Are you letting social media 'leak" into your novel? http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715 Hello, Dollface This applies mostly to novels that are taking place in modern times (although I suppose other dimensions could have Twitter too!) I'm torn. I want to keep my novel relatively "timeless", I don't want to mention any television shows or pop culture that will set it in a specific year. I don't <em>really</em> want my characters tweeting, updating their status, etc. I don't want the crime in my plot to be solved by sending photos via text, I'd rather go the old-fashioned route. However, I do have a few young people as main characters and I feel like it will just come up eventually and be completely out of my control! I'm not ambitious enough to set my novel in a completely different era, so it will inevitably have a modern feel. So, my question to you: Are you going to be having your characters talk about their various social media profiles (maybe starting your romance via a "poke"), or are you keeping Zuckerberg and friends out of it altogether? Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:04:05 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_43870 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_43870 Lady_Indis_Dress Last year's (and the previous year's) NaNo had a reference to a character's favorite social media site, but didn't use a name. That's the closest I've done. This year I'm writing Historical Fiction so there will be no characters Googling, Tweeting, or playing Farmville. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:17:24 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_45445 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_45445 thegrouch314 Nope My novel could be set at any point in the past 20 years or so, and that's the way I want to keep it. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:46:51 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_47375 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_47375 Olivia44 Well, I'll be referring a lot to TV / movies, music, books and what's happening in the world or happened in previous years (the story's set 2011)... but not to social networks, twitter and such stuff. I'm not doing any of it and so couldn't convincingly portray anyone using those media. Guess the most modern digital medium I'll use is Skype, as my MMC and FMC communicate via it. They're leading a long-distance relationship with him being in New York and she in Munich. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 07:50:43 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_49660 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_49660 sushimustwrite One of my novels is set in the Renaissance, so there won't be any social media there. As for the others, who knows? I struggle with this question all the time. So many situations are solved so quickly when these technologies are introduced, and what if these technologies aren't as popular in a few years? Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:29:40 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_50100 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_50100 Drenmar Amyril Though my novel this year is taking place in modern day (more or less), the timeline diverts from ours a few years ago (don't have a firm date for that yet), and given the state of things, social media really won't be an issue. ...which is just as well, since I'm not a user of "social media" sites myself anyway... Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:40:41 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_50221 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_50221 Nightingaleprincess1 I personally am going to be having the modern stuff in my novel, mainly because it is set in current times and involves a girl meeting her fiance when he stole her friend's phone during a track meet in high-school and started texting her. Then he friends her on facebook and it takes them a year of facebook communication before they actually meet in real life. Though I suggest that you do whatever you think is best. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:32:42 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_51666 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_51666 Lufia_Metallium This year, yes. The way the MC meets up with the antagonist is via social media, and that's how they communicate for at least the beginning of the story, as the antagonist starts out overseas, and only comes into the story physically at a later point. I probably won't give the site a name, though, or just say "online forums" or "online networking" or something to that effect, so it won't date the story too much. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:33:53 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_51686 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_51686 lennyathena My novel actually revolves really heavily around social media... for example, the main change comes about through a smartphone app, and I'm planning a few interludes where my MC blogs. Then again, it's set in the 25th century, so I expect social media will be quite different from how it is today. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:10:07 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_52201 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_52201 slrphebos My stories are considered contemp, but most of them can fit anywhere from the early 90s until now. There is references to internet, cell phones (calls and texts), cable TV, laptops, and computers in general. Nothing more narrows down time really. It's better that way to avoid major time milestones unless books are meant to be dated. How much fun can I really have with a character updating their facebook status or twitter? Not a whole lot. Besides who wants to chance a chance of being sued for using a name in a story? Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:49:02 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_54696 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_54696 Lobster Telephone My novel's set in 1974 so no facebookling and tweeting for my characters. And most of it takes place in another world anyways. Which means I get to think up terrible tv shows and books and brand names that don't exist. I love that. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:54:40 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_56269 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_56269 Hello, Dollface Whew, social media 400 years from now is a scary/intriguing thought! I can't even wrap my brain around what sorts of gadgets people might be using. