What I Learnt From Twitter

Most people who know me will know I love Twitter, and so over a year after joining, I have decided to dedicate a whole blog to the things I have learnt since joining Twitter.


I'll start with the time before I actually joined. Twitter was one of those things that very quickly became something you couldn't avoid. It burrowed its way into popular culture, aided by many "celebs" along the way. I think I first became aware of the site when Stephen Fry discussed it with Jonathan Ross on his BBC talk show. It wasn't enough to peak my interest though, really. Over the following months it would be forced upon me, through the medium of radio. Radio 1 was a station I (used to, anyway) listen to a lot, and as the big shows (Chris Moyles for instance) started to utilise its power, I became curious. Well, before curious I became angry. Many of the show's features were using twitter, despite the minute proportion of the show's audience that actually used the site, leaving to a lot of feeling left out if were to even remotely understand what it was they were talking about. "Trending topics" came up more and more frequently, and celebrity interviews would be littered with "are you on twitter?" and the giving out and sharing of twitter handles, who has more followers etc etc. Then the Twitter boom took off, and you couldn't watch a TV show without them mentioning Twitter, listen to a podcast without them mentioning their twitter, or keep up to date with anything pop culture without having Twitter. And so after speaking to a few friends and seeing whether it was worth the fuss, I, too, joined Twitter.


At first I started out with a small number of followers, who were just my friends, and I protected my tweets. I saw my page as a simple version of Facebook, where I could update my thoughts and feelings, maybe slightly more frequently than I do my Facebook status, which I rarely do to this day. Having a limited audience made it more cosy, a friendlier atmosphere than Facebook where anyone and everyone can see what you're up to these days. I'd found plenty of people to follow, a lot of them related to Harry Potter, as the fan sites and film stars were some of the accounts I most wanted to follow before joining. And I started enjoying the site. Trending topics became my way of keeping up with breaking news, and I came across new websites/artists/people whose tweets interested me, and my following count started to grow. But it wasn't until May of this year that I really started to see the benefits of Twitter, and how it can be used for good.

As it was well documented on this very blog, M.E Awareness Week took place during May, as it does every year. This was the first M.E Awareness Week where I had Twitter at my disposal as a tool for raising awareness and promoting good causes. I chose to unprotect my tweets so that the public could read them, therefore spreading the message even wider. It also provided the ability for people to retweet my tweets (something not available when tweets are protected) as well as being able to communicate with people who aren't following me (again, not available when tweets are protected). I, and others, had taken on the task of sharing round this M.E Awareness video made by the lovely Daisy. How would we get the video out there? Well, by tweeting celebrities of course! If we could get this message to appear on the profiles of people with tens, if not thousands of followers, then we were exposing that video to a huge audience. Of course not all of them are going to click the link, but certainly a good proportion of them might show some interest. As you can see by the number of views on that video (now over 9000 which is phenomenal) the video was a huge success, and a large part of that is down to Twitter, the the celebs who were kind enough to retweet mine, and other people's tweets.

Straight after awareness week, I protected my tweets again. "Online safety!" called the little voice inside my head, but I had witnessed the power of Twitter, and that played on my mind for some time. Now I have my tweets unprotected, and find I get so much more enjoyment out of Twitter. I can interact with more people, which involves speaking to people all over the world. I can get my voice heard, people occasionally retweet my tweets (who knew I had anything of value to say?!) and so my message was spread further. I can talk and communicate with people who are similar to me, and I find all sorts of interesting people through looking at my followers.

There are downsides to Twitter, however, as with all things in life. These days it is near impossible to log on and take a read through the trending topics without seeing something that has been put there by a select group of fans. These are usually teenage fans, those who idolise singers/actors etc to the point of hysteria. I'm not saying all fans of these people are awful, you can't paint everyone with the same brush, but on the whole, some of the trending topics can seem immature and frankly annoying. I think back to the time I was a teenager, and I certainly idolised a few people in my time. At secondary school, the inside of my locker was plastered with pictures of Avril Lavigne. After that it was Green Day, whose lyrics were scribbled all over my pencil case with pride. Of course in those days, we didn't have social networking (I know, unbelievable! How did we ever cope?!) and so doodling on your school books or wearing a band t-shirt, and of course annoying your friends in person by referencing said band/actor in every conversation, were the ways to express yourself. It's hard to say whether, if I'd had Twitter at the time, I would have used it to the same ends as teenage fans today, maybe I would have. But if I bring it back to an Internet safety issue, would my parents have let me set up a Twitter page, open to the public, dedicated to a band I loved? Some of these kids who are gathering hundreds, if not thousands of followers, through promoting and adoring some teenage heartthrob, are so young! Anybody could be following them or contacting them. The thought does scare me a little.

Back to trending topics. There are so many better ways for the power of them to be harnessed than declaring love for some boy band. When I first joined, you could look there and see the breaking news stories of the day, from all over the world. They can be the first point of information for protests, government uprisings in other countries, natural disasters the world is just coming to learn about. All of these things seem so much more important than who is fitter than who, or what so and so had for breakfast.

