I really believe that; Twitter is now the most popular way for online women to communicate to a large audience.
As you know, I took an extended leave from Twitter and Facebook from late February to April 9. Not clicking over to Facebook was easy; Twitter I missed terribly. A few times I thought of breaking fast and jumping back in. The chatter, the direct messages, seeing that @ reply in the stream is a real kick in the pants.
And I was lonely. Giving up Twitter, it was like I wasn’t part of the blogging community anymore. I was still here blogging, leaving comments and reading other blogs, but I wasn’t part of the larger group, because they were all still giving their attention to Twitter (imagine that!). All my traffic coming from Twitter, dropped to almost nil. I missed that too. It reminded me of being a newbie, trying to find readers and build up traffic.
It wasn’t that long ago when we would visit blogs to meet each other, now we visit Twitter to meet virtually.
Not only that, but when one of us – and I’m talking moms who blog - is hurt, suffering or wronged, Twitter takes up the cause. Remember Motrin Moms? Currently, twitter moms are raising money for the March of Dimes in memory of the daughter of a mom blogger. You can do that with a blog, but with Twitter, and the amazing hash tag, it’s so much easier.
So I’m back on Twitter, but this time with a better approach. For one, I’m not going back to that compulsion to constantly send tweets out regarding little snippets of life. I enjoy the word pictures of what people are doing, that’s why I like to tweet that too, but I feel a need to tip the balance toward helpful information. Links folks can use, learn and grow in knowledge.
If you follow me, you may have noticed I’ve been sending out links about women and children in crisis. The more I read about poverty, it’s connection to human trafficking and the sex trade… sad stuff there. That’s the new purpose to my tweets – getting the message out about these precious lives worth far more than the 140 characters I dedicate to them.
Blogs won’t die. But they are no longer the dominate means of social interaction for women on the web.
What do you think? Am I completely crazy or wicked smart? You have up to 140 characters to explain your opinion. Kidding – Twitter humor, of course.
Related posts:
- Much ado about nothing: thoughts on Twitter I’m thinking of going on a Twitter fast. Most regular...
- My Twitter prayer group If you follow me on Twitter, then you know what’s...
- No frills links: Twitter in church, tough moms and more human trafficking Twittering in church, with the pastor’s okay (HT: The Digital...
- Focus elsewhere Not a break from blogkeeping, just social media. Have fun...
Monica,
Thank you for sharing from the heart on this! I appreciate your insight.
I have found, that when I read Tweets about families in need,I stop right there and pray for them. If I had to visit each blog (I do visit some)to learn of the need first, I wouldn’t get the opportunity to lift them in prayer so quickly.
LaDonna
Honestly, I think I could give up Twitter–it takes up too much time to keep up. You either have to dedicate a lot to keep up, or it doesn’t seem worth it. Facebook is more my speed.
Heathers last blog post..Book Thoughts: Home by Marilynne Robinson
Facebook is way different than Twitter. With FB, you find and connect with people, oftentimes with folks you havent’ seen in a long time. But it’s not for fast interchange, IMHO.
Twitter works for a quick communication to a lot of people. Want to rally the masses to your cause? Go with Twitter. Want to catch up with your classmates from school? Facebook.