So, I’ve joined the network called Twitter.
“Welcome to 2011, darling.”
“Ah, things like that existed hundreds of years ago just functioned on a different level. More on telepathic…” It was more of “that look” chat.
My Soulmate knows me too well. I’ve also resisted Myspace and Facebook for some time just because “everyone” was on it. The moment something takes a mass-following-proportions (it could be a film, a book or whatever), a sort of alarm fires up in me even though I love networking. I just have moments of acting like a concerned hermit who likes to analyze too much before accepting anything. It’s just a pattern that saves me from spreading too thin, I guess. Surely, those moments sometimes last for quite a while but time is a stretchy, personal unit, anyway and it is there to allow space for learning more about oneself (often in order to change – for the better, of course). Yes, now I admit I find Facebook pretty useful since many of my friends and people I like to stay in touch with live far away and I don’t get to see them often, so reading their updates regularly and seeing their photos from the currant fun time or getting to know their family and friends better even in this way is precious.
And now Twitter. Who is it for and why?
I am still figuring it out. My Soulmate keeps telling me he finds it interesting and useful. Well, surely there are loads of his peers, programmers on all web networks sharing latest discoveries of their minds and technologies, still for me…
First I used the search option to find many of maximum 140 character short posts about things I was interested in. Not much different than any search engine yet here it was short, concise and often with a link to wider descriptions plus you quickly get a picture who is behind a post; a person with similar interests, a company with open agenda or even someone you know personally. It makes a same reference to be considered quite differently and helps get to the fields of interests directly, without first having to deal with flashy front lines of someone else’s idea of what “should” interest you before you reach the desired destination.
I’ve also found some of the people whose work I appreciate and it is lovely to receive updates on their work from their personal perspective and not just as quotes on quotes. Quotes are o.k. at certain moments, as reminders, yet I rather hear how a certain quote influenced someone’s life in particular, what beneficial changes a certain phrase brought to him or to her.
Changes… And… There! An opportunity of one soon presented itself. The Challenge for Ms Ooh, Ooh I Am So Not. The thing is that if you want to get updates from certain people you have to click the button that says „follow“ and thus you become their “follower“ on Twitter. Er… Follower? Sounds guruish. Not my thing. Ha! Do I smell a challenge here? However, that’s the linguistic approach on the network called „Twitter“ so if I wanted to explore it I had to accept certain rules. Right. What to do but change the meaning of the word „follow“ in my mind? Few minutes of some reframing and I was smiling at my own recent states. (O.K. I did more than that as I also used this as an opportunity to dig deeper and realize why do I resist that word so much yet explanation of that process and it’s results would require writing several posts if not a book!) The letters haven’t changed their shape or sequence while forming a word but my perception of it’s meaning has changed.
I love words. I love how we can change a context and a certain word can change our inner worlds. „We change“, „I“, „you“… I’ve already mentioned on this blog that when I write „you“ or „we“ I mean „I“. And I find the „I“ in other people’s posts. Mirrors all around.
So I’m discovering many mirrors on Twitter. Some of them might not even be aware how some of their tweets (!) might have reflected or brought a smile to an unknown face. There are many things we don’t need to know as there are many we benefit from by bringing them into our daily awareness. It’s all about balancing between the known and unknown. All we need comes our way, anyway. Sometimes it takes chasing Kairos’ hair yet those moments of avoiding a touch of serendipitous moment are also challenges to learn from, so there is a gain in every way.
A few days on Twitter already brought me some new challenges, i.e. some new opportunities to question several patterns I’ve previously chosen to explore.
Also, as previously on the network called „Facebook“, some friends get reconnected via Twitter and searching on certain topic can bring more interesting/useful results on Twitter than on other search engines as far as time efficiency is concerned.
All in all, I’ve decided I like it so far. As long as I do, I’ll see it as a contribution to this time and space, another way of people sharing their thoughts, exchanging ideas, learning, finding new peers, connecting and reconnecting.
Yes, of course, element of fun must be included and so far it is so.
There. I think this might be the longest text I’ve posted on this blog so far. Thoughts described with so many words usually don’t end up on my blogs, why now? Hm… Now, there is a challenge: analyzing that in less than 140 characters?
Sharing is caring.
May be if we decide that’s what it means to us and allow it. We get what we focus on, anyway 
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