Time for a Reality Check

As you know I love Twitter. I have mild to severe addiction for the Social Media application. Do I need an intervention? Probably, but I won’t go quietly. Twitter has helped me connect with wonderful people. 140-character limit that embodies Twitter has provided a wonderful tool for writers. You learn to edit your messages (tweets) to others quite efficiently when using the application. This is invaluable when editing your stories, articles, or blog posts.

To enjoy Twitter you must be real. If you decide to imitate, fake or pretend to be something you are not, you will get called on it. Eventually your true colours will reveal themselves. Which leads me to my point. I am a true believer in following people who interest me. And for the most part, I am fine with them not following me back. Simply put, I chose them. At times I find uniqueness in their bios, or tweets or even their websites, and once in awhile, when I am really lucky I find a fantastic combination of all three. These are all aspects on how I determine whether or not to follow you.

Sorry, one other factor, kind of major really, – if someone I have grown to respect recommends another person to me, there is an excellent chance that I will follow. I do not expect people to follow me back right away without doing the same background check. Numbers do not guarantee enjoyment on Twitter. Do not just limit yourself to like-minded individuals expand your range. The chance to learn and grow is vast.

Recently I started to follow a wonderful group of women. Again I chose each of them for their uniqueness on how they viewed the world. I would catch their tweets in my stream and at times jump in, to share my thoughts. Then a few days ago I realized something. I wanted each of them to connect with me. And when they did not, it bothered me.

I was trying too hard.

And then it hit me and not in the wonderful “AH HA” Oprahesque moment, but rather in “I think there is a crazed axe murder standing behind me” kind of way. What hit me was a simple truth, I do not stress about being liked by others. I never have. Writing has always fueled my belief in myself.

So why did I suddenly care about the opinions of these women? Excellent question. Maybe I was in need for a specific community on Twitter, one that was going through some of the same issues as I was. What caused me to think about all of this, was a few days ago, I sent an @ reply to two of members in the group, and it was ignored. Whether or not their Tweet stream was inundated at the time is not the point. The women were not interested in what I had to say. Guess what….Fair enough! There is nothing wrong with that. Nor am I upset with any of them. I was upset with myself. Upset that I allowed myself to become something I am not….An Unrealistic Follower. I expected more than the group was willing to give. When you follow someone and they decide to follow you back, that does not instantly make you BFFs. In fact only time and tweets may grant that title. If that is what you desire. 

Do I still have these women in my follow group you bet I do! As I said before, I chose them. What I took from this experience as I continue to pave my way on Twitter is that I will remember to keep myself in check, write everyday and…

Love who I Am, Admire what I Believe In and Cherish all that I Accomplish.