Falling In Love - In 140 Characters (or less)

Most of you know that I’m on Twitter. Many of you know me BECAUSE I’m on Twitter. Twitter has been a huge adventure for me. If you had told me a year ago that I would have a Twitter account that I spent hours on every day, I’d have thought you were crazy! No way that was going to happen! I didn’t even understand how Twitter worked! Like chat, only to the whole world??? What on earth would make me want to do that???

I actually got started on Twitter at a conference. Some folks from UW Milwaukee gave a presentation about how they were using Twitter to increase communication on campus. As a demo, they set up a hashtag to tweet conference information. Since I always hate to be left out of anything, I decided to give it a try. At first I was pretty shy – I only tweeted once, when asked to by the session moderator. And actually, for quite some time after that, I didn’t do much – I followed a few people from UWM that I knew – then found a few others. I never seemed to think I had anything to say, so I pretty much just lurked. Then, oddly enough, some people found me – local people at first – and I started following them, too. One of them, a really smart funny guy named Denny Griffin, who goes by the twitter name of @wipoolplayer, tweeted some really interesting facts, quotes, music, etc., and I started to RT (re-tweet) him. Soon, I was finding other interesting people through him, and it sort of snowballed from there.

I have met some wonderful people on Twitter – some local, some that I will probably never meet IRL (in real life), but who have become more dear to me than I would ever have I imagined. One of them, a lovely incredible woman named Bev Wallace (@nursebevw on twitter) has become perhaps the closest female friend I have ever had. Bev is amazing for many reasons – she is a former nurse who can no longer work due to pain caused by Celiac Disease, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Since she can’t work, she has channeled her considerable talent and energy into trying to help others. She has founded a charity called “Crafters With Love” (www.crafterswithlove.com) and has recruited others to assist as well. Many days, she runs things from her bed, with a laptop and a telephone. I can’t tell you how honored I was when she asked me to sit on her board of directors – as vice president, no less! Bev and I talk many times each day, mostly on twitter, sometimes via email. I’ve also become close to the rest of the wonderful, talented Crafters With Love group – John Lusher (@johnlusher), Roxie Hobart (@petpaint) and Amy Walker (@ivysunny). These people are all amazing in their own ways, and honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better group of friends and associates. And in most cases, I’ve gotten to know them only on Twitter, where each thing you say (tweet) has to be 140 characters or less.

Imagine if you had to speak to people in only sentences limited to 140 characters. (There is a very funny youtube video on that subject, by the way). But that’s the way it is, and we’ve all been doing it. I’ve seen friendships begin and flourish – I’ve even seen new love relationships begin. I have, myself, recently met someone who I am beginning to feel very close to – and who knows where it might lead? And it all began with 140 character tweets – funny, sad, silly, boring, interesting, friendly, angry – you name it. I’ve met local people that I dearly love, but might never have run across any other way – like my dear friend Stacy Snook (@stacysnook) who I just met in person for the first time last night, at a “TweetUp” that she and two other locals, Jenna Borum (@chivetalker) and Chad Schomber (@chadschomber) organized at a downtown brewpub. Stacy is also an amazing person – a mother, wife, business owner, and cancer survivor. She and I are looking forward to getting to know each other better in person, as well as tweeting each other pretty much every day. And I met other terrific people there as well – a group from Milwaukee came in and were definitely the life of the party! It was a wonderful evening which left me feeling blessed to find new friends.

The bottom line for me is that, much like FaceBook, Twitter is about connecting. One difference is that on FaceBook, you mostly connect with people you already know. With Twitter, you are connecting with a whole world of people, most of whom you DON’T know. So yes, you have to be careful – there are some sick, twisted people out there – and some people who use others with no regard for their feelings – they are people trying to get you to look at the slutty pictures, sell you teeth whiteners or any of a million things, and invest in their ground floor “opportunities”. There are chances for misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and anger. It is not a world for children. But for me at least, the opportunities to have my life enriched far outweigh the negatives. So, in the final analysis, Twitter is about finding people you can love and support, and who will do the same for you.