I met someone a few weeks ago…someone I had first met on Twitter.
Then this morning, when posting to a Facebook conversation he said,
“it was as if we already knew each other. We have a lot in common, teaching in Christian schools, being really involved in using and teaching about technology in education. It’s fun to meet someone for the first time and recognize them and already know who they are.”
And I wonder what our Twitter personality is saying about who we really are…..and is it a fair and more importantly, is it a TRUE representation.
I have found that it is totally unfair for me to assume that a “twitter friendship” extends to a “F2F friendship” though I have to admit that several times that has taken place.
But if somone had to judge you (or judge me) completely on our twitter presence, oh for me, that could be quite scary. (smiles)
I wander in and out, over react, under react, laugh too much, give unsolicited advice, miss the inuendos, join conversations mid-stream, leave conversations mid-stream, read between the lines, don’t follow everyone who follows me, and eavesdrop on people who I don’t follow and don’t follow me sometimes just out of curiousity. Hmmm, what does that say about me?
And then my picture. Though I have been told it is a nice picture…….it is an old picture. Taken in 2005. Hmmm, why isn’t it current. Does the twitter picture really matter? Does it matter if it is a comic, or a picture of your kid, or or or….. ? Just wondering what the picture indicates.
And then what about the background and color scheme? Have you gone to one of those “all about me” background which is a tiny resume or does your background represent something meaningful to you. Or, do you not even have time to even think about tweaking your background. My background right now is a winter scene (surprise surprise) but I would like one of those new fangled ones, but can’t make it look right on different screen resolutions. (oh, no, now there is something else reveealed about me.)
And I am not even going to spend time on the following versus followers……..but does that say something about me?
Though I am not dwelling on this, I am just thinking………what, if twitter was the ONLY way people knew of you, what would they know of you??
Just wondering.
Jen
Jen, these are excellent questions. One to to also consider is that heavy Twitter users are usually using a platform other than the Twitter home page. Many use TweetDeck or Twirhl for example. These don’t show backgrounds, and the pictures are small. What matters for me is the learning and sharing. It’s those 140 characters. The rest doesn’t matter to me.
@Rob
Interesting, I didn’t even think of twitter platforms. Probably because I am a twitter.com kinda gal……have really tried too many other options.
Thanks for taking the time to post.
Jen
You’re right, Jen. What can 140 characters reveal about the real you? I think it’s the mere volume of the posts that allow us to paint a picture and potential friendship with someone. However, I did my first “pocast” and shared it with people I work with. Their first response was “That’s not you. Where’s your passion? Your energy?” So, I’m thinking that your true voice, your true personality, the true you comes through the confidence you have in the tools you use. With that comfort level comes you–I’m not there yet.
Jen,
These are excellent questions. Sometimes I feel the same way when I comment on others’ blogs! Should I do this? Am I intruding? Am I able to communicate my ideas in a manner that truly reflects what I think? Did I interpret the writer correctly? All of that! And I particularly worry whether I’m writing my blog posts well enough for readers to know me as an educator…since I’m somewhat new at this.
But I also think that over time…watching tweets, reading blogs, following conversations…we tend to get a feel for the people writing them, at least a little bit. I don’t know. It’s certainly an interesting question. I do know that a few months back when you responded to some of my educational questions/concerns so spot on, I thought we had similar experiences and ideas and that it would’ve been fun to chat f2f. Perhaps I can catch you at ICE next week! Either way, good luck!