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 22:12:37 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_56407 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_56407 star.girl My novel is modern, and I really hadn't thought about it until now. I agree that the use of social media (unless critical to the plot, like in Nightingaleprincess1's story) can date a story in a negative way. I mean, if someone writing a few years ago had their teenage characters using MySpace, that would seem out of date even today. I think technology is a good idea -- that is, use email and IM and video chat -- but keep specific names out of it because those will be what dates your novel (Yahoo, Skype, Facebook, etc.). Sat, 15 Oct 2011 04:24:30 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_60340 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_60340 FamilyFriendlyComedy This is a good way to explain how I see it - my novel revolves around humorous misinterpretation of a typo, but except for blogs and vlogs there isn't a whole lot of mention. There will be hints that people are using it a lot when it comes to the bloopers at hand, but I think it could take place anytime after YouTube came into being. Or, at the least, webcams. Then again, that's 15 years right there. So, it's as timeless as it can be. While Much less plausible, it is still possible that it could have taken place before; there would just have to be a series of bizarre mistakes that aren't caught. I think comedy could go eitehr way, but there are probably some where it would be hard to keep reader attention without social networking; Young Adult, for instance, it plays a huge part in the background my luu.com book "Discovering Grace," for isntance. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 05:45:43 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_61435 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_61435 reading-obsession Even though the book is set in modern times, I doubt it, because I'm planning on an action packed book. I don't think my MMC is going to have time to update his status on Facebook while dodging authorities. xD Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:02:04 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_68007 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_68007 SheaKoshan I've found recently that my stories are starting to get dated because I've been leaving technology out of them and have been asked by my editing group why they didn't just call people on their cell phones. I think the inclusion of Facebook and Twitter would be fine, so long as you don't talk too much about the layouts or features of it to make the dating too specific. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 22:28:06 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_69027 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_69027 Grace_McConachie IMO, social media is pretty much inescapable if you're writing about modern times. I don't plan to make it a huge part of my novel, but I am tentatively planning for it to have a large part in the resolution of a problem my MC has to solve. I haven't invented any friends for her yet, but I suppose I'll have to - she's a recent college grad and will have people texting her, if nothing else. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 02:19:16 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_71258 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_71258 FamilyFriendlyComedy Good point, with that book I mentioned on lulu.com (there, changed typo :-) I don't say how they text - it could be any of a number of devices. And, an older one I wrote for YA in 2002 I *think* has e-mail, I'm not sure, but doesn't have much need of it. However, I think it's almost impossible, as I said, with some things *not* to have it dated. We are in the middle of a massive cultural change, IMO, and I think it's impossible to truly call something "timeless" anymore if we only look at the outward parts. I think timelessness has to do more with whether it's about human nature and all those things that go into human interactions. "Tale of Two cities," for isntance, is set with specific years mentioned at times, but it's still a timeless classic on many levels. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 02:26:00 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_71349 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_71349 EssephVee Last year I did go heavy on social media-- the three MCs were bloggers. I had thought through this then, and my conclusion was that a novel only appears dated for a short time- then it is simply set in a certain era. If the story is strong, the historical references only add color and authenticity to that. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 02:56:49 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_71744 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_71744 AsYouKnowBob I am writing a story that is in modern times, so yeah. E-mail, chat, forums; it's part of my daily living, so it's part of my modern literary world, too. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:32:46 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_79413 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_79413 chowchowgrl This is always a hard choice, keeping the story universal or limiting it with exciting details that reflect the times. This year I'm using Facebook as part of the storyline, but only because it's a communication method used by the organization in the novel. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:58:24 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_80863 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=1#forum_thread_comment_80863 Silhouette. Absolutely not-- but not because I'm against it. There's just no place for it in my novel. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:57:40 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_81240 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_81240 phoenix.spice I'm going to let it leak in, but the only major role it will play is things like "Who is texting you at 3 am?" and the depressed MC listening to his iPod, and when everybody gets the flu and goes on a Twilight Zone marathon. And I don't think Netflix quite counts as social networking. Other than that, things like Twitter and Facebook are going to stay on the internet and away from my novel. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:10:04 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_93511 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_93511 emshorton yeah, mine is set specifically this April, so I don't think it would be realistic of me to make no mention of FB/twitter whatsoever. I'm going to keep it low key though, I think unless it was key to the plot that would make it a bit gimmicky. I know it will date my novel, but I want to try and capture a specific time and put people in it so that'll date it anyway. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 05:27:24 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_99707 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_99707 spottedleaf1995 My novel is about modern day teens, and Skype has already made it's appearance in my pre-plan. I think it's impossible to write a novel set in modern-day without modern-day things. