It seems that few of my friends are on Twitter. I like Twitter. It is fun to make comments ("tweets") that are short, 140 characters including spaces. [152 is the count so far in this document.] When I first joined, I got messages and read books about Twitter that urged a user to write what was happening. There was a New Yorker cartoon showing a man getting on the train saying "I am getting on the train". Later, he took a seat and said,"I am taking a seat." I didn't get into that business, didn't seem right. On Twitter, you get to search out and "follow" people so that any Tweets from them appear in your Twitter feed (line of Tweets you see when you sign in). I like to follow people who seem interesting and my choices are often writers and journalists. I am following 888 people and 142 people follow me.
I am pretty sure that the people who follow me are not interested in tweets that say "I just brushed my teeth" or "I am tired today."
I use a combination of "Goodreads", a book recommendation service, and "Twitter" and Amazon Kindle to tweet passages of books that seem especially good in one way or another. The other day I saw the little white bluebird in a circle beside an article in the Time daily e-newsletter. The article included a chart of all the ways Mars would try to kills us. Clicking on the Twitter symbol brought up a Tweet form with an embedded shortened link. I added a short comment and Tweeted:
This graphic shows how Mars will try to kill us if we ever get there http://ti.me/1FGrLWa via @TIME Heather Jones, Jeffrey Kluger
A shortened link can be made with Google Shortener.
Today, I was vacuuming and thinking of a tweet that said "I was ridiculed for buying an expensive vacuum but my parents have replaced their cheaper one several times while mine is still going." I realized that a simple comment like that takes courage to post but I have found that sometimes, a very basic message brings up surprisingly deep thoughts in some of those who get it. I have been pondering costs, expenses, quality and length of serviceable life ever since.
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