Recently Google announced and launched its social network platform: Google+. It’s a cross-over between Facebook and Twitter and lots of people put in a word or two about it. Some like it, some don’t, some love it, some hate it. But whatever you feel, it’s there and you can’t evade it.

For me the important question was: do I genuinely need another social network to add to my visibility?

That seems an easy question. Right?

You could argue that, in order to get as much buzz around The Writer Known As Mina Witteman as possible, I should jump at Google+. Eventually, Google+ will lure in public from Facebook, just like the Zuckerberg trap lured in public from MySpace and Hyves. It will, no doubt, lure in others, readers who have so far successfully resisted the temptations of online presence. Users of social network platforms are potential readers and — I won’t beat around the bush — could be the future buyers of my books.

The downside is that engaging in another social network venture will take up precious writing time. It’s another lure away from my Work In Progress, The Weed Man, which is coming along fine. Do I really need to divide my time between my blog, Twitter, Facebook and Google+? I circled around this for times, staring at the Google+ invite, clicking it away, trashing it, but rescuing it right back from the bin.

And in the end I accepted the invite. Since the public relations and marketing challenge is no longer a task of the publisher, but a joint effort of author, agent and publisher, I need to pitch in. So here I am… On Google+

Find me. 🙂