Twitter

There are so many social media websites out there, and so many people have so many different accounts. There’s Twitter, and Facebook, and Fetlife, and Google+, Tumblr, Instagram.. The list goes on. And, it seems like, the more social media sites you are on, the longer you spend wandering around on the Internet fiddling around, and not getting much done. Not to say that they don’t all have their place, but, who among us can honestly say that they don’t sometimes just get on a social media site, and stay there longer than they really should?

None of us? Right. That’s what I thought.

I don’t have a Facebook. Well, I guess that’s not accurate. I do have a Facebook, but I don’t use it at all. I literally only log in when there are contests which require you to have a Facebook account, and I absolutely do NOT add people on my Facebook account. I don’t play on it. I don’t update my status. Nothing, so, in essence – I really don’t have a Facebook account. I have friend requests on there, but I’ll never reply to either add or decline them, because I don’t use the account.

Where am I going with all this? It’s going somewhere, I promise. See, people are always asking me if I’m on Facebook. I always tell them I am not.

“Why not?!”

“How do you LIVE?!”

“What do you do with your spare time?!” No one can understand it. Of course, that’s when I pipe up with:

“I’m on Twitter.”

And that’s pretty much where shit gets real.

“Why?”

“You really think people care about the fact that you’re eating a sandwich?”

“But, you can’t even like anything on Twitter.”

“TWITTER IS JUST A STATUS UPDATER YOU EGOTISTICAL FREAK!”

Meh. Those are all the things I used to think.. Back before Istarted a Twitter account. See, I started a Twitter account waaaay back in the day. Master actually started his account up first, and he wanted me to make one. I did so, but I just couldn’t see the point.

“What, you want me to Tweet every time I am taking a shit? ‘Cause I can do that, if you want me to.” And, Master told me that, yeah, he thought it would be funny if for an entire day I tweeted every time I went into the bathroom. I didn’t tweet what I was doing. I just tweeted that I was in the bathroom, or the kitchen, or whatever. Soon, I began to get sucked in. Master was my only follower at the time, and I figured I would just tweet things that would make him laugh, or smile, or go “That’s my kitty!” Before long, I was starting to get the hang of it. I started using it (sometimes) as a sort of delayed instant messenger service. As time went on, I would Tweet more and more, sometimes a picture of myself, maybe what my plans for the evening were, and yes – maybe even the sandwich I was about to eat.

It got to the point where I was Tweeting most of the things I was doing during the day – provided I wasn’t busy. Twitter still wasn’t taking up too much of my time. I needed to be on the computer to tweet (so I’d leave the lap top up as a sort of “Twitter station” and tweet whilst I ran around the house and was silly.

Master really enjoyed my tweets because they allowed him to see what I was doing, or wearing, or eating when he wasn’t home. I started to get really into it, and honestly, there have been very few days since then that I haven’t logged on to tweet anything.

But, overall, tweeting isn’t really about me. I tend to log in far more often because I want to check on other people. I want to see how Master’s doing. I want to see how my friends are. I want to make sure everyone’s OK.

To many people, Twitter might seem like a silly place. “You must think very highly of yourself, if you think people care that you’re wearing your purple socks today.”

But you know what? I do care. If Master is at work, and someone brings him a cupcake, it makes me smile seeing his tweet and picture about it. If a friend of mine gets engaged, it is so exciting to see the ring, and share in their excitement over how happy they are! If someone gets the flu, I like to be able to send them hugs and good wishes. Twitter is a funny little place where all your friends can go to talk about toilet paper, or check on each other when we’re in the middle of a bad storm. The fact that someone is even tweeting lets me know that they are there, and they are OK. Sometimes, just seeing a friend on Twitter is all I need to be reassured that all is well. It is comforting to see my friend just logged off and is going to bed for the night. It is lovely to see someone in their new dress they got for Christmas. It is great to be there for each other and know that we’re all OK.

I really think that Twitter is one of those things that looks different than it is on the outside. It may seem like a bunch of people who are dying to show you their french fries – but at the end of the day, Twitter is a fabulous place that I go to see that my friends are still kicking. I enjoy following them on their journeys. Twitter is just as legit as any other social media site, and, if you don’t get it – you don’t get it.