Blind date
I joined Twitter in 2009 because everyone was talking about it.
To be honest, I thought it was a total waste of time. I didn’t do much beyond sign up. It just seemed to be a place where people bragged about themselves. Why on earth would people want to know what I had had for breakfast? Or indeed, that I was fed up coz my 2 year old had just refused to eat his dinner? It was a bit like meeting a bloke for the first time, and thinking that they were just a bit of a show-off.
First impressions count and all that.
But, when I started my KiddyCharts business in May this year, someone said I would have to get onto Twitter. If you ran your own business, it’s just what you did. Why on earth should I bother? I didn’t like it the first time, so why should I now.
Getting to know you
This time though, instead of just turning up for a bit of a blind date with Twitter, I tried to get to know it a bit first. I read about it. I’m good at that, in my former life I was a tweed-skirted librarian, don’t you know. So, I researched it, and slowly started to feel a bit more comfortable.
I set up an ID (@KiddyCharts), and I started tweeting. I was a bit nervous at first; isn’t everyone on their first date? But my tweets improved and my follower numbers grew. Not only that, but the people I met on there, weren’t just telling me what they had for breakfast, they were sharing useful information with me, making me laugh and helping me when I had a problem. We were actually having a bit of fun this time around. Though the first time had been nervy, we were actually getting to like each other’s company.
We have now been dating for about 9 months, and I am definitely getting into Twitter a lot more. I can be seen tweeting in strange places and at strange times of day. As a working mother, I have to tweet when I can, and that sometimes includes in the loo, under the duvet, and while making the kids their toast. Though I do have to make sure I don’t then put the iPhone in the toaster accidentally….
Frankly, I am enjoying Twitter this time around. There is no-one more surprised about that than me. I am finding it wonderful to meet other people who struggle as much as I do to juggle everything in their lives, whether its kids, work, or both.
From infatuation to married life
I had expected that Twitter would be a passing craze; just a bit of a quick flirtation. From those first unsure steps when I really judged Twitter before even trying it, I am now totally infatuated with it. But I am still not there yet by any means.
Infatuation isn’t a healthy thing. You are bordering on the obsessed, and sometimes you have to step back and rein things in. That’s where I am with Twitter now. I love it, but I am having to make sure I don’t spend too much time on it. There is no point checking my stats every day. Do I really need Twitter on all the time, or should I just be checking my stream and Twitter lists twice a day for the interesting stuff?
I shall be spending the next few months continuing to work out where this relationship is headed. I need to decide when to meet up with Twitter and for how long. I probably need to reduce the amount of time I spend with it too. Twitter and I need to move past infatuation, and into married life.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!