I am not an early adopter. I get curious about ideas, trends, tools, strategies, but I think, research, consider, reflect, and eventually get on board, or not, with whatever is in question. So it has been with the integration of digital tools into my personal and professional life. I opened a Twitter account in 2013 and didn't do anything with it, really, until the Fall of 2015. One day, I sat down and said ok, Twitter has something worthwhile to offer, I want to know what it's all about, and I'm going to sit down and play until I get it. I got it, at least to a certain degree, and have been active for the last year or so. Feeling out who I am in that space.
True to form, it's been the same with blogging. I opened an account, time passed. Years went by. A few failed attempts, never shared. More time passed. Finally, last September, I had something to say and out came three fairly well-formed posts on topics that I had, of course, been mulling over for sometime. Then start the clock again, tick tock.
In an attempt to deepen my understanding of the great benefits of Twitter and blogging, I took part in my first TweetChat this week. The topic: Blogging led by Bethany Hill @bethhill2829 and Connie Hamilton @conniehamilton. My goal was to give it a try, learn something, and connect a with a few more like minded folks. Intellectually, I knew that a wide world of individualized professional development existed out there in the Twitterverse and I was curious if it might hold anything for me. Like most, I hadn't really considered what I had to offer the "verse". The topic seemed safe, and interesting, as I wanted to jump start my blog again.
I had not anticipated that the effects of the chat would be so profound. I went into it with a beginner's mind. Open to the possibilities. Aside from finding my way through the chat, and the logistics of it all, there were three major impacts on my person that I can point to.
1. The community, connection, insight and support are real. I knew intellectually that Twitter held space for community and connection, but I didn't understand that on a visceral level until the chat. Sociologists like Zeynep Tufekci have argued, the dividing line between our offline lives and our online lives continues to dissolve, as online activities become intertwined with almost everything we do. There's just life and the interactions I experienced in the chat were just as authentic and real as any in-person conversation, maybe more so. I found the participants, myself included, to be open and willing to be vulnerable and of course it became evident by the comments that we all had more in common than not with our fears, shortcomings and insights about blogging.
2. I felt validated and appreciated. I had something to offer, just as all the participants did. I believe I really felt the power of social media for the first time in this chat. You can find your tribe, or tribes. If you are introverted, isolated, undervalued or can't quite find your niche in face to face situations, don't settle for that. There are online learning tribes and they are real. They will embrace you and you can do you. Kali Hawlk, a marketing manager in Georgia, landed her first client through online networking. "As someone who identifies as not only introverted, but also extremely shy, social media has been an invaluable tool to help me grow my network," Hawlk tells Fast Company. "Using Twitter... has allowed me to advance professionally much faster—and much farther—than I would have if I was limited to in-person, face-to-face networking events."
3. I felt hopeful for the future. We hear it all the time: Be the best version of yourself and the world will be a better place for it. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”--Lucille Ball Again, intellectually, I get it and I believe it, but the times I had truly felt it, were few. The type of interaction this Tweetchat offered me were healthy and healing. It's holistic. I had this feeling of euphoria, like, ah, yes, all is right with the world. When people bring forth a piece of their truth and share it with each other, we are on the right track. We can have an impact one thought, share, and hashtag at a time.
As I continue to process the effects of my first Tweetchat, my second one starts in twenty-five minutes and I have two new topics for my blog! Well, one more now.
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