HOW TWITTER SAVED MY LIFE

As I approach my first year on Twitter, I still believe it to be the best social media network that I have used. Why?

Well, for an active mind like mine, I would have to admit the 140 character limit was a great turn-off at the beginning and can still be annoying when on a writing roll. Yet, that very limit creates a situation where one has to be creative, thoughtful & learn how to self-edit. I have been writing for years and editing is as much a part of the process as research. However, Twitter prompts one to really re-think and examine language; to explore intent. The immediacy of Twitter’s micro-blogging format almost forces one to be creative with words and syntax. It works for Twitter and is also good for writing, thinking, and living, in general.

Twitter is King (Sorry Facebook). When I follow a new Tweep I often get a ‘Hello’ greeting from them right away. The whole Twitter experience is more like talking to someone across the table, though in reality they may be on the other side of the world. Less delay in replies than in any other social networking site I have used. Twitter’s design may not be perfect (yet!) but at best, it is the Global Village the internet itself is supposed to be. Twitter is the best of the internet at work:

people striking up new relationships with others whom they most
likely would NEVER have ever met without its existence.

Direct access to myriad information links

And a variety of other great uses specific to the Twitter user.

For, how I use Twitter does not necessarily have to be the same way the next person uses it.

RELATIONSHIPS

I LOVE to connect with other people, share, learn, teach where possible. Twitter is my home on the web for this. It has blessed me with the opportunity to meet so many great, interesting and diverse people since joining. Often, it is like a dream come true.

INFORMATION

I am also an info geek, and so I use Twitter to get the latest updates in technology, entertainment, and world news. I do not have to go to the television or newspaper for what I can already find on Twitter early on when the info is red hot and just breaking.

MUSIC & VISUAL MEDIA

A musicologist, I also love to share favorite music with my fellow Tweeps. Twitter makes this easy. Often I will Blip a tune using Blip.fm, or I may upload from my own personal library & Tweet music via Swift.fm. Then there’s good ole YouTube which is quite Twitter-friendly also. It is rather easy to get lost in looking for and sharing great music via Twitter.

But there is even more …

CELEBRITY INTERACTION

I would not say I am the kind of person who is easily star struck, yet of course I do have my favorites in the entertainment world, like any one else. Twitter allows [the very 21st century thing of] communicating with film & television actors, musicians, & other celebrated people, by-passing handlers such as managers, agents, assistants and the like in many cases - something unheard of even ten years ago! Nothing like discussing your favorite author with you favorite actor or singer on Twitter …Talk about your Global Village! Awesome.

TO MY RESCUE

A little over ten years ago I found myself relocating from Toronto back to my native Nova Scotia when great fortune turned into misfortune. The fallout from this move was quite immense - perhaps most apparent in how it changed my social life. In short, I went from having a so-so social life to none at all. I do NOT recommend moving clear across the country and uprooting one’s life after a certain age to anyone based on this less than great experience. I mention it now though because of how the internet and MOST SPECIFICALLY Twitter has helped fill the void where offline friends once were. I say offline and not real-life as many do because for me at least, Twitter IS real-life. Now I have online friends, Tweeps, whom I care about, learn from, and get to know more each day thanks to Twitter.

In these past several unpredictable years of my life I have known profound loneliness where it has seemed the dark clouds would never lift. Amazingly, Twitter has revealed a very promising ray of light. While I cannot say for sure what the future holds, I can honestly say this close-to-one-year on Twitter has changed my life for the better. I feel like I should write Twitter chiefs Jack Dorsey & Evan Williams a ‘love letter‘. Only I don’t know THEM that well!

Ah, though, I am greatly looking forward to seeing where some of my existing Twitter relationships might go as time progresses. After all, it is all about connecting; all about the people, the info exchange. Yes, and like life - it’s ALL ABOUT THE LOVE!

#TWITTERWorks