Absolute favorite Tweet this week

My absolute favorite Tweet this week ... and I've seen a lot!

This Perfect Moment shared .. well, you know, that passes on the perfect nature of it. Compound interest.

Harvey and I strode recklessly into the wilderness today. http://t.co/uvNOh631jv
— Ryan V Lower (@beautyislikeyea) September 19, 2013

Social media's like teen sex..

hah! and for the SEO..    

OH: Social media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. No one actually knows how. When finally done, there is surprise its not better.
— Avinash Kaushik (@avinash) March 2, 2009

It can be better.  

Robin, Tempe

Laundry, Facebook and friends

"My least loathsome household chore is emptying the dishwasher. How about you?"

That was the question that launched what seemed like a thousand Facebook responses.  
My friend Lori who was most likely procrastinating about a less-favored chore asked her friends and they sure did respond.  
I'll let you see for yourself.   
My comment (below) brought this Perfect Moment right back to me... in full living memory.  
It happened... oh, mmddpphhmmm years ago, but I can see that little lady tease me in the laundromat as if it had been yesterday. 

Happy Twitter Birthday to me

My friend Judy, @Judy_Kinney, sent me a note yesterday to point out that today is my 2nd anniversary on Twitter.

I created my @RobinJP Twitter account two years ago today. I think that's like 12 years of Social Media experience in Twitter years.

So happy anniversary to me. And my buddy Twitter. I've had some great highlights during the last two years.

The biggest: I now have a world of powerful people at my fingertips.

TWO DEGREES OF SEPARATION

I've got a network of smart, chatty, funny people who I can reach out to for questions like "Anybody in Denver know a techie who I can trust to go into my mom's home and fix her computer?" That question was answered in about 30 minutes. Two degrees of separation and voila!

My friend @LavLuz who I met almost immediately after signing up for Twitter, shared my plea with her followers. @ashleykingsley recommended someone who worked out just perfectly.


Also in my network:

My buddy @marcusod is a journalist and educator who lives in Australia. We've got a lot in common and Twitter makes the distance negligible.

@misterfonzie who was then @blackfonzie helped me get a new job.

I like following @danamo and her glamorous Manhattan life but really enjoy when she announces that she's homeward-bound with a "BK bound" Tweet.

@kk is an awesome photographer. I like Twitter-eavesdropping on his love affair with @FierceKitty. And because I follow him, I'm reminded to slow down my day and check out his photos every once in a while.

And I follow @johncpiercy cause everyone needs a firefighter in their life and he's mine.

SMART WOMEN

Judy, who was @flourishingjudy then, and I started #swbc a Twitter chat called Smart Women Bar & Cafe. We drew a lot of attention for a short while... were even a Trending Topic during a few of the early evenings. Smart women from all over the country jumped in to chat, meet new people, break off and start new friendships. That chat ran its course and, in part because we conflicted with The Rachel @maddow Show. It was hard to compete.

#wjchat

Then came #wjchat: Web Journalism Chat. Inspired by the very popular #journchat, this new Twitter conversation focuses solely on Web journalism. I joined the #wjchat team about four hours after the idea for it was formed during a #journchat.

The first #wjchat was on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 5 p.m. PST. The inaugural topic: What is the job of a Web Journalist & what skills do you need? We just held the 22nd #wjchat and are going strong.

IRL FRIENDS

A very small percentage of my Twitter friends are people I have met in person. A small handful of the people I've met in person and fewer family members have joined Twitter. But a couple of Twitter friends have turned into in real life friends: @Judy_Kinney and @LavLuz are two. Another dozen or two Twitter friends are people I feel comfortable turning to for info or support either on Twitter or by moving the conversation to email or phone.

VENN DIAGRAM OF ME

When I started on Twitter, I began following people who I thought would educate me, entertain me, inspire me. We were in the middle of a fascinating Presidential election and Twitter is where we talked about it. I followed runners and stuck with those who had something more to say too. There were Twitter superstars and entertainment superstars who jumped onto Twitter. And there were those who just cracked me up.

But the ones who stick, who I make a point of checking on as if they were elderly neighbors on a hot summer's day are those who engage, who chat back, who share.

And, of course, I'm still drawn to those who just crack me up.

7,220 Tweets, two jobs, thousands of acquaintances later and I'm living in a whole new world. So is Twitter.

Thanks for the reminder, Judy.

Happy Birthday to me and Happy Anniversary, Twitter. Where shall we go to dinner?

Robin, Tempe

Perfect lunchtime .. in real life

Social media. You either 'get it' or you don't.

I have met many people over the last few years who I consider friends. ... people I have only communicated with via Twitter or Facebook.. and maybe occasionally on e-mail .. if we needed to get more wordy... or more private.

Some friends and family just don't get this. But it's true. Almost weekly, I have people on Twitter shoot me a request for help or offer of a suggestion.

This sort of comment is not uncommon: "@RobinJP, I remember you once offered to help, would you mind taking a look at my blog, my Web site, this article ... "

More often, comments come as a quick link to an article someone knows I'd find interesting or a response to something I've said. How else could I define friendship?

