by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Yikes. I saw a literary agent on Twitter stress in no-uncertain terms that not only do literary agents look at people’s social media output…but they expect aspiring novelists to conduct themselves in a “professional” manner.
OH MY FUCKING GOD AM I IN TROUBLE.
I’m a kook, a drunk crank even, on social media. I am generally cordial and well meaning, but I am known to get really drunk and rant in a very “unprofessional” manner about how much I fucking hate MAGA. Or I retweet pictures of hot chicks. Or say “fuck” a lot.
I just can’t help who I am on that front. I long ago realized that the “professional” conduct life isn’t for me. I wear my heart on my sleeve and if something bothers me, you’re going to know about it one way or another. I suppose there are things I can do to “mitigate” this particular situation, but the Internet never forgets so any attempt to obscure my general wide-open nature on social media will only be so successful.
I don’t even know what being “professional” on social media even means. What’s the point of being on “social” media, if you can’t be “social” in how you use it.
All I can conclude is, in the end, “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
