Love!

I'm sort of kind of in love.  I wouldn't say obsessed, but I'm most definitely a HUGE fan. This new fascination takes up way too much of my time.  I have it up on my computer all day long and if I'm not in front of my computer, it's up on my phone.  I quote it.  I reference it.  I even blog about it, apparently.

Twitter.  Why are you so addictive?

I'm usually slow on the uptake.  I take a long time to come around to things.  Facebook was out for years before I begrudgingly joined.  I was forced into Pinterest.  And Twitter was just another on the long list of un-needed social networks that I was convinced would die a quick death.  Also, who wants to follow what everyone is doing every second of every day?

I do, apparently.

On paper, it does sound ridiculous, doesn't it?  140 characters to tell people how you're feeling at this particular moment.  Anyone can join and you don't have to give someone access to your account - the entire world can see it if they want to.  Dangerous, to say the least.  And there are some seriously crazy people on Twitter that exploit this fact to no end.

But there are some super clever people too.  They are the reason I love it so much.

I'm one of those very picky Twitter-ers (still haven't gotten the lingo down).  I only follow very specific people or organizations.  I have to know the people - more specifically, I have to want to know the people I'm following. In other words, half of Hollywood and Geekdom - in my fantasy life, we're all besties!

I also don't tweet - like at all.  My last witty retort was a glowing review of Amy Poehler's book -  last month.  And yet I still have followers.  Why?  I'm super curious about this.  I'm a nobody.  I don't even RT things - I favorite things.  I feel it's the lowest fault of all the things you can do on Twitter.  If you favorite something that's also been favorited by like 3000 other people - there's no drawing attention to yourself.  (I said I loved Twitter, I didn't say I trusted it...)  No one cares that I had a great doughnut in Austin or read a great book, not even my friends half the time, so then why would someone follow me?  Or most importantly, how did they know to follow me?  I'm a little in the dark about the whole process...

But that doesn't stop me from doing the same each day.  What's most ridiculous, if you look at at my profile, is the range of people I follow.  There's no rhyme or reason to it.  (Ok there's a little rhyme or reason, like the cast of an entire show) but mostly it's a hodge podge of crazy characters that I know entirely too much about.  For instance, I follow:

BBC News: I receive 99.9% of my news from the BBC.  It's the only news station I follow.  I was way more in the know about the Scottish Referendum and the Parliamentary Election than I was for the 2012 Presidential Election.

Travel Sites: I'm especially fond of Airfare Watchdog and Budget Traveller.  Great information that totally fuels my Wanderlust.

Travel specific Sites: Just as I know a little too much British news, I also know a little too much of what's going on in Austin Texas, and London England.  I don't follow a single Maryland travel site, but I know exactly what's happening at all hours of the day in Austin and London.

Supernatural Cast: The cast is HUGE and I follow all of them - even the writers, producers and other Fangirls.  It's so weird but I swear to god, every single one of them is clever, witty and all out hilarious.

Food: Lots of Chefs & Food Writers including Bourdain, Bayless, CharmCityCook (Fun fact: I saw her at a food event last month and only recognized her because of her Twitter profile picture!), Ripert, Blais, Reichl, Collicchio, as well as restaurants (some in Maryland, some not so much...)

Randomness: Jenny Colgan (the writer of my favorite set of Brit books), Doctor Who Online, The Geekiary, Etsy, GISHWHES, Random Acts, the National Theatre (in England!), Ellen Degeneres, Michael's (as in the craft store), and about 100 other various actors, charities, and writers. 

Like I said, it's a mixed bag.  But you know what?  At least one of them makes me smile or laugh out loud every morning, which is what I'm assuming Mr. Twitter (I'm guessing this isn't the CEO's real name...) had in mind when he came up with this ridiculous idea in the first place.  Thank goodness for that, because honestly, I'm not sure what I'd do all day without it (which isn't as sad as it sounds, I promise : )