Twists of Twitter -

A Twitter Journey -

A-ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ of Twitter Twists!

A. You hear about other people using Twitter - and you say thanks but no thanks.

B. Then serious programmes on the telly start to say things like - you can tweet us @XXXX - you wonder what is wrong with text and email - why are these things not enough?

C. People like Susan Boyle become an overnight success because Demi Moore sends out a tweet and her Xfactor audition has so many downloads the system nearly crashes - you begin to ask  yourself it there more to this tweeting than you might have thought.

D. All the kids start doing it - a sure sign that something is afoot - then political programmes like Tonight with Vincent Browne has a special section just on tweets and twitter.

E. You think about facebook and blogging and email, worrying about how much more time Twitter will take up, but already you are hooked because after all, wondering about something is the first step to crossing the line.

F. You continue to resist - think about setting up an anti-twitter campaign - you know you hate being one of a crowd and there is all this jargon about followers - as if this Twitter thing could be the beginning of a commune - who is following who and why?

G. Then you decide definitely, it is not for you.

H. Someone then says - 'It's all very well you blogging, but tweeting is where it is at - if you are not on Twitter, well you are simply not on.'

I. You decide to give it a go - after all what can be the harm of it.

J. Registered-you think long and hard about your first tweet - you want to put your best foot/tweet forward.

K. You send out a deep and meaningful quote conscious that someone you do not know could read it and have a life changing experience.

L. No one notices - so you wait and wait - nothing happens.

M. You decide to give up, become one of the millions who has treaded this path before and dismissed the idea.

N. Then you get a follower, you are not really sure how or why but you start thinking about it again - you send out another tweet.

O. You contact everyone you know to see if they are on Twitter - you follow them.

P. You send out bulk emails to all the people in your email address book, your followers increase.

Q. Every morning you wonder, do I have another follower?

R. You discover tweeting is all about mentions and RT's - and thanking people - because thanking people does more than just say thanks, it spreads the word.

S. Your tweets increase, you start to make 'friends' on Twitter, you have personal conversations with pictures which might not even be of those you are tweeting with.

T. You decide that your children should NOT tweet - after all what if that nice granny turns out to be an axe murderer.

U. Then you dig deeper because suddenly you are up and really running, you follow @stranger @interesting picture @newslink @thingstodoinyourcity.

V. You tell all your friends about how great Twitter is - raise your eyebrows in surprise when someone is not on it and say, 'It's all very well you blogging, but tweeting is where it is at - if you are not on Twitter, well you are simply not on.'

W. You give tutorials on your blog about 'Lists' because so many people don't understand them.

X. You start getting up extra early so that you can send out your #FF - follow fridays.

Y. Then start wondering about doing a blog post about controlling your time on twitter.

Z.  You stop talking to your actual friends because well this tweeting is important stuff.

ZZ. You stop and think - decide to ease up a bit.

ZZZ. Your followers are not increasing the way they did before, you think about how you liked all those gold star stickers at school.

ZZZZ. You set up autotweets - saves time - makes sense.

ZZZZZ.  By now you have everyone in lists - but your list of blog pals is so long you rarely get to visit @stranger @interesting picture @newslink @thingstodoinyourcity.

ZZZZZZ. Your son tells you -'Mam I think you might have a Twitter problem.'

ZZZZZZZ. You deny this, but secretly wonder - and as you know wondering is the beginning of crossing the line.

ZZZZZZZZ. So you ease up again - limit your time - hope you have got the balance right.

ZZZZZZZZZ. You do a blog post about your A-Z Twitter journey.

ZZZZZZZZZZ. And wonder where it will all end up?

ZZZZZZZZZZZ. You shut down the computer - tell yourself you can do this.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ. You switch the computer back on again.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Wonder if you are the only one hooked.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. After blogging about this, you tweet about it.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Start to get excited about Twitter all over again.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. And so the journey continues!!!!!!

Let me know how you are all getting on......................