Not one to swallow my soapbox, I figured I'd post it here (because we haven't had nearly enough Twilight posts :P ).
When I see someone talking about how Twilight is the BEST BOOK EVER, I try to shrug and move on (not always successfully) because six months or a year from now, that opinion will probably change. When young writers express an interest in writing like Meyer, I throw out a few words of caution and then shrug.
I try to be understanding because, well, I've been in their shoes.
When I was fifteen/sixteen I felt the same way about The Vampire Chronicles. I adored them and was intrigued by them - so much so that I had a stack of short stories which were sad Anne Rice rip offs. I remember reading and rereading The Vampire Lestat, hoping that someday I would be able to write like Anne Rice (unfortunately, I also badly wanted to be Douglas Adams which led to some truly disastrous attempts to merge the two styles and subjects).
Is it unfortunate that so many writers wish to emulate Meyer? Yes but, then, it's also natural and to be expected. They absolutely should be encouraged to find their own voices and to cast their nets further in terms of inspiration, but,at the end of the day, at least they're writing and reading.
I suspect, for many of them, that their love of writing will outlast their admiration of Meyer.
Now where did I put that "Team Lestat" tshirt...