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:08:28 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_101243 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_101243 DesireeM81 Thankfully I mostly write Dystopias so most of the time social media is irrelevant. However, my most recent book and my NaNo 11 novel, is set in a world close to ours. I made a Coke Cola joke about a few hundred words ago and I have a feeling that social media will be in there some time son. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:09:54 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_102684 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_102684 21stcenturybreakdown Mine's urban fantasy, but my main character isn't going to be a social networker at all. I don't know about her aunt, she's a clothes designer, so maybe. The younger cousin, possibly. Not the brother or older cousin. So no, not really. I don't see the point in tweeting 'i had dinner' or updating your facebook status to 'OMG! it's raining!!' I mean, look out of the window! Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:47:01 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_109364 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_109364 21stcenturybreakdown Referring to earlier quote: she's going to have an iPod and phone, sure, but she's not a texting fiend, loves her iPod and I might have her check her email a couple of times. Maybe. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:48:49 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_109386 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_109386 GenevieveThursday I'm writing a story set in high school so I'm going to have them talk about the school paper, but it's going to be an online paper/blog. I know that my high school switched to a all web based paper the year after I left (I graduated in '06). I'll probably make references to social networking sites but not use names. I laugh when I read a book that talks about the characters on Myspace or Friendster. Social networking sites are going to be here forever, just the names will change. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:45:38 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_121865 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_121865 Calimie If you are afraid that mentioning Facebook now will date the novel in years to come, you make up your own name for it. Using a "network site" feels cold and nobody talks like that but saying "I uploaded a pic to Share and Susan PM'd me saying she recognized the man as the one she saw that day". In any case, if the novel is interesting it will stand on its own and no one will blink if you have someone using Twitter. In Dracula, Stoker loved new technologies and had his characters using typewriters and phonographs along with letters, diaries and newspapers. If he wrote nowadays, his characters would have used smartphones. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:16:06 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_127431 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_127431 ashleydolphin18 I kind of have to since my novel is set 15 years into the future... Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:55:10 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_128026 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_128026 WileJ I sincerely hope mine doesn't have this problem considering it's set in the late 1800s, but given the progressive nature in the intent of the piece, I wouldn't be surprised if I accidentally made up some sort of social media to fit the time. If I was writing something more modern, which I've certainly done, social media actually hasn't come up in the story at all, probably because I keep purposely isolating my characters in a way that having a media presence could severely disrupt that actual plot. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:02:24 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_132722 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_132722 Stardust17 Yup, my story gets started with an accidentally viral YouTube video, and websites later play into the story a lot. So my characters will probably Google, Facebook, and tweet with the best of them. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:51:13 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_135430 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_135430 braids I don't like to include too much pop culture that in years to come will really date my writing, especially where social media is concerned. With the way media online evolves, in the years to come FB will be forgotten for some other shiny new social media platform--I mean, look what happened to Myspace... My characters emailing, chatting, blogging and using forums are things I would include, but I'd never mention them using Facebook and the like by name. I like to keep it general. My novel this year has pretty much no social media at all, except my MCs owning mobile phones to communicate with each other in the old fashioned way: by actually calling each other. It's a dystopian/post-apocalyptic story, so technology has reverted and social media doesn't exist. It might get mentioned once as a 'Do you remember when' kind of thing, but that's about it. Sat, 22 Oct 2011 19:28:03 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_168213 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_168213 LivelyLiz I will definitely be referencing Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc. I'm writing a YA about high-schoolers it kind of would be hard not too. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:38:58 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_192673 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_192673 ASBusinessMagnet With Portal: The 4th Millennium franchise I was able to get away with one or two popular culture references, but eventually ended up creating my own "popular culture" (Cinematronics Celebrations et al.) so that wasn't a problem. This November, however, I have a strictly modern time novel, so pop culture references will inevitably appear, at least until the protagonists' cell phone and MP3 player batteries run out. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:55:55 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_192912 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_192912 Lonaneomaflame My story is set in the here and now and my main character will probably be blogging, using forums, and maybe Facebook (or something like it) too. Though I wouldn't use the name for it I'll probably have her say that that she was on a forum for such and such, or wrote her blog for the day, or something like that, or have her very occasionally update her status. Social media isn't a big part of my story but I know that it will help her out a lot so I'm not going to just not use it since it is a modern story and it's what I spend all my waking hours doing. