Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Is Twitter for Twits?

I recently joined Twitter, more out of curiosity, (and a tiny soft suggestion from my agent) and immediately found it overwhelming. It was less than a smidgen of a second later, and I was already in a sheltering mode sending all notifications to my look-at-it-later folder.

It felt like an unfamiliar jungle, and I couldn't remember why I tried it in the first place. 
A few weeks have passed, and I am coming out from under the chair. Gingerly, carefully, I'm picking my head up to glance, but only in small increments.
You see, I remembered that this was my reaction to joining Facebook. I had a page, an account, and it was practically dormant for ages. I made peace with it and like seeing others’ photos there.


I had this reaction to Blogging, which seemed to me fit only for those with too much time on their hands, both on the reading and the writing ends. I committed to a regular schedule, and slowly it became something I love to do. Of all the virtual socializations I felt dragged into it is now my favorite. But it wasn't at first; it took (I should be honest here) at least a year to feel it was more a necklace than a noose.

This is not an endorsement of Twitter. I still don’t get its charms. But it is an endorsement of trying something. It’s about doing it long enough to know what its charms may be before you know how, or if, you fit in. Because, obviously, millions of Twitter users have. I know some of them personally and can vouch they are not twits.

Try it. You may or may not like it. But trying is a positive act.

12 comments:

Evelyn said...

I post on Twitter about once a month. It's still alien territory to me. But, Mirka dear, if you've got a Twitter account you need to tell us what it is. Otherwise, how can we follow you? :)

Mirka Breen said...

@MirkaBreen
I kept it simple, just like Twitter is supposed to be. Ha! ;=(

Barbara Etlin said...

I like Twitter. It takes only a small investment of my time and it's fun.

Most of my online friends are other writers. I use Twitter as a way to connect with people who may not be writers themselves, but might still enjoy humour, poetry, or a kids' novel.

Vijaya said...

Well, I said I'd never blog but I love it. I looked at Twitter and it's too hyper, like FB, so I think I'll pass for now ... I'm really slow when it comes to technology. Perhaps I'm the biggest twit around here :)

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I've been on Twitter for years and my profile and activities have evolved as I learned out how best to use it. There's no right way to use Twitter, just what one enjoys, I think. I follow links to get news of the day and especially publishing news, but I also like humor and appreciate seeing how clever people can be in just a few words or lines. To me, it's like a word game to see if I can do the same.

Tina Cho said...

Hooray for you, Mirka! Look me up, @TinaMCho. I just "followed" you. Facebook is still my #1 social media, but Twitter is nice for following agents and editors.

Anonymous said...

I have a Twitter account and check it regularly because of the news feeds, but I have not made it my own yet. I get distracted easily by all the info.

Kelly Hashway said...

I used to love Twitter, but now I use Facebook more, which is funny because I initially hated Facebook. lol Go figure.

Anna Staniszewski said...

I felt the exact same way about Twitter when I first joined. I've slowly warmed up to it, but if I spend too much time on it, I still get overwhelmed!

Yanting Gueh said...

I felt overwhelmed when I first joined Twitter, too. Now all these social media platforms - Goodreads, Pinterest, Twitter and Google+ are important to me in receiving information: articles, book reviews and inspiring pictures/articles. I don't enjoy Facebook that much however. But you're absolutely right: it's always good to try. Maybe it isn't for you right now. Maybe it'll grow on you. Who knows?

Anonymous said...

I find Twitter less demanding than other platforms, maybe because there is no way I'm going to see every tweet, so I scroll through them faster and end up spending less time there. Ditto what Helen said: I haven't made it my own yet and get distracted by SO much info. Whereas with FB, I'm in the habit of reading everyone's posts with more care.

Lily Cate said...

I'm trying, but twitter still just seems like a wall of voices. Maybe when I adjust to the noise, I'll start to see the allure.