Over the course of the past few months, I’ve jumped fully on board the Twitter bandwagon. I’ve had my personal Twitter account (arecker1704) for a couple of years and posted there sporadically, but it wasn’t until recently that I started to enjoy the interaction possibilities…. (There was a time when I had no idea what anyone was talking about. For example, RT? #? what does it all mean? I shied away from the conversation). Recently, I’ve made dozens of new friends and connected to people all over the country, and the world in some cases. And now, unfortunately, I am completely obsessed. I can’t even enjoy TV without following the applicable hashtag for my favorite shows (#survivor #idol). Twitter has ruined me.
To make matters worse (or better I suppose), a few months ago a friend (hschoegler) recommended Hoot Suite, which allows me to manage all of my social media accounts from one dashboard: (Twitter accounts arecker1704, fwderbygirls, cancersvcsni, fiveonfivemag; my personal Facebook page, along with fan pages for Fort Wayne Derby Girls, Bust A Move hosted by the Fort Wayne Derby Girls, Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana, Mean Jean and Anthony Wayne Rotary; and two Linked In accounts, one for myself and one for Cancer Services). Phew! That’s nuts, but Hoot Suite makes it a heck of a lot easier, which only fuels the obsession. And did I mention Hoot Suite has analytics that allow you to track your “click throughs.” Yeah, I know. Totally awesome.
This morning I attended the Social Media Breakfast Fort Wayne (#smbfw). And, just when I thought I knew pretty much all I needed to know about Twitter and Social Media, I was proven wrong. There’s so much out there. It seems impossible to keep up. So now I am checking out What the Hash Tag and Addictomatic, and adding more blogs to Google Reader. I am definitely looking forward to the next event so I can be overwhelmed, I mean learn, more useful information to help me manage my online social media presence. (Huge thanks to @kmullett, @scloho, @hschoegler, @leepings, and @randyclarktko for serving on the panel at today’s event).
I actually started writing this post because when I returned to my office, I discovered Twittarian, which connects Rotarians on Twitter. I wanted to use it as an example of the endless ways in which we can connect via social media. I can now find and talk to Rotarians all over the world. Wow, Twitter is a powerful tool.
Are you using it? If so, how?
