noodlejunction.net

With Twitter being down for maintenance… I found myself looking for something to do… or maybe, something to say…
I have taken on a number of new projects lately. The one I’m proudest of is teaming up with @ShellyKramer and @RickBakas on BlogBQue.com… The blog has been met with very positive feedback and I hope all of you enjoy it and will add to it. Our goal is for it to be more of a community type thing than just the three of us telling you what we know…
With that said, however, it brings up a point that I have started to notice on Twitter…
So many people will tell you “How to Twitter” and “How to Add Value to Twitter” and so on, and so on… Even I have been guilty of expressing my opinion on what *I* want to see on Twitter…
But the bottom line is this… One thing all the Twitter-Nay-Sayers don’t understand is the level of positivity that *is* Twitter. It’s why I’m there… And maybe why some of you are…
Life can be sorta rough right now but when I sign into Twitter and end up smiling… it makes the other stuff easier to handle. Just think about those you follow and those you don’t…
A statistic I heard recently is Twitter only has a 40% retention rate, meaning only 4 out of 10 stay longer than 30 days. That spoke volumes to me…
Maybe only the Cup-Half-Full people hang around and the Cup-Half-Empty people go looking to grumble elsewhere…
Good Riddance…

Twitter This

Username: Password:

Was trying to make it better and broke the whole thing…

Bear with me as I try to redesign it and repost all the articles… sigh…

***UPDATE*** Going back and reposting stuff was like driving while looking in the rear-view mirror… I’m sad I lost it all but… Say La Vee (that’s the only French I know, hehe)… So, we move forward…

Twitter This

Username: Password:

I felt like I should write a post to explain how Twitter has changed me…

I am a better person because of Twitter…

Yes, I am…

Twitter has opened my eyes and my mind as to who people really are. Because of time constraints, I chose to use a program that follows anyone who follows me. That way I don’t upset anyone by not “following back” if I don’t get to them in enough time. If I see someone who offends me or annoys me in my stream, then I just unfollow them… (the beauty of Twitter is the unfollow button if you haven’t figured that out yet…)

Because of this, I have started or entered conversations with people I don’t really know. I have a great conversation with them and think… “hmm… let me go see where they are from” or something like that. Then I read their profile and, sometimes, I am totally shocked as to who they are. Someone I would have never talked to based on whatever pre-conceived ideas my life has ingrained in me…

Then I think… wow… they were really cool… I liked them a lot… I want to be their friend…

My point is simply this…

People are people… we all have our differences and we all have our prejudices… Twitter has chipped away at that barrier for me. I find myself smiling more when I interact with people in real life… I find myself less likely to get upset at the driver in front of me at the light when they don’t move the second it turns green… I find myself caring more about that stranger I am interacting with…

Melodramatic? Maybe… But I think of everyone of these people as someone I may talk to someday on Twitter and think… “They are just me with a little different background”… and it makes me like them…

It makes me better…

Twitter This

Username: Password:

I decided I am no longer participating in Follow Friday.
Anyone who follows me closely knows I value my Twitter Friends and love to talk to each and every one of them. I want to connect and talk to you. I don’t want to be just another Follower of yours or you of mine…
#FollowFriday has gotten stupid… yes I said it.. It was a *GREAT* idea to begin with and I have found a few good people from it. But if you will seriously tell me that you check out each and every recommendation that comes across your screen on Friday’s then I would probably call you a liar… unless you only follow 10 or 20 people anyway… There are some who measure their Influence by the Follow Friday sites that have been developed and the rules for all those sites are so different that it takes a brain surgeon to figure them out.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to get recommendations from peeps I know! But it really comes down to connections and fun to me… And, if you feel like I do, that Friday’s has become an actual stressful day for you because of making sure you are #FollowFriday ing everyone who #FollowFriday’s you and you are afraid you may upset someone if you forget them… Then it’s *WAY* too complicated!!
@RickBakas coined the hashtag #FastFollowFive. This is recommending 5 of your favorite followers at anytime, a Monday night, a Thursday afternoon… whenever you feel like it. Most of you know I use this tag often and I hope it’s much more manageable and that you find some good peeps from it…
I will thank you in advance for any #FollowFriday recommendations you give me. I will *NOT* be giving any back… Not because of my ego or pride but because I don’t think they mean anything anymore anyway. If I want to recommend you, I will in my own way and in a way that will mean more to *you* To me it’s the whole point of Twitter to begin with… You give some value to me, I will return the value to you in some way…

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know I love everyone who follows me so please don’t take offense…

Twitter This

Username: Password:

I saw an old friend of mine this morning. Actually an old friend of the family.
He was at the bus stop I go to every morning. I didn’t even have a clue he lived around here, let alone rode the same bus I did.
“What are you doing here?” I ask. He replies, ”This is my bus today. … My God… I haven’t seen you in ages! You’ve all growed up!”
“Yeah it’s been what… like 20 years?” I question.
“ Oh, at least that much, if not longer little boy” he smirks at me, knowing he touched a nerve. He called me ‘little boy’ the whole time we knew each other. “Why are you taking this bus?” He asks with a quizzical look on his face. A face that is much older than I remember.
“This is the bus that takes me to the train station”
“So, little boy, you need to go to the train station?”
Chuckling I replied, “Well, yes, that’s where I need to go.”
“Little Boy… this bus will take you where you ‘want’ to go…. Not always necessarily where you ‘need’ to go. Keep that in mind.”
The bus stops and I get in. Pay my fare and look for a seat. I try to find one so we can sit together but when I turn, I realize he didn’t get on with me. I ask the driver, “What happened to the old man? Did he not get on?”
“Sorry, Sir, but you were alone.”

Twitter This

Username: Password:

***I got in trouble at school today, Dad. (My 15 year old is usually pretty blunt when he’s telling on himself)
What? What did you do? (Sigh)

Well, we had a substitute teacher. He is from the Middle East somewhere and stereotypically sounds like the guy on the Simpsons when he talks.You know who I mean? (His usage of the word ‘stereotypically’ surprised me)
Yes, I know who you mean. (Yeah, I watch the Simpsons. Shut up.)
He’s really old and has this long beard that is all white… (he went on & on at this point explaining how he knows the teacher. My 15 yr old can take 3 hours to tell you about a 2 hour movie)
OK, Ok… but how did you get in trouble?
Well, there were some kids in the back of the class that were causing trouble. (He’s funny because when it’s his classmates he doesn’t like he calls them ‘kids’)
How were they causing trouble?
Every time he would turn around they would make comments like, “ Hope he doesn’t blow up the school” and make sounds and just basically making fun of him. The first time, he turned around and told them to respect their elders. The second time he told them he would send them to the office. But I was getting mad.
Why were you getting mad?
Because they were being stupid. These kids don’t understand that even though he’s not from here he is still a person. (Could I have been more proud of that statement!!)
Wait so how did you get in trouble??
Well, the third time it happened, I was so mad I stood up and yelled at these stupid kids, “I’ll send you to the office in a body-bag if you don’t stop it right now!!” (ooo… um… wow…)
Dude… that wasn’t right to say.
I know, Dad, but I was really mad. Then one of the kids told on me and I had to explain all this to the principal and of course I looked like the bad guy.
What lesson did you learn?

That stupid people do stupid things and if you try to stop them you get in trouble.

***We had a lot more discussion after that but when I hung up the phone I was as proud of my son as I could be and sad that he’s starting to learn some of life’s harsh lessons.

Twitter This

Username: Password: