I swore that I would never succumb to the ridiculousness that I called 'twitter'. I mean- what was the point? Do people *really* care about my random life updates? Do I really care about theirs?
Then. I met a local yoga instructor- Helen Fong. I was trying to convince local instructors to support my student led Coffee and Yoga discussion group (I only succeeded in convincing Helen, she's fantastic). She suggested I open a twitter account because regardless what I thought, people use it.
So now I have twitter. I tweet about stuff. Random stuff. Like 'mmm I want some coffee'. And not so random stuff like 'Coffee and Yoga this week- please RT!'. Does it work? Well.... I'm not totally convinced it works for the C&Y group, but it has had some interesting results.
Weirdly enough, I have found that twitter has actually broadened my sense of yogi-bloggers and their personalities. For example Svasti. I love her blog and her comments are always so thoughtful and usually pretty impassioned. I figured I had a pretty good base on her personality (which is kinda arrogant all by itself, I know). Then I started following her tweets. From twitter I learned she adores True Blood, has a wicked sense of humour and posts hilarious and fun links. Strangely, I feel like I am more connected to *her* from twitter than from her blog.
The same goes for many other yogi-bloggers that I follow.
I was listening to an interview with some savvy social media guys in Québec about how to use social media. How twitter really isn't a place where you only have a one-way tweeting system. How there's actually twitter etiquette (who knew?). According to these guys twitter is a two way connecting system where responding and actually reaching out is the goal.
I could go on about my feelings around tweeting all.the.time from your cell phone, or texting during spoken conversations... but really this post was just to express my surprise at how much more I feel connected to my yogi-tweeps. Which I find weird, but kinda nice. I'm still kinda twitter reticent, don't own a cell phone (which Svasti and Roseanne had a little twitter intervention the other day about lol), and I have strong feelings about how we need to connect face-face and not through technology... but...
What about you? Do you use twitter? Has this happened to you?
article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com
Thursday, November 11, 2010
19 comments:
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Just for the irony (or something) of it, I just tweeted this post...
ReplyDeleteI signed up for Twitter, thought it was dumb, deleted my account. Months later I signed up again.
ReplyDeleteNow I think it's kind've cool. I've seen a ton of cool tweets and articles on there. It's the only way I can connect to the outside world when I'm at work too since facebook is blocked at work. :)
i was opposed to twitter for a while because i already had facebook to communicate online with my real friends in that way, no reason to duplicate efforts. but then my blogger friends started joining twitter and i realized it was a good way of keeping in touch with them. i also feel like it's a good way to stay in the loop with green news and to retweet and help viral marketing for green initiatives.
ReplyDeleteOh, great topic!! Before actually joining twitter, I had this stereotype that it was just people writing down banal information about themselves like "Going downstairs now". "Going back upstairs now". "Cornflakes for breakfast". That kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, there are a lot of people who use it like that. There are also a lot of people who use it in nasty, negative ways, like to insult others or make sexy, sexist, or racist comments. :(
BUT, for me Twitter has become an amazing way of sharing information. And not just about yoga and humour etc, but about development issues, social change initiatives and breaking news. I follow international NGO's, UN Agencies and activist networks and bloggers who are using Twitter to try to bring awareness to their causes. (@Yoga_Gypsy/savingtheworld)
Also, it's an amazing way to get real-time news. A few weeks ago there was an attack on a UN compound in Afghanistan. We heard about it but couldn't find any details on our usual websites. So I did a search on Twitter and sure enough the links started popping up with information and links to news.
So I for one am all in favour. But as with anything else I guess, it's not the thing itself that is positive or negative, but how you use it!
nope, nada, zilch. facebook for personal, linkedin for business, blog for writing. isn't that enough?
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I'm back and forth over Twitter. I probably wouldn't be on at all if it weren't for my business. I don't feel like I ever get anything heard on Twitter, due to the amount of posts going through anyone's account each day. Nor do I feel I really get to hear the things said by the people I follow.
ReplyDeleteThat may be one of the drawbacks to business use of Twitter - there's a lot of scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours (aka: follow me, I'll follow you), so my account is FLOODED with posts each day.
On the other hand, I see what you mean - I love getting those little glimpses into the lives of the bloggers I follow! It really does give you a more complete picture.
i like twitter better than fb. for quick contact and reply, shorter and more concise than blog posts and other reasons too.
