RobinsonS

The Bootlegged from CBGBs Album

I first heard of Twitter in 2007 when a friend (@benfu) was moving to San Francisco to work for Twitter. On persuasion and slight intrigue I signed up and sent out my first Tweet saying I didn’t understand. I don’t think I’m in a minority by saying that I didn‘t quite understand at first and by also sending out a “what‘s the deal with Twitter“ type message as my first. Twitter was described as 'microblogging', and this term appealed to me.

Tweeting is simple and easy. Almost too easy in some ways, but I'm always mindful of ‘going to work’ / ’arrived at work’ type Tweets*. The anonymity was part of the appeal, sending nonsense out there to no one in particular and as @suzicre's bio puts it "...it's like opening the front door and yelling short statements out to random passers-by". As I began following and in turn getting followers I always tried (and still do) to Tweet as if I had (have) none.

As I continued with Twitter I learnt more about how it worked, and how others were using it. I found some interesting people to follow, and some I still do**, others I’ve stopped following for various reasons. The beauty of Twitter is that it doesn’t matter if you do Tweet ‘going to work’, some people may still follow you, and it doesn’t matter if you follow every Tweeter on the planet occasionally catching something interesting. It’s open, and should stay so, one can always choose not to follow. I've read quite a few blog posts on 'how to use Twitter' and on the whole I think they are a bit unnecessary, unless you're a confused marketeer.

There are a lot of Christians doing a great job and it's been through Twitter I've been fortunate enough to read of their work and hear their musings. In the real world, I find the majority of Christian behaviour and presence quite bizarre, and somewhat distracting, so not just relying on the likes of Adrian Plass has been quite refreshing.

I have engaged with, and learnt from, some truly great people (not just Christians), I won't embarrass you, but if you think it maybe you, then it probably is.

* These always look like alibis to me
** You’re welcome