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:50:13 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_194981 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_194981 BJLee post apocalyptic baby, no social media survived Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:15:24 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_197271 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_197271 HiddenForce When planning I almost had my MC ask a friend to Facebook her, but I changed it to just a more general online chat. I'm always worried about putting brands or other types (like Facebook or Twitter) in my stories and do my best to either generalize it (like Cell Phone instead of iPhone) or even change that part of the story entirely. But I admit that it is getting pretty hard to say it's modern times but they get letters from friends. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:04:21 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_203033 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_203033 Llini Guisli I have the same problem, here. I want my novel to be "timeless", but my main character is, for most of the story, between fifteen and nineteen years old. So I guess it's something I'll have to figure in the next week. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:42:25 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_204503 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_204503 Audra Dancer As my story is set in future, I'm not sure yet. They won't have Facebook or Twitter of course, but I'm not saying three isn't anykind of social media in my story. However, my protagonists won't be able to use them for the most of the story because their internet connection isn't going to work in the place they're trapped in. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:42:25 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_213769 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_213769 star.girl That's the thing -- sometimes, in modern novels, they're simply necessary to make it seem accurate. Also, I love your profile picture. :D Mon, 31 Oct 2011 05:29:16 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_304022 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=2#forum_thread_comment_304022 AkiHoshi I usually just use things that are pretty standard in my stories, like phones, email, letters... and I'm pretty nondescript about the particulars. I might make the difference between a cell phone and a landline, but I'm not going to tell you whether they used gmail or yahoo for their search engine, or whether the 'profile' they looked at was on myspace, facebook, or even google+. In my opinion, it keeps the 'modern' technology feel without being chained to a specific year or time. So in two words: Standard, nondescript. Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:41:57 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_454315 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_454315 vividia Despite writing a YA book that is contemporary, I'm trying to not be specific about certain pop things like film, shows and music as well. The MC has a cell phone but I don't say what kind so it is open for interpretation. She hasn't even used it to text or take a photo. I'd like to keep it that way and have Social media stay in the background. It may pop up in the course of the story and may even be the vehicle of a plot point but I don't want the story to rely on Facebook. I feel the story may lose interest if social media had a higher profile. Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:06:01 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_468278 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_468278 AuthoressAddict756 Yes. Tons of it, actually. Mine's told in first person from a teenage boy a little too preoccupied with the rest of the world so there's tons of mentions of Social media. Texting and cellphone use is essential to his life. as well as the internet. But then, I'm not aiming for timelessness. On the contrary, I'm trying to capture the time so I'm not sure. Sat, 05 Nov 2011 10:35:07 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_478750 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_478750 bkwrmi Last year, I mentioned computers a few times, typing, etc, but nothing specific (typing out a paper could just as easily be a manual typewriter, a wordprocessor from the 1980's or a MacBook pro). This year, there may be some more specific things in the very beginning (not social media, but technological stuff), but after the first chapter or two, the world will be going very low tech. Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:17:57 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_481901 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_481901 LuLiLa No, I do not have any of this in my story, mainly because my characters are kept in a testing lab for a good deal of their lives and would not know of such things. Sat, 05 Nov 2011 12:41:47 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_482522 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_482522 Airi Oh, I let them leak in in a cloaked version and I love to do it. For example: Today is "Guy Fawkes Day". I want to set something on fire. What'll happen is that the fag of my MC will fall down on a book she once got as a present but hated anyway and she won't notice and the book will burn. The name of the book will be "Redlight" by "S.M.Eyer". I think you can make out what it is, right? So no one will be really influenced, but I have great joy in doing such things. Sat, 05 Nov 2011 23:27:16 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_491119 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_491119 Shady Spiral I really want to keep mine timeless as well, so I haven't named any of the characters' favourite bands or anything (even though I have a list of them), but I did have a character check her Facebook. I'm not sure if I'll edit that out come December or not. Whether or not using Facebook still allows my novel to be timeless depends on how long Facebook sticks around, I guess. Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:29:20 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_727486 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_727486 jaxxon I am using Facebook in my novel but am wondering if that is legal? There is a section where there is im'ing over fb going on and it leads up to a crucial part....do i have to rename FB to somthing else or is it considered ok to reference it? Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:31:07 +0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_1058157 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/the-polling-booth/threads/3715?page=3#forum_thread_comment_1058157