The other day it was the third anniversary of joining Twitter and I’ve been thinking about my experience so far.
1 I’ve become acquainted with some really lovely people who have made me laugh, educated me and offered words of comfort when necessary. Thank you very much, it has been quite a humbling experience to link up with you.
2 I have learned that there are times when not getting involved is probably my best course of action. This is probably cowardly, but I prefer to choose my fights. Sometimes, I think that where misunderstandings have taken place, it’s because both parties have only the words in front of them. No tone of voice, no body language, just words. Those words are often interpreted through the filter of what’s going on for you as a person, so you may think someone is being funny in the wrong sort of way, when how it was meant is something completely different. The very speed of Twitter also helps, I think, to enable the misunderstandings to escalate into full scale spats.
3 I am not impressed by the amount of cyber-bullying I’ve seen. You may perceive yourself to be absolutely right on a point, but that doesn’t mean you should set your followers onto another person to make their lives a misery. Even ‘famous’ people do it and I’m horrified at the outcomes.
4 The ability to follow a wide range of people, from all walks of life and/or political spectra is fabulous. One of the biggest thrills is that I as a reader can have is that I can actually contact the author of a book (or series) and say thank you directly to them. From this, I had the great pleasure to be involved as a beta reader for the last 2 books of a great author (Ben Galley), so my name is there in the acknowledgements for all time. What a great honour and privilege it was to be involved in helping an author out.
5 I have to mention this next part as it would be criminal to miss it out. I have recently become involved with a wonderful group of authors in the Friday Phrases (#fp) community. Each Friday we tell short stories in the 140 characters (or less) that have a twist in the tail – or should that be “tale”?? I have had so much fun with the flights of fancy and sheer gruesome tweets that have fallen out of my head, it is untrue. Let’s put it this way, my son is not quite sure he approves of the gory side of me he is now seeing… For more information follow @FridayPhrases or contact @amicgood
6 I love the fast flowing, quick-fire nature of Twitter. To me it’s like playing Pooh sticks with words whilst on speed (not that I would know about the latter part). It has been the best fun I’ve had for quite a while and I am grateful that I persevered through the first few weeks when I really did not know what I was doing.
Twitter has really been amazing. I look forward to another 3 years of highs/lows and everything in between. Thank you for following, it really has been a blast!
Marj's writing 