ReplyDeleteAgainst my better judgment, I started to use twitter. I still do not fully understand it, but I think it has helped me get the word out about my blog to more lawyers and yogis alike. For that, I am grateful. I find following people, however, a tad much, and I only follow about 70. I have no idea how people pay attention when they follow 2000. How can anyone read that much? But I have found some good articles through it, and I definitely like the connection to people that I may not otherwise follow.
ReplyDeletei don't twitter! I'm worried about the temptation of another social network wasting my time, which i already do well enough on my own!
ReplyDeletehowever, it is tempting sometimes because a lot of places and stores etc, offer twitter only contests and stuff. not fair lol!
Hahaha! Glad you enjoy my zany-ness, it gets a little out of control sometimes, eh? ;)
ReplyDeleteHere you are being all "hmmmm" about Twitter, but the funny thing, if it wasn't for blogging and Twitter, I wouldn't know about any of my now international group of yoga pals.
Of course, as a technology geek, I absolutely adore all things digital. And I love Twitter.
However, I think the thing about our blogs, and any communication that's not face-to-face is this: none of it is really a proper representation of who we are.
I've been meaning to write a post for a while as something of a disclaimer: you don't really know me, no matter what I write here. Because for everything I share, there's plenty more that never makes it onto my blog and/or into tweets. To assume we really know anyone from digital communication only is a grave error.
And Twitter (which yes, definitely has an etiquette of it's own!) is all about conversation, not just standing on your soap box and spouting stuff, you know?
I've made all kinds of friends, found work and won prizes on Twitter. But more than anything I enjoy the little community that's evolved over time and my connections with a whole bunch of different people. It's just so much fun!
On a final note - just promise me that if you and Andrew do get a phone, you'll make it an iPhone. Because they rock. :)
P.S. How's married life going?
Oh yeah! I didn't understand at first what the fuss was all about, then I got my curious self out and got an account, ya know, for fun.
ReplyDeleteI love it. I love it because I'm ssooooo far away from you guys, and there aren't a lot of yoga peeps in Brussels, and I get to connect with you all. Kind of makes me want to move continents.
I also have a 2nd account (yeah I know) for my social change personae / blog (yeah, 2 blogs too, mad), and I've been able to witness Twitter's power when it comes to collaboration and help.
Of course it's addictive, and well, Twitter spammers exist too, I hate that. Not to mention aggressive marketing. But overall, me likey :)
ugh, I struggle with Twitter. I have an account but can't seem to find a sense of it. It seems like it would take a lot of time and my blog and practice already take up a large portion of my day! I do try though, and think there are benefits.
ReplyDeleteI had the same kind of approach as you. I swore I'd never succumb and then I did, in order to keep up with friends and family. I even made a Facebook page again (urgh; still not a fan of that site).
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed it more than I thought. :) My SIL and I like the same TV shows so we Tweet as we watch. It's also really great getting little snippet's of my friends live, especially since I usually one hear from them by phone or email once every few weeks.
Still resisting the urge to Tweet my every move, though!
"Going to get the bus."
"At the bus stop."
"Getting on the bus."
"On the bus now!"
"Riding on the bus. . ."
Yeah Twitter can be a great tool for information sharing. I certainly post boring updates, but try not to as much. It's really not about personal stuff it's all about reaching out. I've made friends and a lot of good connections.
ReplyDeleteJ'aime bien utiliser Twitter. Au début, je trouvais ça un peu compliqué, mais maintenant, j'adore. Love your post about tea.
ReplyDeleteNamaste ma chère.
Becky
I never thought about seeing another side of your friends through twitter...still, you won't see me on it anytime soon! :) I still prefer the face 2 face!
ReplyDeleteHope to see you soon!
Hugs,
Alli
hey everyone, thanks for the responses!!
ReplyDeleteWeirdly, I wrote this post quickly about an hour before leaving for the entire weekend and unplugging from all things social media-esque (and internet in general).
What I was so surprised, as a few of you have commented, is how much relevant information is available on twitter.
During teh hurricane, I knew where there were power outages and had enough notice to make coffee before we lost our power. very useful.
have a love-hate relationship with it. signed up to promote my business but for the most part, really don't see the point of it. really don't see it as a means of conversation because for the most part, 99% of the people who follow never RT or respond to what I tweet!
ReplyDeleteLove getting a different side to a person other than what their blog has. I also enjoy the sort of news and articles that are brought to my attention that I would otherwise not have seen. Twitter...unusual and unique.
ReplyDelete