Yada, yada, yada. I see the look on the faces of anyone that I mention twitter to. It is normally met with some kind of snigger, and snort, or some comment of how they have far too much to do to spend time on twitter, or asking why I would want to talk to strangers every day. After that, I don’t tell them I tweet.
Because of the reactions, very few people know that I tweet. My husband and kids know, and they snigger and snort at it. I have two people in RL apart form that who know, and they are fine with it. So much so, that they even know about this blog. If you are reading this, yes, you know who you are. That’s it though. To other people, my twitter doesn’t really exist.
My enjoyment of using twitter is totally founded on the fact that I have met new friends very quickly. These are friends, whom we rarely meet, or hardly know, yet we talk to each other nearly every day.
Pre twitter, it was hard for me to imagine that I would enjoy it so much, or that I would end up setting up a blog, and writing away into the cyberspaceworld. I would like to go public as some of you do, and reveal my face to the world, but I am not comfortable doing that at the moment, so I am doubly grateful for the lovely people who have come into my twitter stream.
My top 5 reasons for tweeting
1 – I have someone to talk to at any time of day. There is always someone on the other end of the keyboard in my timeline now. And that is not just anyone. They are going to be people like me, with kids, with problems, and not pretending that everything in their lives is rosy.
2 – I don’t have the time with special needs in the family to do the coffee mornings, lunch groups, or mummy socialising locally, and twitter offers me the opportunity to mix with both special needs and mainstream mums. I get the best of both worlds, which doesn’t happen in real life.
3 – I am doing something that I would never have done before. Thanks to twitter, I am travelling 500 miles to a place I haven’t been to before, to meet a few hundred other women who have met through blogging at Cybermummy in London.
4 – I found blogging. Through reading some other peoples blogs, and deciding that I needed an outlet to keep me sane, I started blogging last year. I messed up when I transferred across to my own domain and lost it all, so it was start all over again. This blog started in November / December and will take time to build up, and at the moment, I am enjoying having somewhere to splurge. Do I want to take it further, not yet, as it’s fun.
5 – I thrive on the sometimes multiple, fast conversations going on. All those people who join in, all the people helping each other when someone asks for help, and the fact that it keeps me sane.
That’s it from me. I think I have been lucky in that I have not managed to get myself into any twitter arguments. This is the secret though isn’t it. It’s like a little secret society of fast moving conversation followers. The speed it moves in comparison to facebook is astounding.
Thats it from me, and if you haven’t tried twitter, it takes a little time to find your circle, and expand to follow the people that you like. I tried three times before I really got into it. I’ll have withdrawal symptoms on holidays this year !!!!!!
Marylin says
February 8, 2011 at 4:32 pmI love the bloggy community. Like you, it’s awesome to have people to chat to, regardless of the time. There’s always someone to talk to.
I adore connecting with people, but again, like you, with special needs in the family, *and* being a single parent, it’s hardly easy to get out and about. Twitter and blogging helps completely cover that gap.
I am so totally jealous that you’re going to Cybermummy. I want to, and could probably get sponsored for part of it, and pay for the rest, but I just can’t guarantee having someone able to look after the boys. 🙁
Scottish Mum says
February 8, 2011 at 5:48 pmI sooo love the bloggers. I just wish I had found them first time round, so that I had that little bit more company. Getting out is a huge issue and has to be planned with military precision to sort out. It must be even harder for you. At least I can nip to the shops now and again on my own when hub is here. I wish you were coming as well, but I can soo understand about the childcare. I have only ever left the boys for one night before, so this is going to be a difficult weekend…
This Mid 30s Life says
February 8, 2011 at 2:17 pmI have to admit that before I recently discovered Twitter, I thought it was a bit sad too. But I’ve been surprised to find it’s so fun!
I can’t pinpoint why I like it, but I guess it’s a little window into what people are doing at that moment around the world. That’s pretty amazing.
Scottish Mum says
February 8, 2011 at 5:49 pmTwitter is sooo nice. I think I was lucky enough to find it before I knew what other peoples opinions of it were. I haven’t been able to persuade the few people I trust to be a part of it though. Much more amazing than I ever thought it would be.