My poor puppy Max hates baths with a passion. He has an intense dislike of water and would clearly rather be outside rolling around in dirt, mud, and God only knows what else. His discomfort is not unlike how I felt toward social media six months ago. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace...I couldn't imagine using any of it. I don't really know why I felt this way. The whole concept just seemed alien to me. The closest I even cared to get to it was participating in an online community for the band Blue October. Once I decided to pursue freelance writing, a seasoned writer informed me that social media was a necessity. Every writer needed to be on Twitter. So like my dog, I immersed myself into the water, albeit the social media water and haven't looked back once. I can honestly say that it's been great and there are a lot of terrific and talented people out there to learn from. My dog still hates baths and probably always will, but I have conquered my fear of social media and I appreciate the role that is plays in supporting independent artists, writers, and musicians.
