I have to admit. And apologize to my faithful blog readers. I have neglected my blog because of what Larry King calls the “New Twitter Phenomenon.” I feel bad about it. I love to write and I love to process random information. When I started writing and blogging over a year ago, an idea that I adopted from my great friend Pastor Eddie Castro, I had no idea that my blog would gain any traction. Over the last year, I have received thousands of hits from countries all over the world. It has been amazing and humbling and I have discovered that it comes with a certain responsibility.
To me, Twitter is a shorter version of a blog. In fact, it was originally advertised as 140 character version of a blog. Twitter has captivated my energy for a number of reasons, but I was originally attracted to it because it gave my blog followers a closer look at my lifestyle and my ministry. I have even occasionally typed out “tweets” in church. I figure since I spend most of my time in church services, (over 300 services last year) I could share those special moments with my followers. They usually comment back with positive energy.
I was also amazed that many of my favorite preachers & teachers used Twitter as a way to connect with their followers. They post information that is useful and also inspiring. They always work from the positive. I am all about the positive energy.
Twitter can be somewhat of a mystery to some people who are first discovering its power. Just like anything on the internet, Twitter can be used as something useful or as something bad. I hope this format doesn’t get ruined like other formats such as MySpace, YouTube & Facebook (I think Facebook is still ok?) It’s all about etiquette and its all about motives. Here are some rules that I use when using Twitter:
1. Provide information. People want their information quick and easy to read. The better the info, the more followers to gain.
2. Stay positive. I like to use Twitter as a form of inspiration. I cannot even tell you how many times @JoyceMeyer or @JoelOsteen have sent a word on Twitter that has totally lifted me up at the exact moment when I needed it. My last “tweet” of the day always ends in “Elevate!” the name of my blog.
3. Don’t be too playful. The reason I say this is because, sarcasm isn’t as polite in print as compared to language. It may sound funny in your head, but it sounds rude in print. I just choose to keep it general.
4. Personal text service. My iPhone sends SMS texts to people I have stored in my phone, so I don’t need Twitter to text them. If a @comment comes in that I feel needs quick response I will respond and move on.
5. Social Networking. It seems that Twitter is becoming something more like a social networking tool, but I choose to use it for blog. Here it is: I do not hope to meet anyone that I choose to follow on Twitter, if I do great, but I like the blogging aspect. If I do know a person that follows me, I hope to enjoy the great relationships I have developed over the years with them. I don’t need Twitter to do that. I can just call them or see them when I see them.
Once agin, I apologize for the neglect of my blog. I will be back up and running after MMOV. My Super New Blog will be entitled, “Inspirations from MMOV” a blog filled with quotes from all the MMOV speakers.
ELEVATE!
May 27, 2009 at 5:24 am
I think if I had 24/7 access to twitter, I would be on there constantly. Thank God I’m still in the UTC or I would be on there trying to raise the number of followers or even try to get more creative with my sayings. But I agree with you on the point of inspiration & always a little peek at what people are doing throughout thier daily lifestyles. Great stuff!