Driving Miss Cranky
Name: Karen Waldkirch
Kids: Son, age 20; daughter, age 16
Works: Freelance writer, stay-at-home mom
Favorite part of being a mom: Building strong bodies 12 ways.
Least favorite part of being a mom: Being immensely disliked quite often.
Famous for: Embarrassing my children whenever possible. (And watching far too much television in the 70s.)
Moms are A-Twitter
By Karen Waldkirch
Sunday, Mar 8 2009, 08:50 AM
Do you love talking to other moms? Do you find it cathartic and reassuring to share the ups and downs of this adventure called motherhood with someone who is dealing with it too?
Do you sometimes have random thoughts about being a mom, parenting, your kids or maybe just a stinky pile of laundry?
Ever wish you could share those thoughts with lots of other people without working too hard or taking too much time?
Moms, meet Twitter. The very popular online social networking site that has the whole world well, a-twitter! Of course Facebook is still the big online kahuna when it comes to social networking, but Twitter is breathing down its neck.
I think of Twitter as Facebook for people with short attention spans. This is probably why it’s become wildly popular. Nobody has time, but everyone wants to be connected with everyone at all times. In fact, a comedian created a “backronym” for Twitter – Typing What I’m Thinking to Everyone Reading. Although an oversimplification, this is the essence of Twitter.
You tweet (which is what it’s called when say what you’re doing) and sometimes people tweet at you. Sometimes people retweet (re-posting of an interesting tweet) or ask for a retweet back.
If you’re especially prolific, you can tweet from your cell phone so you never miss an opportunity to share your brief (and brilliant) thoughts.
The goal on Twitter (and perhaps, in life) is to be “followed.” Sure anyone can read your tweets on Twitter, but the goal is to get people that have them as part of their regular “feed.” Because really, what’s the sense of saying something if nobody reads it?
And never underestimate the resourcefulness of a woman to connect a mom or two with a social networking tool like Twitter. Somehow, TwitterMoms found me. This brand-specific networking site has blogs, forums, photos and a direct connection to Twitter. If you’re a mom, there’s a place for you on TwitterMoms.
As a newbie to Twitter (a “Twewbie”?), I’m just getting my feet wet. But there’s something about it that appeals to my sometimes obsessive need to share my random observations with the world around me. If you try it, feel free to follow me and I’ll follow you back. And be sure to check out TwitterMoms while you’re there.
I’ll leave you with this: Twy it and you might like it. (Sorry. I couldn’t resist.)
