What's Your Online Presence?

Tomorrow I'm speaking to a group of aspiring authors on the whole online presence thing-- blogging, twittering, Facebook, website. Pretty funny, isn't it, since those of you who have been following me from the beginning-- um--last June, 10 months ago--know what a novice I am online. My blogging which started out as a response from my publisher to "establish your online presence" has now morphed into what you see today, giraffe and all. As for the rest of it....

Twittering-- not interested. Maybe I should be, but I'm not and don't plan to be.

Facebook-- oh please no.

Vox-- yes. It's a smaller, cooler, wannabe Facebook that most people have never heard of. Probably why I like it.

Linkedin-- leaving that one to my husband

Myspace-- that is so 5 years ago

Website-- what you see is what you get, folks. This is it. (Well, this and my Vox blog.)

And I have to speak 30 minutes? HELP! So I turn to my good friends in blog land who probably know way more about this than I do and would no doubt be far more interesting and attractive, with better hair. Yes, I am taking a poll. Your responses on any or all of these would be oh so helpful :)

What is your online presence?

Do you think it's essential to be online as a writer, either published or not?

What have you gained from your online experience?

If you twitter or pursue any of the others (besides blogging)-- why?

Which online experiences would you most recommend?

Are there any of these you've given up for various reasons?

If you've got anything else to add, please feel free. I may even quote you! And if you have a book out, be sure to tell me the title, so I can mention that as well. Thanks for your help!