So, I joined Twitter this weekend and found my previous assumptions about the site to be (mostly) disproved! I'm pleasantly surprised. I always (incorrectly) assumed that Twitter was just a platform for people to write random information about themselves and their personal lives (which is a hefty assumption, I know), but after reading about Twitter for class and now joining it, I see that it's a lot more than that. Twitter is, as with many other social media sites, exactly what you make of it. And so far, it seems as though I've made it my personal news resource. Upon joining I decided to follow the feeds of: the White House, CNN, NPR, American Lib. Assoc., BBC World News, United Nations (how cool is that?!), NY Times, Kathryn Budig (my favorite yogi) and... Lady Gaga (don't judge me, I love her). After showing my sister that I'd joined Twitter, she insisted that I also follow Rev Run (she's heard that he tweets some really great stuff--and he kinda does!).... so basically this has resulted in my Twitter feed being a random assortment of world news, how much Lady Gaga loves her fans, and pop culture updates (Adele won album of the year at the Grammy's tonight, which I couldn't watch because our TV's rabbit ears only get us 3 channels and CBS isn't one of them)! To be honest, with such a lack of access to some of the news I'd typically watch on TV, it was nice to be able to read quick blurb updates on the news via Twitter. And because I chose who to follow, I was able to filter out those sources that I don't necessarily want to hear from (although I do question if this will lead me to some type of news tunnel vision?).
My next step is to actually post or "tweet" something... I suppose I can really say anything I want, as I only have a few random strangers following me instead of any people I actually know (what's with that? They've gotta be spammers or something, right?).
Now that I've gone on a bit about my newly positive feelings towards Twitter, does anyone have any suggestions or advice for a newbie like me?
I signed up for twitter a few years ago, but I hardly ever tweet. But like you I mainly follow news agencies, celebrities/music acts, and a few friends. Although I don't use it as my main news source, I do find I use it to get my pop culture news more instantaneously than from the blogs I read.
ReplyDeleteHi, Maggie! I have not yet signed up for Twitter - I find myself strangely averse to it, but I am more hopeful after reading what you (and Catie!) have to say. I guess I never thought of it as a news source, but Colleen made a similar comment on my blog about Twitter's potential. However, I have no idea what I would tweet, as I don't believe I do or think anything profound enough to be of concern to anyone else. Also, I totally support your love of Lady Gaga. She is totally the best. :)
ReplyDeleteNo sage advice Maggie. I just signed up for Twitter myself the other day, but have not gotten as far as you. I had a problem getting signed in (I think because I blocked cookies!) I was finally able to get the site to open after accepting cookies, but have not gotten back into it to see how to "tweet" or to "follow". After reading your post, I am anxious to do that! So, how do you figure who or what to follow...?
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