Someone on Twitter reminded me that today marks my one year anniversary since becoming a member of the Twitterati. Quite strange that it’s been a year, and boy how it has changed my life.
Before Twitter, the extent of social media that I knew was Facebook and the blog that I kept to keep in touch with friends and family during my Peace Corps service. Someone I knew was talking up the benefit of this micro-blogging device and I figured I would give it a shot. It took a while to become accustomed to the idea, and I was rather skeptical of this “status portion of Facebook” thing.
After the initial period of adjustment, I became enthralled by this world of never-ending information. 24 hours a day, there are people from all corners of the world expressing their thoughts and sharing new information in various languages. I was hooked!
Meanwhile, people seem to be equally interested in my tweets about life in a village of Cameroon that doesn’t have running water but has access to the Internet. The National Peace Corps Association approached me to write a piece in the WorldView magazine about my Twitter usage. Via Twitter, I also became connected with other volunteers around the world who are also tweeting about their experiences.
Besides Peace Corps volunteers, I came in touch with interesting people of ALL kinds all across the world. Social media enthusiast, excited Gen Y who shares thoughts on humanitarian issues, American blogging about her experience at the LSE, a young yogini who promotes a healthy lifestyle, and so many more. These wonderful individuals have inspired me to incorporate social media into my life and share my own experiences!
Information sharing is wonderful, and I’m so glad to be living in this era in history where the Internet facilitates this process and brings wonderful people in the world closer to one another than ever before!
What are your experiences with Twitter and other social media tools?
