I’m starting a new series of posts on this blog today about who you should follow if you’re new to Twitter and want to dip your toes into specific communities there.
This week I’m going to be recommending Tweeps who talk about science fiction and fantasy who aren’t currently as well known as, say, J.K. Rowling or Margaret Atwood.
My goal is to highlight hidden gems and introduce you to accounts that you very well may never have heard of before.
Future parts of this series will be used to discuss mindfulness and fitness. I do not know how many other parts there may be after those posts, but I am brainstorming more ideas for it.
Without further delay, here are my favourite sci-fi and fantasy accounts from the Twitterverse. If you have suggestions for specific accounts to recommend or topics for a future post in this series, I’d be quite interested in hearing about them.
Yes, these tweets are written from the perspective of the monster in The Babadook. After that film was released, some fans jokingly speculated that the Babadook was gay because it’s still so uncommon for LGBT people to be represented in the movies.
No, his account isn’t scary (unless you’re anti-gay). His tweets are actually about acceptance and the joy of finding kindred spirits in the most unlikely places. Reading them is a warm, happy experience for me.
Imagine what a sentient, sarcastic Mars Curiosity would be like. Their photographs and comments about what it’s like to roll around on Martian soil all day are quite funny and well done. This is a humour account, not a scientifically-minded one.
This is a good account to follow if you have any interest in Pluto or space exploration in general and want to take a science-based approach to your research. The bot running it tweets photos of various sections of Pluto without commentary. It is up to the audience to come up with our own theories about the meaning and value of those photographs.
From what I’ve seen, this account does not respond to people who talk to it. That isn’t something that bothers me, but I know some people on Twitter who feel otherwise.
On a more whimsical note, this account speaks from the perspective of Pluto itself. Imagine being a lonely planet that occassionally notices a satellite flying by to take its picture.
Pluto doesn’t tweet very often, but when it happens it’s definitely worth paying attention to. It is much less sarcastic than the SarcasticRover.
The woman who runs this account tweet and retweets pieces of folklore from every corner of the globe on Thursdays. #FolkLoreThursday is the hashtag you’ll need to find these tweets each week.
I’ve been lurking and occasionally participating for a few years now, and I’ve learned about so many stories and traditions that I’d never heard of before. The community that has built up around this hashtag is warm and welcoming to newcomers. Don’t be afraid to jump in with questions or your own contributions if this is your sort of thing.
I’ve sung the praises of this literary magazine before, but Apex Magazine is still my favourite place online to find new SFF fiction. This is a wonderful place to begin if you’re in the market for free short stories and/or interviews with contemporary writers in this field. I’ve discovered many amazing authors and books through them.
@PlioceneBlokeYes, this is exactly what it sounds like. Imagine a caveman tweeting about all of the things the first humans have discovered, invented, and learned.
Some of them are funny. Others are poignant. Occasionally he even tweets about current events from the understanding of a hunter-gatherer whose culture is completely different from our own.
Go here if you’re in the mood for some inspiration for your own stories or if you simply enjoy reading about the bizarre but true things that sometimes happen in our world. It’s a very eclectic mixture of sub-genres, topics, and ideas.
I don’t even know what else to say about this account. It seriously has something for every niche in the SFF community, and then some!
Imagine reading a SFF story that has been condensed to 140 characters or less. I am regularly amazed by how the owner of this account manages to pack so much storytelling in such a tiny amount of space.
The person who runs it is friendly and often responds to feedback. This doesn’t happen with all of the accounts I’m recommending today, so start here if you’re most interested in following people who will interact with you on Twitter.
If MicroSFF is a full story, MagicRealismBot is an idea. Not all of their ideas make sense, but some of them are great prompts if you’re looking for a partially-formed plot or character for your own writing. Like bitsofpluto, this is run by a bot. Don’t expect an answer if you tweet back at them, but do enjoy the ride.
Not every SFF story is going to appeal to everyone. If you have any pet peeves in these genres at all, this is definitely the account to follow. It pokes fun at all kinds of tropes, stereotypes, and overused plot devices in clever ways.
What are your favorite science fiction and fantasy accounts on Twitter?