Half of you already know I took the Twitter plunge. You’ll be aware because I found you and Followed you. Doesn’t that sound outrageously stalkerish? Yes, yes it does. Stalk me back! I mean, Follow me! Whatever! I don’t understand Twitter!
My experience so far has been to feverishly track down as many people as I could think to, which probably means I missed more than half the people I should have discovered. I realised I should also change the accessibility of my contact information here on my blog, because I went through my Favourite Reads list and started clicking madly away at everyone’s Twitter buttons – right on the front page of their blog. So, there I have one valuable lesson from joining Twitter. Be more accessible.
I have Followed a couple of other people who I admire, and Followed back lovely folks who have, somehow, inexplicably, found me. I suspect some of my lovely friends may have directed some of these folks in my direction, which is definitely exciting! I have had numerous inappropriate spambot type Twitter accounts Follow me, and I have rather perversely enjoyed reporting their spam as I block them. It’s the web administrator in me (over a decade of experience) taking a gleeful approach to cleaning up the website.
I think I’ve figured out some other minor things. The page is minimal, so I didn’t really bring assumptions about what I could and couldn’t do on the site, so it’s all kind of a matter of exploration for me. I know how to reply to Tweets, and re-Tweet important messages. Re-Tweeting exciting news makes me pretty happy. I also discovered I can search for myself, to see who else is talking about/to me, and search hashtags if I want to see other people’s opinions on the searched topics.
On the subject of hashtags, if you’re my Facebook Friend, you may have seen an update I made on Sunday:
I used my first real hashtags on Twitter today. That’s not supposed to feel like an accomplishment.
Yes, that’s a pretty good summary of my time on Twitter. Somehow, this simplistic little network site manages to provide me with a false sense of accomplishment when I do something new. The novelty will pass, I promise. Until then, let’s Tweet together! I still don’t understand it, but that’s okay!
~A
The Fane 
Yay! I’m glad you got an account. I was super confused at first too, but you’ll catch on quick. And yes, you should definitely have a “follow me on Twitter” widget right on the sidebar of your site. I’m happy to try to answer any questions!
Thanks, Annie! Right now I’m trying to figure out how best to find exciting new people to Follow! XD
~A
I plunged into the Twitter thing a couple years ago–and stepped back out recently.
Just not worth the time and effort for me. I know LOTS of people find it rewarding, both personally and professionally, but it didn’t do it for me. I prefer concentrating on my real writing and making connections through the blogosphere.
I may change my mind, at an agent or editor’s urging, but for now I’m on Twitter hiatus.
If you have a more positive experience, I’d be interested in hearing about it.
It’s a unique experience, that’s for sure. My most significant observation so far is the fact that I can add a comment on literally anyone’s Tweets, people I don’t know in the least, and have a really positive exchange with them come from my brief message. I’m definitely liking that about Twitter. It’s kind of like a level playing ground to meet-and-greet random people. I don’t really have preconceptions about the “marketing tool” aspect (partly because I’ve already encountered others who just Tweet about their product endlessly, and that’s no fun), so I’m treating it more as a worldwide pseudo-chatroom.
~A