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To tweet or not to tweet?
When my daughter was little we moved across the country from Michigan to California and for several months we lived with my parents. At that same time, a mama sparrow made a nest in a tiny alcove in the roof. My daughter found it fascinating to watch this dedicated bird gather twigs and scraps of paper, building the perfect place to lay her eggs. Every day we watched her progress until it was time for her to sit on her eggs. Shortly after that, the little babies were born and each morning we could hear them chirping and tweeting as their mama went in search of food.
It got crowded in that nest, just about the same time it got crowded under my parents' roof. My husband and I knew it was time to find a place of our own. My mom didn't push us out (I don't think that mother bird used that tactic either) but it was just time for it to happen. The baby birds went twittering off into their own lives.
And did we, moving across town to our own apartment.
My foray into Twitter about six months ago, reminds me of that time and of those baby birds who by now must have grandbaby birds of their own.
But my attempt at sending Tweets is a far from cry that of those little birds. It doesn't come instinctively or naturally at all. With only 140 characters to state what I'm doing, I began to wonder - what am I doing? Is it something that other Tweeters or Twitterers will want to follow? Why do I want to spend the time broadcasting my every move?
Sure, I know I need to Tweet in order to promote myself. But it can't be just about selling. Tweeting is supposed to be about getting to know one another.
All these tweets filling up cyberspace are like flocks of birds flying in all directions at once. They are bound to get mixed up. Like that old game of Telephone. I could tweet, "Am wondering why all the light bulbs burn out at the same time." Days later here comes a response: "Sorry you are burnt out but there is always light at the end of the tunnel."
Tweets and twits and whatevers can come at us all day long on our cell phones. Second-by-second status updates. Tweeters are eating, sleeping, drinking, dancing, dressing, kissing, dreaming, knitting, walking, talking, crying, doing, being. I know this is the information age, but how much information can one brain take?
In my case - some days I just can't take it anymore.
So for now, this will be my status: Janie is listening to the birds tweet outside her bedroom window and enjoying the melodies of Mother Nature.
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Comments (22)
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Mon Sep 3, 2012 - 1:54 am
I wish I knew how to tweet. Fun blog to readReply -
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Mon Aug 27, 2012 - 7:22 am
Tweeting is totally like Telephone. Only at least now when I get confused, I can click to read the conversation. (Thank Goodness...)Reply -
1 reply, Last reply by Janie Emaus on Tue Aug 28, 2012 at 7:16 pm
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Report Sat Aug 25, 2012 - 9:23 pma good reminder to us all to NOT tweet about brushing our teeth or eating our oatmeal...lol.Reply
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1 reply, Last reply by Janie Emaus on Sun Aug 26, 2012 at 10:25 am
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Report Thu Aug 23, 2012 - 2:00 pmI don't tweet. And I wonder why anyone who does thinks I care to know what they are doing? I have a life and it is a busy one... evne though I am 78 years old. Cheers from France, Anne.Reply
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1 reply, Last reply by Janie Emaus on Thu Aug 23, 2012 at 7:40 pm
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Report Wed Aug 22, 2012 - 11:29 pmHi Janie Another enjoyable, relatable post. I have never, and will probably never Tweet, but I do thoroughly enjoy watching the bluebirds, humming birds, and all others frolicking and doing their tweeting in and around the trees and have declared a 'no hunting' zone for the neighborhood cats. Of course they don't seem to know that and at times my dogs have to remind them. Have a great day and thanks for another fun diversion. JeriReply
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1 reply, Last reply by Janie Emaus on Thu Aug 23, 2012 at 9:42 am
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Thu Aug 23, 2012 - 12:42 am
Hey Janie, This is so funny. We follow each other and don't know what we are doing. I always feel like I am interputing if I do "tweet", so I usually don't. All this social media kinda wears me out.Reply -
1 reply, Last reply by Janie Emaus on Thu Aug 23, 2012 at 9:41 am
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Report Thu Aug 23, 2012 - 6:39 amHi Janie; I tweet, but I really have no clue what I'm doing. I do sporadic tweets about various subjects. It's not really my thing, but I continue to do it. I like interact with my readers on my author FB page much better.Reply
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1 reply, Last reply by Janie Emaus on Thu Aug 23, 2012 at 9:41 am
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Report Wed Aug 22, 2012 - 10:17 pmI'm not sure I have all that much to say, Janie! lol! I should try it out, though. Just for the heck of it. And to shock my kids. :))Reply
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Report Wed Aug 22, 2012 - 8:37 pmI tweet, am on Tweetdeck, and Triberr. It's crazy. And then all the usual stuff. More crazy. You have to do what works best for you. Watching the birdies is good.Reply
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1 reply, Last reply by Janie Emaus on Wed Aug 22, 2012 at 8:48 pm
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Report Wed Aug 22, 2012 - 7:48 pmHi Janie: I kind of gave up on Twitter. I think I tweeted about 25 times and knew it wasn't for me. Every week or so I get a message saying someone is following me and I smile and think yeah, well good like with that. : )Reply
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Report Wed Aug 22, 2012 - 7:43 pmI completely understand where you're coming from. I have never gotten the hang of Twitter and I go on FB to see pictures of horses and find out a few things about authors' releases and such and I blog once a week. That's about it. I have cut back from more than 2 hours a day on social media to about 1 hour total. I am "out there" but I don't dwell there much. Like you, I am trying to enjoy "life" more and not the social media life. PattiReply
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Report Wed Aug 22, 2012 - 7:27 pmWell stated, Janie. At least you gave it a healthy try. I haven't tried at all. I'm not sure if I will.Reply
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1 reply, Last reply by Janie Emaus on Wed Aug 22, 2012 at 7:40 pm
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Report Wed Aug 22, 2012 - 7:21 pmWow, are you speaking my language! Birds, that is! This spring/summer we had a House Finch nest in the eaves outside our laundry room, which my two cats and I enjoyed like it was our own 24/7 reality show, I it gave me a whole new perspective on nature--both watching the birds, and watching the cats watch the birds! Ultimately, it also gave me Twitter comments and Facebook statuses. But now I am back to looking at that little Twitter box and trying to figure what to succinctly say, and remember that truly, no one cares that I had a day-old Krispy Kreme for breakfast!Reply
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1 reply, Last reply by Janie Emaus on Wed Aug 22, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Enter the word as it appears in the box.