So, I’m on Squidoo.
I’ve got a MySpace page.
I’m on Facebook. (Just barely. There seem to be fish in my aquarium and plants in my terrarium. And I have no idea how they got there.)
Now, I’m on Twitter.
And I’m curious to hear from you. How, if at all, do you use Twitter?
I’ve been using it to pretend that my Followers are my Song Coaches. I tell them when I go write songs for my next CD. Then, I tell them when I return from my songwriting session. They hold me accountable. (At least I pretend they do. They’re probably too busy trying to figure out Facebook to pay attention.)
But as for being connected all the time to Twitter -
I can imagine no greater distraction from creative focus. (That’s just me. I need complete disconnection from the internet when I write songs.)
Seth Godin aptly called it Noise Creep.
What about you? Twitter? (Or Facebook? Or Squidoo? Hub Pages? Forums?) How do you use them?
Here’s why I ask:
During the blog conference this past weekend – as each speaker was doing their thing – the people at the tables were Tweeting about the conference. They were Tweeting each other, and all their Followers who weren’t at the conference. Opinions, descriptions, snippets in rapid fire during each presentation.
I whispered to someone “Twitter is the opposite of Eckhart Tolle
Maybe I am?
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when do y’all eat,sleep, work. if i spent as much time on facebooks, myspace, twitter etc, i’d never leave my house!!! BUT i am slow to the technologies, i just got dsl. i hate the phone, i like email since the reciever can read it at his/her leisure as opposed to a phone call that unless you screen calls must be answered. Unless of course it is election time. then all calls must be screened.
i can’t even figure out how to order a slide show so i have no desire to end up on one of these pages. i’d probably be found by some stalker. i’ll sic Bull on them. anyway, y’all enjoy as i firmly believe “to each her own” and yes Tolle probably rolled his eyes. twitter must not be in the NOW.
barb b
I started Twitter a while ago thinking it was rather pointless but I quickly got a bit addicted to it. I was leaving twitters all the time. I have fallen away from that now and only update once or twice a day. I really do like it though. I am now following you too!
I have recently signed up with Twitter to see what it’s all about but I doubt I’ll do anything with it, as I haven’t folowed up with Flicker either.
Songwriting tho, songwriting I could do all day (and night) long!!
Jannie
When a couple of long-time blogging pals sent me Twitter invites in April ‘07, I checked it out and thought: this is the stupidest thing EVER. There’s no WAY I’m gonna waste my time doing this. “What am I doing?” Who cares?! About a month later, I reluctantly signed up when it seemed more and more were using it. Thought it was like Facebook: (sigh)…oKAY, I’ll sign up. But unlike Facebook which I loathe (deactivated my basically unused account…found the interface really confusing and the invasion of privacy utterly creepy) Twitter has become an integral part of my online world. I don’t watch network news and only a little cable news, so I get most of my news from the ‘net…and a lot of that is from news organizations (and political reporters) I follow at Twitter. The place goes nuts on primary/caucus days and it can be fun (I don’t volunteer for a campaign) to ‘watch’ the action in my Twitter stream on those days. One of the biggest things I love about it is what I love about blogging in general–it flattens hierarchies. Where else can I IM with 10 Downing Street (we talked pot)…have real-time convos with my fave NPR show…return home from work to find a London news channel has Twittered a Burma story link for me…or have a political heavy-hitter reply what he thought would happen to Hillary after IN and NC? My Twitter stream is filled with folks who are long-time blogging pals, new campaign-follower pals, people and orgs who kindly follow me back, folks from all over the world who’ve stumbled upon me somehow. That said, it can be a time-suck and somewhat addictive. But I’m in control of my time–so it’s up to me to find the balance. Twitter and Utterz for me seem like the next step in the blogging experience. A year into it, I’m in deep Twitter love.
Christine,
So you do get lost on the internet too and are being kept from being creative sometimes, like ‘normal’ people
I don’t do any of the things you mentioned. I am kept up with the internet enough as it is to be adding more sites to regularly visit and update. The only one I do is Redbubble where I put my photos: http://www.redbubble.com/people/mindfulmimi
Hi Christine, I am one of your overseas readers (not in the US) though in cyberspace there are no geographical boundaries.
