I’m so very new to the Twitter community. I’ve been on Facebook for about five years, but my real exposure to Twitter started only a few weeks ago. My Facebook years have allowed me to stay in touch with people I would not normally have had the opportunity to. It’s also given me entertainment and media bites about my favorite celebrities and TV shows, general news about my local community, funny and viral videos and more cat and baby pictures then I expect people should reasonably be exposed to.
But now I’ve joined Twitter. And I’ve discovered a community. I’ve followed the feeds of people who have gone through experiences similar to my own. I’ve been able to follow associations and groups and business people who have experience with some of the issues I have. It’s so much more a convivial environment – where I feel comfortable sharing parts of my life, my hopes, my dreams, my fears, that I’ve only shared with very close friends and sometimes that I’ve kept to myself. All this with real-time feedback and support.
And I’ve opened a door to knowledge and support that I wasn’t even aware existed. Just in the past two weeks, I’ve uncovered resources that encourage people to pick up the pieces of their lives after divorce, and advice on how to co-parent with difficult people. And most heartening to me—I’ve found resources for my learning disabled son. From real people who have been through the system and come out the other side. I’ve found movies and lists and blogs and books and other people who have triumphed not in spite of, but because of their learning disability. And I’ve found new understanding of the difficulties that my son experiences, and more importantly, I’ve found renewed hope that he too can overcome.
So thank you Twitter. You’ve got a new fan.
Do you have a Twitter feed? Leave your link in the comments below or follow me @LiveBySurprise!