True Confessions of a Tweet-a-holic

Thank you Gautam aka @virtuosoblogger for including me in your list of “engaging” people to follow. I am always flattered to be included in great company and have chuckled all day at your description of me being a kind person spreading happiness but also a “social media-holic”…Hmmmm. Not sure how to take it any other way than a compliment (I think). I do tweet a lot but those who really know me know that I don’t excel at many other social channels barely keeping my head above water when it comes to Facebook and LinkedIn. I do love my blog however, mainly because it’s a place to write an essay, express myself and ultimately engage with others through shared stories. So, maybe Gautam meant more that I’m a Tweet-a-holic! That? I can live with. I mean after all, if you are going to put me in a box and label me…let’s get it straight, right? In addition to tweeting a lot, I also run a small business, own and manage my own office space, have employees who depend on me, work daily with approximately 20-25 active clients of all sizes, am married to a wonderful man who puts up with me and am the mom of 2 great kids. In my spare time I serve (currently) on 2 Memphis not-for-profit boards and manage to squeeze in some time to shoot my guns, nurture my garden and waterski with friends and family on the gorgeous TN River. So yes, I tweet a lot but that’s certainly not what defines me. I’m still on that journey, and the key thing about social media is that it allows for us all to continue along on the path of discovery. Everyday, thanks to Twitter, I meet new people who share greatness. I am humbled by the true power of Twitter and the sharing that takes place all over the world. But alas, I do tweet a lot and so–in fun and fairness–here are my true confessions of being a “Tweet-a-holic” (attention Twitter: add this to the dictionary): * I do get up and check Twitter first thing in the morning but I don’t in the middle of the night (so I’ve at least got that going for me) * My kids do say these words somewhat frequently: “Mom, don’t tweet that”–which is usually something funny they have said to me about each other, hormones, typical teenager talk (it’s a good thing I’m not proficient at posting to you-Tube) * I use Twitter search as much as Google * I have twice as many tweets as I do followers (I don’t delete many of my posts but probably should) * I am the PROUD recipient of the “Memphis Power Tweeter of the Year Award” given to me by my favorite Twitter friends that I met IRL (in real life); Thank you @JeremyVictor * I truly believe to the core of my body that the word “Tweet” is a verb * I have to bite my tongue when I hear “I need to Twitter that” * I subscribe to @TweetSmarter and read their stream as much as possible to see what I don’t know * I really don’t love #FollowFriday because I can’t keep up anymore but am trying (the truth is that Fridays are my “wrap up” the week and head out of town when I can days and I can’t keep up because I personally answer all my tweets and sometimes I feel guilty if I can’t get to some people) * I detest with a passion anyone who makes meaningless demands without knowing or engaging me first. I will block those people. * I don’t auto tweet or schedule tweets. If you see my tweet, it’s me tweeting:))) And, nobody tweets for me but I do tweet for a few, select clients along with a team of people. * I’m not afraid to say “I love Twitter” to anyone in the C-suite and trust me, I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations about this! * I tweet in Church…I think it’s a great way to spread the good news and promote outreach and programs I hope you have found this amusing and maybe I have shared a bit more about why I love Twitter and my true confessions of someone who might be labeled as a Tweet-a-holic! Can you add to these “true confessions?” Thanks for reading this and thanks to my sweet friend Gautam, a blogger and social media enthusiast from India who provided me with the inspiration to post my own confessions. Have fun out there and keep Tweeting!