It has been a year since I joined Twitter. A year. My daughter had signed up, soon became tired of me peeping over her shoulder and suggested I got my own account. "Why on earth would I want to do that, I'm not interested in what strangers had for their lunch", was my response I recall. Well, here I am twelve months on and seven and a half thousand tweets later. So, what do I know?
1. I should have chosen a different name. I have had to wear a badge emblazoned with UNCOOLMUM to a theatre production of Edward II. Embarrassing does not begin to describe it.
2. I will not blindly follow celebrities, many are boring in the extreme, constantly self-promoting and re-tweeting sychophancy However, the thrill of getting a reply off someone even vaguely famous is undeniabley thrilling.
3.I cannot watch television now without slipping onto twitter. I HAVE to see comments made by people like @TheMichaelMoran or @gracedent or @mrchrisaddison who can encapsulate the absurdity of t.v. programmes like the X Factor,in just a few pithy words.
4. Twitter has revolutionised my music listening. Recommendations abound and @WhisperingBob's choices now fill up my CD shelf.
5. I now read a number of excellent blogs, indeed, I have started one myself ( a blog, not an excellent one obviously ). I have discovered great web sites and I find out the latest news instantaneously. This annoys my husband, who says it is like living with a Sky News presenter. Hopefully, not Kay Burley.
6. Through Twitter, I heard about Vintage Village, a monthly market of all things vintage-y and craft-y in Stockport. I really enjoy visiting the market and have met up with many fellow tweeters there. This leads me to...
7. Most pleasingly, I have met some genuinely lovely people through twitter. I never foresaw this and, indeed, I would have thought it a bit of a strange thing to happen. However, I initially met @wifenotlodger at the Vintage Village and we share so many interests such as music, books and theatre. None of my "real-life" friends likes the same music as me ( "weirdy folk" as my daughter sweetly puts it) so I now have a gig-buddy. We have been to see Fleet Foxes and Gillian Welch and The Pierces are coming up.
The Royal Exchange theatre recently held a twitter critic evening where tweeters were invited to see Edward II, then tweet a review. I met up with some really interesting people and it was good to go along and leave my "comfort-zone" for a while. I have also been to a couple of tea parties for charity organised by the nicest ladies it has been my pleasure to meet.
8. When I was looking after my dying father I spent many days and nights alone with him and I will never forget those people who took the time to communicate with me and send their good wishes. No matter what time of night it was, there was always someone out there. When he did pass away, just a few words sent by strangers, did provide real comfort. This may sound odd as I will never "know" the majority of the people who tweet me. I think this is the concept most non-twitters find hard to understand. However, being able to communicate succintly into the ether, is tremendously liberating. If no one replies, that's okay, but usually someone does, and that's okay too.
It has been great to find those who share the same sense of humour, or can introduce you to something new. So, no, twitter isn't all about what people ate for their lunch and yes, some tweets can leave you a little discombobulated, but I can honestly say my year on Twitter has been a great thing. Happy Twitter Birthday to me!
