Do You Tweet?

We've all heard of celebrities hiring writers to co-write or ghost write their memoirs or autobiographies.  (And as someone who has done some ghostwriting, there can be good experience and money in it for the writer!)  It's true that you don't get your byline in ghostwriting, but it's still writing experience, right?

And as blogging has become more popular, ghostwriting blogs for businesses has become a good freelancing opportunity, particularly for writers who have experience blogging.  I myself have done some ghost-blogging.

Well, apparently, social media is reaching even further the freelance industry.  For anyone who is a ghostwriter, Twitter may be the new opportunity.

According to this recent article from The New York Times: 

Twitter — a microblogging tool that uses 140 characters in bursts of text — has become an important marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online, as well as giving the public the ability to speak directly to people and institutions once comfortably on a pedestal.

But someone has to do all that writing, even if each entry is barely a sentence long. In many cases, celebrities and their handlers have turned to outside writers — ghost Twitterers, if you will — who keep fans updated on the latest twists and turns, often in the star’s own voice.

Because Twitter is seen as an intimate link between celebrities and their fans, many performers are not willing to divulge the help they use to put their thoughts into cyberspace.

This provides a unique opportunity for writers.  Ghost-blogging, I think, is a bit easier.  You can write about what's going on in the day-to-day, using information already available for the feel of what you're writing.

Tweeting, though, is more personal for many people.  It's sort of a running commentary about what's going on in the person's life throughout the day, even including direct responses to other Tweeters at an almost dizzying IM-like pace.  That can make it much more difficult to use as a freelancing opportunity.  (I think it would be a little like ghost-writing for someone in a chatroom.)

I haven't been tweeting long, but I'm starting to "get" it, I think.  I don't know that I'd ever ghost-tweet, but I see the draw for the general public, as well as for people who use it as a marketing opportunity.

If you tweet already, you've taken the first step to being able to utilize this freelance opportunity.  However, I recommend you make sure you have a strong foundation of Twitter before you offer to use your skills for others.

What freelance opportunities will social media provide for us next?

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NOTE: Do you tweet?  If so, feel free to add me!