For three years, I have been writing on Magdeburgerjoe.com and its sister site, Rudistettner.com. Back in November, I launched GlobeTribune.Info, a news site with a more "newsy", professional and less personal layout.
One bit of advice I got from James Johnson over at Indyposted.com is that there is a great deal of value to social networking. At my own cost, I ignored his advice for a long time, preferring to concentrate solely on writing. I was persuaded by one of my children to follow his advice. I therefore opened up a Facebook page under my professional name of Rudi Stettner. Since opening it up, I have sent out invitations to be friends on Facebook to people whose interests might overlap those on GlobeTribune.Info. There is a Jewish component to my audience, a political section and a world music section, to mention a few interest groups that I touch on. I send out friend requests on this basis.
I run my Rudi Stettner Facebook page as a way to keep people up to date on my articles. I am promoting myself as a writer. Anything that is related to my professional persona is what I put on my Facebook page. I may in the future have a Facebook page under my private name. My wife and children keep me up to date with family news and pictures, so at the present time this is really not necessary.
Aside from promoting myself as a writer, the only things I'm selling are my political views and the (so far) small ad revenues I get when people click on Google Ads on my site. My dream is that some day, someone will buy a 60 million dollar mansion through a Google ad on my site. So far that has not happened.
The biggest pleasure of writing on my sites is touching the lives of strangers who I will most likely never meet. Even on a day when I only get a handful of "hits" I get a rush from seeing that someone in Senegal, Croatia or Vietnam has taken the time to read my articles. This gives me the feeling that a common person can reach around the world and put his or her ideas out for consideration. It is a phenomenon unique to our age.
Any time I send a "friend" request as Rudi Stettner, it is in my capacity as a writer. It is important to make this known. Being a married grandfather, I like to make sure this is understood. When I was young, asking someone to be your friend meant exactly that,or sometimes a little more. Any guy my age who went up to a girl young enough to be his daughter and asked her to be his friend was a dirty old man. There is plenty of strangeness out on the internet. If I get an e mail saying "Who r u?? or something like that, I will identify myself and include the url to this article. I'd rather be writing articles, or shopping for a new topic.
That is another valuable side to Facebook. People put up articles, videos and other items that jump start my creativity. I have a quota for articles. The less time I spend looking for a topic, the quicker I can get to work on my daily quota.
I hope this explains the "Rudi Stettner" Facebook page to friends and family who wonder why I am not more chatty, and to strangers who wonder who I am.
PS The picture on my Facebook is of Emperor Franz Joszef II. It is not my picture. I look like a walrus with a mustache.
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