Thursday, January 12, 2012

Twitter bringing the world together?

When I first started using Twitter, I soon got very bored of it. This was in the very early days of it before it became a bit more mainstream. I wasn’t following many people and I wasn’t being followed back. I gave up.

Then went to a conference and met up with some guys from Stratford-upon-Avon council who were raving about Twitter. I gave it another go. I followed them. They followed me back. I saw they had followers from other councils and so my network increased. I now have two accounts, (one normal and one for my beer friends) and I'm loving it..

But I do feel that I may not be making the most of it. The people I follow and follow me all have something in common with me. Either we both work for Councils, or we both love technology, or both have a love of aircraft, trains, buses or beer. And all on them are UK based.

When I was younger I had a pen-friend in the Netherlands, we used to chat about things in our respective countries. OK we were both aircraft buffs as well, but I hope you get my point. I was learning about other cultures etc. Twitter is used all over the world. There are many people from many different backgrounds and cultures but yet I still have only followers who are like me in some way. I'd be interested in know the break down of your twitter followers. Do you play "safe" like me or take the plunge and try and make friends with people from lands far, far away

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4 Comments:

At 11:42 AM, Blogger Janet E Davis said...

Maybe it reflects my eclectic interests but I have followers - and follow people - from different places and with different interests on Twitter.
Inevitably we find each other through something shared - a news item maybe, or joining in a discussion using a hashtag.
I get lots more followers from elsewhere in the world on G+ - I have no idea how or why! Initially, there were few women on G+ so maybe I had novelty value?

 
At 10:33 PM, Blogger pete said...

On the contrary, I can find Twitter sometimes overwhelming, mainly because of the really interesting stuff people link to.

I'd like to think that Twitter (perhaps more accurately, my followers) has broadened my horizons and educated me.

 
At 5:39 PM, Blogger Peter said...

Janet - I must admit I have never used G+ so don't know anything about that. I have started to follow people through a shared # tag, people that I wouldn't normally have connected with.

Pete - Don't get me wrong, I have learnt so much from the tweets of my friends on twitter. I say friends as I do regard them as such now. But I'm always eager to learn more.

 
At 6:54 PM, Blogger Louise Brown said...

When I first started using Twitter about 4 years ago it was a way for me to connect with other people working in ICT, then I started chatting to people about knitting, then about the place I was living, and then beer... and on and on. Pretty much everyone I've met I didn't know before Twitter and a lot of them have become very close friends. I just love it.

 

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