I haven’t heard of twitter.. until you mentioned it. Though where i am, we are “techno-hippies”. I have a facebook account too – though i hate the application invites and joined just to keep in touch with my ex classmates: I’m not into Squidoo, or MySpace or Twitter. I do get RSS feeds from your blog to My Yahoo Homepage….(remember when Yahoo was the in-thing!) And like patti above.. you website here has everything, why would i go anywhere else. To Tweet too is entirely up to you.. though for me i prefer to read your blog right here! It’s more personal and “connecting”. Christinekane.com has got more of the “power of Now” than any other page. And i do believe that Tolle would agree!:)
I want to tell you that I like very very much your songs and your blog too! You are great!
I like Twitter as sort of a stream of consciousness thinking out loud kinda thing. I used to work in corporate america (pardon the analogy), and Twitter is like a way to say those comments you’d say over the wall of the cubicle. It’s an extrovert’s dream… as long as you’ve got something of value to say once in a while.
Btw, love your blog!
i am on the fence about twitter. often I march to a different drummer – one of my friends called me on it recently when she said how can you be such an advocate of blogging and not use a cell phone ? I asked her how did I ever survive w/o TV and never ever use a microwave? I call it choice. I admit to being afraid that I’ll get twitted out. Or sucked in or have more to become a personality on – not that being out there is such a bad thing – So for now – no tweets for me. Do me a favor and share as you discover it – and what you like and don’t, I’d appreciate hearing more
I think you might want to spend time Blogging on other websites so that search engines continue to pick you up and your presence is broadened (is that actually a real word). Viral is good. The more you are out there with links back to your website the better. I think you are a very talented woman and I sure would like to hear you amongst the clutter that is out there on the airwaves. I linked you in on my website and in less than 48 hours was able to see your name with your Leap song come up on a Google search.
Aloha!
MOKANA
Hi, Christine-
I’ve been listening to the CD you gave us last weekend at SOBCon 08 and enjoying both your stories and songs. As I’m reading and studying Eckhart Toille and Wayne Dyer, I made a conscious decision to NOT join Twitter even though folks were tweeting all around me. There is already more vying for my attention than I can handle and I’ve been systematically pruning inbound chatter. Although I am absolutely sure there is something I will miss, I’ll just have to live with it.
I share your feeling that in order to create something new, you have to isolate yourself however you can.
I don’t think that it is these sites themselves that create connection or disconnection. I think someone who has all of these sites (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc) could be extremely connected to Now, to people, to nature, etc. I also think that someone who doesn’t have any of these sites (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace) could be very disconnected from Now, from people, from nature. And vice versa on both. I don’t think it’s these external things; I think it’s US who keep ourselves either connected or disconnected…
however we go about the connection or disconnection.
I created a few Squidoo pages as stepping stones of creating my main Squidoo page highlighting my paintings and fabric art. Alas, I haven’t created that MAIN page yet because I wanted to have my website completed before doing a Squidoo page. ack! so many things on the to do list!
anywho….here’s the squidoo pages I do have:
Expressive Arts Therapy/Creative Arts Therapy
http://www.squidoo.com/expressiveartstherapy
Top 25 Abstract Paintings
http://www.squidoo.com/200abstractpaintings
My Toddler’s Favorite 12 Books (changes weekly)
http://www.squidoo.com/mytoddlersbooks
And nope, I don’t Twitter and doubt if I will. Facebook and MySpace? Maybe someday.
Oh forgot to mention…
I do “do” Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arttherapy-etsy
Anyone else do Flickr for socializing and networking?
I like this option a lot.
I think Lialia said something really important here. It struck me like a ton of brick…how to sum up what I feel about a lot of (not all, but most) forms of electronic communication. Here is that snipped.
….really made me question the difference between connection and bond.
I often ask myself questions like “to tweet or not to tweet” (or Facebook, or…). I started a Twitter account about six months ago and I’m just now getting to the point where I post about one tweet a week. As for Facebook, I just started about two months ago and really didn’t know what to do with my account. About one month ago I realized that it’s turning out to be a great way to stay connected with my step-siblings and cousins in other states. I haven’t seen my cousins in many years and now I am planning to visit one of them. I stayed away from Facebook for a long time, but it is actually helping me get in touch with long lost friends and family. Twitter hasn’t done that for me yet, but you never know.
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/lifeafterweb
great to see you on twitter.
i’m truly addicted to it now, please follow me: http://www.twitter.com/gsik
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