Man, I remember hitting a certain age, I can’t say it, you
can’t make me but let’s leave it at its a big 0-ne. I felt okay about accepting it but wondered
how younger people would look at me. Would they hear my age and act like my
kids, “Damn you are old!” Or maybe the reaction would be more subtle; perhaps
folks would just make a big circle around me when they saw me coming and think
to themselves here comes the lady a month away from needing a walker! I do
experience, even now, from time to time, someone will find it out and all the
sudden, communication is short and sweet, “nice meeting you, have a nice
life!” And that is actually cool with
me. I am not concerned in the least with
winning a popularity award. Heck, I try
to be different, not conform! And
Twitter is one of the best vehicles for putting age aside.
Messing around on Facebook for several years and just being
an outgoing personality type, I have observed some things. Different age groups talk differently. Every
few years, the buzz words change, and they change for different demographics,
and for different generations. It is all
very confusing, I find, when you enjoy having relationships with a diverse
crowd. This is something I have always
prided myself on, from when I was a child. I had a friend that was a disabled
child with mental facilities impaired that went to our church. Other kids
laughed at her as if she wasn’t there and couldn’t notice. I played with her
and found it an honor to work with her. She was so sweet and appreciative of
everything, unlike most people in my world.
There was a senior citizen lady who lived next to my
grandparents also. She was someone I
could relate to, funny as it sounds and become a good friend to me, like a
surrogate grandma too. I went to see her every time we visited them. She always
seemed to be waiting for someone to visit her who never showed up. But I always
came, unannounced, to her delight. And I was so excited to see her and would
sit on her bed and listen for hours to her endless stories of her childhood. She always said she thought she was boring
me but my eyes told a different story and she knew it. Louise, I loved that lady and she was the
gift not I.
Talking to different people requires adjusting your language
skills abit to match theirs for ease in understanding. On Facebook, everyone stays well within in
their comfort zone. Connecting with friends and family, neighbors and
co-workers keeps life perfectly even keel, on track and no need to adjust our
way of thinking too much. If we don’t
like something someone says, we can just defriend them, good-bye, so long! Just pick up someone else in their place if
you don’t think your friend list is long enough. Heck, you can even find a new friend that has
perspectives that match yours so you have the commonality.
Twitter is different however. There is no real choosing what is coming
through the stream. I can see the
injustices, but also the everyday heros, the hypocrites, and the news stories
that are touching off hot buttons in others.
I read the words of the self-righteous, the philosophers, the
researchers, the comedians and everyone in between. So many of the people on Twitter are not
folks we live by, have coffee or a drink with or have our lives entwined with
other than the world of Twitter. We may
be thousands of miles apart, on a different time zone, an age gap apart, and
completely separate on our views on many things but for the split second in
time we communicate on Twitter, we are bonded, in that moment. And that is sweet! Technology at its best. You can walk away or not respond if you don’t
like it.
Even with my age, even with the demographics being
different, as it is, Twitter allows us to stand as we are, individuals, with no
pretense, for many with no hidden agenda either, and captivate others with our
honesty. Sure there are those that are all about promoting themselves, their
business, and their ideology. We all know who they are, just read their read
tweets a few days in row. They aren’t fooling anyone. But Twitter is useful for that as well and
does serve a purpose for reaching out to that crowd as well. Again, free
choice, free will. Read what you want, follow who you will.
I find so much of the sharing on Twitter is not as much about the mundane
inconsequential in life as “ I just got back from the store and the traffic was
hellious” or”Just cut my grass, it needed it so badly!” It is more about things that are food for
thought, things that inspire, things that alter our opinions or belief system,
new information in different fields of interest and perhaps in areas we might
otherwise know nothing about. It is also a chance to comment and communicate with
individuals we do not have access to, be it politicians, celebrities, sports
heroes, legends, idols, favorite authors, etc…
It is amazing the amount of information you can learn from
Twitter! One day I wrote down each piece of new information I gained and shared
it with a few friends. They were
astounded. I had not forewarned them where I had done my research. Not one of
them is on Twitter, nor are they now. Some folks don’t care about that type of
learning and that’s okay too. I have a continual thirst for knowledge, for
others views, I enjoy the challenge of my thinking being debated by opening
myself up to others opinions. I need to hear more about the world than my small
piece of it. The news doesn’t tell it all, it is too jaded.
