True Friendships on Twitter?

I just started tweeting on the long July 4th weekend and I already have several people that I am happy to call my friends.

Those acquaintances and loved ones who don’t tweet also don’t understand the idea of friends on Twitter. If I’m talking about it on the phone there’s sudden a long silence until I ask, “Are you still there?” In person, I get the strangest looks. Ah, well, sometimes we can’t understand something we haven’t experienced.

Here are some of the reasons why I believe it’s possible to have true friendships on Twitter:

· Some people say more in 140 words than most people say all day.

· What a person chooses to re-tweet tells you as much about them as what they say.

· People show kindness every day; re-tweet stuff that’s important to others, respond to sadness, mention their friends - just cuz.

· You’ll read the words “Thank you” on Twitter way more often than you’ll hear them in real life.

· You can easily find others of a like mind. When was the last time you could complain about the troubles of Indie publishing to someone you met in the grocery store?

· While we may have come to Twitter to promote something – in my case, a book – quite a few stay for another reason – the people and ideas you find within. After all, how hard is it to whip off a few promotional tweets and leave the Twittersphere? It’s extremely easy to just stop by, but many invest more than a few minutes a day.

· Following a link to a new blog can open up windows to the world you had never considered. Of course, you feel gratitude and closeness to the real life person who led you there and the real life person who wrote the glorious piece.

· Finally, when someone sends you a direct message telling you that you are a good person, that someone becomes your friend. No questions asked.

I know Twitter isn’t for everyone, but I’m thankful I bought John Locke’s book How I Sold a Million eBooks in 5 Months! It was his description of how to become a good tweeter than started me on my way. Thanks, John. I got so much more than a way to promote my book out of it.



Buy “Red Mojo Mama” here!