He signed up for a Twitter account and within twenty-four hours had more than 700,000 followers (I know -- I was one of 'em).

In the age where celebrities are twitterin' away at any given moment, we're somewhat immune to the 'awe' we first felt when we had such a personal connection.  In fact, I've already severed most of my celebrity tweetin' connections (tired of the same ol' talk) and most Facebook pages seem to be the same as web sites -- translation: managed by someone else.

But there's still room for a little star power on the world wide web, and I've recently experienced two finds that sent my heart a'flutterin.'

A few weeks ago I discovered that one of my favorite authors Joshilyn Jackson (Gods in Alabama, Between, Georgia, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming) not only has her web site, but a blog!  As a wanna-be-published writer I find her stories about choosing the cover design (or lack of input) fascinating.  I'm amazed at her stories of normal life, because she truly seems to have a "My kids and I are sick with the flu"-kind of normal life.  When I hear her talk at a writer's conference next month (one I'm attending simply for that reason) I'll have stars in my eyes.

The second find came Friday night while reading the newest book of poems by Alice Walker.  In the back of the book I found the usual blurb about Walker and her life, etc. etc., but it also mentioned her redesigned web site.  So of course I pick up my Mac, type in the address, and have an oh-my-lord-alice-walker-has-a-blog exhilarated squeal, which made my husband look at me in all sorts of strange ways.

But it's Alice Walker.  Alice Walker!  The woman who wrote The Color Purple and who I studied in high school and college English classes.  A Pulitzer Prize winner who my daughter will study, and her children's children, as well.  This incredible woman -- already an icon -- has a blog that reveals a side of herself that we would never glimpse in her books, no matter how introspective.

If you're not impressed, I don't think we can be friends.

So I guess the moral to my story is this:  With all the crap that's beginning to infiltrate our social media bubble, there are always the oh-my-lord-alice-walker-has-a-blog discoveries waiting to inspire us.

p.s. If you've had one already, I'd love to hear about it! Tweet