Wednesday, June 1, 2011

To Tweet or Not to Tweet - That is the Twestion

The Blogathon is over.   My time is mine again.  I didn't have to wake up at 5:30 to write. But I did.
I said the other day that one thing the Blogathon did for me was make me stretch.  I want to keep stretching, growing.    So now, I am considering signing up for Twitter.

So far, I have resisted using Twitter.  I do not text message (I barely use my cell phone as a phone; I'm going to be one of the 143 people left in this country who don't text message).  But in the Blogathon that just concluded yesterday, I found that many bloggers in the Blogathon tweet and have their tweets visible on their blogs.

The "wrap" party for the Blogathon "competition" is going to be on Twitter, too.  I can follow it by using a certain hash tag.  But I have no account, so I can't party.  Being left out.   It isn't a good feeling.

Know what?  I feel like I felt about the Internet back in 1995.  Reading about that "http" stuff and how web addresses worked seemed so daunting.  But I bought my first computer on my birthday in 1996 and have never looked back.  (I can still remember my first night online - January 20, 1997...and how I fumbled around.  But am I glad I did.). What if I don't have enough to say?  What if I have too much?  What if I choose the wrong user name (or whatever it is called).

I've tried to find a good tutorial on Twitter online. What I seem to be finding is already a year or two old.  So:  I invite your comments.  Does Twitter work for you?  Is it worth the stretch?  Should I take the plunge?

Is it worth the time I will invest in learning about it?

(and, sneaky me, I'll know if anyone is still reading my blog now that we've finished Blogathoning.)

And meanwhile, fellow Blogathoners - enjoy that party.

3 comments:

  1. Twitter has been around for the past 5 years. And it has been so for a reason. One thing I would like to advise is that you need not be intimidated by it. It is no matter if you choose a not so optimal username, if your worth following, people will find you. If you have nothing to say then you can always promote others tweets. When you follow people and later weed out the annoying ones, you will intuitively cultivate the dos and donts of tweeting. As for writing in 140 words, it can be a tough job! There are many writing competitions online which challenge you to write a story in 140 words and so on. The use of twitter is different for different people. You will realise only after you join the community! You must try out twitter. There is no question about that! This wiki article should help you http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Twitter

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  2. I didn't sign up for Twitter until just before Blogathon started. I went in kicking and screaming. Granted I'm still a newbie, but I like it. It's easy to connect with Writing groups, blogs, etc and get sneak peaks to know if I want to click on a link. I only check mine from my laptop, because my phone is just too small. I should be better, but I'm learning! Good luck with your decision.

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  3. The easiest way to learn is find a person who can show you the ins and outs. It only takes a few minutes and some practice and you'll be off and running. I have looked at a few books and I just couldn't understand them. I never tweet from a phone. I learned last year only because I wanted to participate in last years Blogathon. Give it a try.

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