Lori, from Weebles Wobblog (which I always call Weebles Wobble of course), says it well. I have known Lori, aka @BestLight, for nearly two years.

Last Monday, we met IN REAL LIFE for lunch while I was in Denver to visit my mom.

What a sweet note Lori wrote after our visit. Perfect Moment Monday.

Lori is a sweetie. She juggles many blogs .. Weebles Wobblog is my favorite. She has written for Adoptive Families magazine and some newspapers and has recently been tapped as an expert on adoption issues for Examiner.com publications.

She 'gets it.'

I wish we could have lunch again this week. There's so much more to say.

Robin, Tempe

Favrd closes but Twitter wiseguys live on

I was so amused this morning at people on Twitter crying about @textism closing down Favrd.

So I created a way to keep up with all the most funny .. or most Favrd Tweets on Twitter: @zeldman, @phyllisstein, @CcSteff, @badbannana and the gang are still working it.

=>=>=> And you can find them at @Textism Is Following.

That's just me being a little silly, but why not follow the people who Dean Allen, creator of Favrd, follows? It's as good a way as any to keep track of some of the funnier people on Twitter.

What I really liked this morning about this Social Media social phenomenon is that in closing down the Favrd page, Dean Allen urged us all to do what most of us came to Twitter (and Facebook and Posterous and Tumblr and.. ) to do. And that is to interact. To engage.

Here are his words:

Alas, stars on Twitter have become mere take-out menus hung on the doors of other restaurants.

There are still lots of clever and funny things to read every day, but finding these is no longer a challenge – you already follow your sources. Sites like this one now serve mainly as fuel for emotional up-fuckedness in the guise of a game.

Just an idea: next time you see something you like, write the person who made it a note telling them so. Even better, explain why.

Take care!

– dca

Thanks for the reminder, Dean. Au revoir.

John Gruber said it well on Daring Fireball.

... oh, if you're still with me: And this is one reason I love Social Media. The story of Favrd led me to this Vancouver Sun story of the romance of Dean Allen and Gail Armstrong, a true Internet love story.

Robin, Tempe

Does this social media make my butt look big?

Why yes, yes it does.

It's Sunday afternoon. I just put laundry in and realized that there were NO workout clothes at all in the week's laundry. That's pathetic.

Of course, it was a very busy week. I had evening events 3 nights. Flew to and back from Dallas for a workshop. Was on my own for several days so had to get my own dinner, blah, blah, blah.

OK. Sure, but did I get my quota of Tweets and FB updates out this week? Sure. Even blogged a few times.

It's not like I didn't really have time to work out. I just chose to sit on the couch and play with my virtual friends rather than get my butt out the door and move.

So, the Perfect Moment in all this? It came when I realized that I'd gone a full week without working out.

That's when I heard a little voice in my head that sounded just like my mom on many Saturday mornings when I was a kid:

"Go outside and play," the voice said.

No, not, 'take your phone outside and play.'


Nor did it say...
'Oh, look, cool, we've got wifi at the bus stop. Let's hang out here.'


Nope, that little voice clearly said, "Get your butt moving. Your friends and followers will be there when you get back."

So I'm rededicated. I hit my rock bottom. Or was it my Social Media Big Ass Bottom?



Robin, Tempe

Roz Savage lands on terra firma

People often look confused when I talk about my passion for social media .. not really Facebook, but definitely Twitter.
I have met several people on Twitter who have become friends, some in real life (IRL), some from afar, but nonetheless good friends.

One friend has become a weekly touchstone. Another has helped me professionally as I changed jobs recently. Others are people I know to be available if I need them.

Today I was able to watch (from very afar) a wonderful Perfect Moment for an acquaintance on Twitter. Roz Savage doesn't know me. She doesn't even follow me. But I've been there for her as she rowed ... really rowed, paddled, moved over the water under her own steam .. across the Pacific.

Today, Roz Savage landed on the island of Tarawa. Or maybe it's tomorrow. There's that funny dateline issue.

You have to read Roz's description of landing on, er, land.. after 105 days on the water. She pushed off from the Hawaiian Islands before the summer began. And today, she touched land.

Her land legs were a little shaky, and as Roz writes, she was quickly lifted off that sandy beach:

Then two big hunky men in traditional island outfits approached and 
knelt in front of me, forming a cradle with their arms. “Thank heavens 
for local tradition” I thought, as I sank gratefully onto the 
proffered cradle.

So glad to see Roz safe and sound. Near the end of her journey, strong easterly winds made her final miles very difficult. Overexcited and pushing hard to the finish, she expressed her concern near the end in .. what else.. a Twitter to her followers.


This journey wasn't just a personal challenge. Roz is rowing toward a greener future. Check out her thoughts on the environment.

And for more on her travels the past 105 days, check out the Roz tracker.

Roz may not know what I did this summer. But I certainly know what she was up to.

And I'm cool with that.

Robin, Tempe