I had a personal Twitter account with over 1200 followers. I used it for fun, adopting a “persona” that was sometimes like me and sometimes not. As my followers grew, I found myself engaging in more and more conversations. There was a lot of joking and the occasional blocking of oddballs and sleazebags. But the more followers I gained, the more I felt I needed to keep up.
I held Twitter parties where I was put in “Twitter jail” for indefinite amounts of time for over-tweeting. I actually had a backup account set up for when that happened. My followers followed my Free Me account. I started to feel like I had to answer every tweet directed to me. I was checking Twitter constantly.
One day I tweeted over 3000 times. I had a wake up call. Twitter just wasn’t good for me. I’m the kind of person who throws myself into things: projects, my children, work, research. I was doing this with Twitter and it wasn’t healthy. I deleted my account with a brief message to my followers.
So, if people ask for my Twitter handle, I politely decline. I have an account for testing things for clients, but it is locked. I never check it. I DO manage accounts for clients in Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms, but my days of tweeting for myself? Um. No. Maybe someday I will find that balance, but it was too tempting and too engaging and way too much fun. I’m no longer a Twit.
The few followers who turned into friends had been accepted on Facebook as real friends. I Facebook regularly and maintain a business page there as well. Some days I update my status more than others, but nothing like Twitter.
Lucky for my clients, I am similarly passionate with my work. Once I begin a project, my attention is focused on it and I give it my all, returning again and again to check that my work is my absolute best. OCD? Not quite… but a darned useful quality when channeled the right way.
Nice to read your blog