The sources for the best growth opportunities are not always
where you think. It can be something
profound coming from a young adult. Yes,
they say the most inspiring statement, from the mouth of babes I suppose is so
cliché yet so true. I make a point of staying connected to people younger than
me always! There are some individuals
that simply delight in sharing new medical breakthroughs in areas like cancer
research, that those of us, as cancer survivors, have no idea how to weed out
fact from fiction. These folks are priceless on my following list. The celebrities list is just plain fun,
especially the ones that take the time to occasionally respond to their
fans. It makes everyone feel they are
real and humble and grateful to their fans.
Too many simple have their site manned by a PR machine that just pumps
out show dates and ticket information. Anyone
can get that from a website or venue location. Again, those in the spotlight
that show that they put on their pants like the rest of us and share the
normality of their lives by commenting on the news, tweets sent to them
occasionally or things going on in their life, kudos.
Too much hot debate is occurring on social media these
days. What a waste of energy. We don’t need what goes on in the world scene
to play out in the few areas in life where we get some of our mojo. Let’s leave the fighting and debate where it
belongs and draw a line somewhere so that we can just have a safe zone. Twitter seems to fulfill that mission. If all someone wants to do is bitch on
Twitter, in general, not too many folks are going to listen. Or respond.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I have been attacked for my viewpoint on
Twitter. Early on I made a comment that led to a string of what I considered
hate tweets. But it was something said
with good intentions and with Twitter, you just have to apologize someone was
offended and let it go. And it is history. And no, I was not ‘defriended.’
Infact, I still follow the person. Why wouldn’t I, I still value her opinions.
My followers and following list on Twitter, to date,
consists of people of all ages. I am inspired by each of them for a wide range
of reasons. Some of them are just plain
interesting. Many on my list, their perspectives, their ideas, and their posts
amuse me, delight me, humor me, or force me to look at the world through their
eyes. I can only hope to do the same to
them. I am certain they, like I, are
incapable of reading all tweets. There is never enough time in the day and too
many messages coming through. Plus, if
someone starts following me or comments on my tweet that is new to me, I want
to review their profile to see if it is of interest and if we should possibly
be connected.
Twitter is that simple, KISS principle is in full focus here
since your character count is limited.
You have to love that. Long-winded folks can’t go into a soap opera. Say
what you want to say, and then move on.
It forces everyone to be direct.
If you want to read more, put a link on to the article, blog or
whatever. Otherwise, be done with it!
On Facebook, I see most circles are people close in age. On
Twitter, I see completely the opposite. On
FB I see demographics are the same. Again, on Twitter I see the opposite. I
love that about Twitter also as it is replicative of my love of diversity and
my ability to adapt to others. For me, I have always been known to have friends
that cross all lines of race, gender, sex stereo-types, religious beliefs,
backgrounds, etc. I have always believed being open-minded and have friends that
are different makes me more worldly, not just a college education. You need an
education on life! How can you get it if
you stick with just replicas of yourself?
I suppose too I think I am different, truth be known! And I don’t believe anyone is quite as they
seem. We all have a story behind our eyes.
I enjoy trying to find it.
I am grateful for all the followers I have on Twitter, from
the youngest to the oldest. I respect and love the fact the folks I follow seem
to be real, consistently representing their views and attitudes. But again,
this is the internet so we can hide behind a façade so one never knows but that
is true in face to face relationships too.
I would hope, at times, we are influencing each other’s
opinions, and from time to time, changing other’s perspectives, moods, and
attitudes. But what is the most
important is that we are just plain listening. Too many people are caught up not actively
listening. Tweeting a response of any size says, I heard you. In a sense, you’re conveying to the sender
that their message had value, it did not fall on deaf ears.
It is great to retort to others tweets but also notable that
it seems to be done with respect. Wow,
could so many in the public eye learn from this protocol or what? I also love the fact that so often folks
share divine messages that seem to come straight from a higher power, in my
life that is defined as God. And so many comment on how touched and relevant
these messages are. What a catalyst for change so many folks are on this media
every day. There is really no way to calculate how many lives are affected by
your one little Tweet. Something as little as “You are loved” could impact an
entire workplace, a community, a city, etc…. showing your Tweet makes a
difference. So I guess in closing I say,
keep up with the Tweet Tweet!