So, what have I learnt from Twitter? That you can use it as a platform for good, and that there are some truly awesome people in the world. That is is one of the best ways to access information, whether it be news or updates about your friends or favourite celebrities. That you can raise awareness of important issues, and get global attention. And also, that teenagers in great numbers are a force to be reckoned with.

I really would recommend anyone who is stuck in the dark ages and therefore doesn't have a Twitter profile, to get one and get involved. Don't want the world knowing your business or worried about safety online? Protect your tweets! Tell your kids to protect their tweets! Block creepy people! The great thing about Twitter is that even if you don't have a great deal to say, other people do, and if you're not following them then you really should be. Look up your favourite singers, politicians, sportsmen and women, news channels, podcasts, websites, shops or people interested in the same things as you and learn what they have to say.

My "thing worth sharing" is http://www.podcastawards.com/ because you should all go and vote for Hogwarts Radio in the Entertainment catergory, yes you should! Also I added a Twitter follow button to this blog, so if you like what you see then you can more random bitesize chunks of my ramblings by following me there :)

Until next time,

Sarah x

Planning, Planning, Planning

So today I'm sitting here, not able to do a lot besides chill in bed with my laptop due to a dodgy hip. Whether it's the cold weather, too much walking, too little walking or just plain M.E being mysterious that has caused the pain and discomfort, I'm not sure. I get a fair bit of trouble with my joints, pain, weakness etc so I'm not too worried about it, it's just a bit of an inconvenience.

It does, however, give me time to blog! Hurrah. And so I thought I'd update on how my NaNoWriMo planning is going so far. The answer is surprising okay! I have a lot of plot information written down, as well as details about my characters. I've drawn some maps of locations used in my story, and have the chapters outlined.

Chapter outlining turned out to be the hardest part. I know I have a lot of specific events in my story that will have dedicated chapters, but when I first tried to plan each chapter I stalled at a total of eleven chapters, which isn't nearly enough. Following advice from others, I've set myself a goal of thirty chapters so I can write a chapter a day, or I can hope to at least. I have one thing on my side, and that is that I know the ending of my story. I've had this idea for a long time but have stalled when attempting to write it down, so I'm itching for November to begin so I can get going!

Of course this could all change come November. I'm still facing the problem of worrying my health will get in the way. If it does, then my health comes first and I won't finish. It's not a big deal, I'm only really doing this for fun after all! But who knows whether my weak wrists or difficulty with concentration will just make things too hard, time will tell.

One thing I am trying to do in the build up is make sure I'm writing each day, so this can be my writing for today. Hey, it's not particularly interesting writing, but it's practice at typing which is one thing I'm going to need. I also picked up a copy of the Guardian newspaper today, well my parents did, as they do every week. Included is a brilliant "How to Write Fiction" pull out section, which has some really wonderful trips and hints for writing, and includes several writing exercises which I will certainly be giving a go.

One thing I'm getting from NaNoWriMo before it's even started is the great sense of community. I've had a quick browse of the forums, where everybody seems friendly and supportive. I'm happy to share support with fellow participants on Twitter, so anybody who stumbles across this blog can find me at http://twitter.com/thatsizgirl I'll probably add a little Twitter widget to my blog as well for anyone who wants to keep track of my progress.

I'm entering this project as a complete novice writer really. It's something I enjoy, but not something I have any real formal experience with. My qualifications are limited (albeit through no fault of my own) but what better way of learning a craft than throwing yourself in at the deep end? I hope to add a few updates to my progress on this blog, I'm certainly excited about it. I just hope my enthusiasm will last until November!

For a "thing worth sharing" I have to direct people to BBC Iplayer to look up Stephen Fry's brilliant show on language Planet Word. As an ex-English Language student, this show has reignited my love of all things language, and it's a must watch for everybody. Episode three was hilarious so I shall link to that, it's also the most recent - http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01614w9/

Until next time!

Sarah x

Update - NaNoWriMo and Other Stuff.

I am a bad blogger, a really bad blogger.

Like, really bad.

I've spent my summer trying to find the perfect balance between not staying in when I have the energy to go out, and not going out too much. I'm not going to complain about this, because to be getting out regularly with M.E is a huge blessing and achievement, and I'm extremely grateful for how stable my health is at the moment. I have also taken on a little volunteer position for one of my favourite podcasts - Hogwarts Radio - as a transcriber, which is all kinds of awesome. So things are good.

I still have plenty of ideas for how to raise awareness using this blog, and aim to do a new M.E Awareness post very soon. In the mean time, my birthday is this month (I'm getting old!) and I have somehow agreed to take part in this year's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and so a few things are on the horizon for me, all of which I hope to document on this here blog.

In the meantime, for more frequent updates then keep an eye on my other online haunts -

http://www.goodreads.com/thatsizgirl
http://twitter.com/thatsizgirl
http://postpottersyndrome.tumblr.com

- where I shall be available in more frequent, shorter bursts :)

And I hope to blog again soon! So stick with me :)

Today's "thing worth sharing" is a special one - http://www.helpharryhelpothers.com/ - go and help this kid make a difference, he's inspirational.

Until next time,

Sarah x