Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Twitter and Facebook: An Introvert's Voice

Today I'm refraining from going on to social media in support of recognizing those in slavery today. Does blogging count? I'm not going to over think it. Am I just jumping on a trend? It's a movement that caught my attention and one which I can easily participate in - well, as easy as not posting or tweeting can be.

Which leads to the topic of this post. It's actually quite hard for me not to do either of those because I have so many thoughts swirling in my head that I need an outlet. As a teen, it used to be calling up my friends or writing letters to them (some of the replies I still have!). Diaries never worked because I wasn't as motivated to write to my future self or a mystery reader as I was to friends.

But now, life is different, both with technology and life stage. I can't call up friends or family whenever because they are usually at work. I can text but boy, that would be a lot of buzzing and tri-toning on their end. I do send the odd message but only if it's specific to them.

That's where Facebook and Twitter come in. Yes, they can be too-distant methods of connecting with people but for an introvert who doesn't think fast on her feet with quips and zingers, or who isn't as confident saying them out loud, these mediums are a great way for me to find my voice. They help me discern too what I want to share and keep private, exercise the art of being concise and assess what statements and which persons are worth responding to.

I've also been able to connect with people I otherwise wouldn't, either due to location, life stage or self-confidence. I wouldn't say I have relationships with most of them but that's not really what I expect anyway. They might help turn these acquaintances into something stronger but I'm just glad to have a way to keep the acquaintance. Those I have stronger relationships with know who they are in my life and actually have little contact with me via either media.

Why do I use them so much though? People keep exclaiming to me that I'm on Facebook so much or that I tweet so often. First of all, most of my Facebook posts now come from Twitter so I'm actually not on as much as people think. Look for the "via Twitter as @MrsBlah" next time a post appears. As to why I tweet so much... I have a such jumble of thoughts going through my head most of the time that I need an outlet to expel the thought to in order to regain some peace. Some people use Twitter for noble causes, some of which I follow and am inspired by. Honestly though, for me, it's just a repository for my excess thought bubbles. And really, I don't actually tweet that much!

I've been told that my tweets have been amusing and I've received my share of likes. I don't aim for them but I must say, they are confidence boosters and nice extras to my day. If anyone's looking for really deep 140-character statements however, I'll have to point them to other proficient tweeters. If anyone's expecting me to post less, I'll do so when I have less thoughts spinning around. If anyone wants more than an acquaintance with me... comment on my posts, reply to my tweets and let's arrange a meet up. When we do, I'll tweet about that too. =)