A couple of months ago I did the previously unthinkable (for
me) and finally joined twitter. My initial reasoning was to gain access to
another service that required a twitter account. I planned to barely use it.
However, as the weeks have gone on I have found myself using it more and more
to follow interesting people and organisations. I had no idea that one of my
personal heroes, Richard Wiseman would be on there (@RichardWiseman) and
naturally he got a follow; as did Bear Grylls (@BearGrylls)
Straight after signing up I was terrified that I would be
dragged into new social situations and whilst I still have no doubt that that
would be possible, I have kept a fairly low profile. I didn’t tweet for the
first few weeks, and then slowly tweeted a bit more as time went on. My profile,
initially non-descript has been updated slowly and cautiously, though I will
never give my full name.
I will never be a fully-fledged
tweeter, but it has been and continues to be an important social experiment for
me. I am in control of how much I metaphorically dip my toe into the pool. When
I feel threatened by sudden social advances I can withdraw. I am learning some
useful lessons. I have followers and follow people who I correspond with fairly
regularly. It gives me the chance to learn about other cultures without the
need for anxiety inducing travel or awkward face to face conversations. I use
my phone for something other than emergency calls or browsing the web.
Most people wouldn’t see this as a huge change, but for me
it has been fairly significant. If it had occurred in 24 hours, it would have
caused me a nervous breakdown. But as it has been a slow and steady change over
months, it has been manageable. This all confirms my theory that changes in my
life are best made slowly and carefully. Oh and I am still never, ever joining
Facebook. That is a promise.
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