How did you bypass Facebook altogether and start gliding on Twitter? This has become my third most frequently asked question; therefore, I decided to formally address it in this space so I can provide the one asking a link if a quick drive-by answer does not suffice. This is not a debate, please. I have just been asked this way too many times. If you like both, good for you. If you like Facebook better, good for you. Do you.

I do not like to reinvent the cyberspace wheel and don’t want to post something another has already said, especially if it is better researched and/or articulated.  At the end of this I will provide you with some useful links that say something different than what I personally have to offer on this topic–at least in my opinion–that further elaborate on this topic and I agree with the information provided.

Agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like markets; essentially fear of crowds. Similarly, alliumphobia is fear of garlic. Not kidding. And the list of phobias is endless. Well, I have joinophobia. Yes, as diagnosed by myself. I have a fear of ‘joining’ clicks, clubs, organizations, groups, alliances, affiliations, and anything which remotely resembles an invisible box. I think this stems from my real claustrophobia, the fear of closed spaces.

However, despite my uncanny intuition, I sometimes like to give logic the benefit of doubt. So, in the past I have joined certain organizations online and otherwise and have eventually withdrawn membership. Quickly. If it is a “good cause” I will do whatever I can (donating money if I can afford or actually working for the project) as long as I don’t have to “belong” to something and attend mandatory calendar-ordained meetings. I am a book junkie and I can’t even belong to a book club because of weekly or monthly meetings!

Since I choose to participate in evolution, which means I engage with changes (sometimes by choice and other times making sense of those transitions that are not in my control), I have a fear (sometimes rational and other times irrational) of being defined by mere association. There is more to me, and all of us, than any defining attribute (self-made or as offered by society at large). I say this with all due respect, given most people join associations to feel a sense of belonging or a space to connect with like minded individuals. More often than not, “growth” stagnates in defined missions. I am afraid of entropy and every cell in my body revolts against entropy. This is nothing special–it is unhuman to desire entropy.

I was not attracted to Facebook when the line for the bandwagon first began because it seemed like all face and no book! So I dubbed it Fakebook. Fakebook was originally only open to students or anyone registered with a college university. You had to have a university or college email account in order to sign up. I did not think excluding those who were not in academic institutions was cool so I did not join despite being enrolled in law school back then. When facebook learned that they could make a lot more money by opening up to everyone, I definitely did not join: did not appreciate their motives.

Thereafter, even when it got “big” I was still not sold. It just didn’t fancy me. Moreover, social media was just never my medium to communicate–and when I glimpsed and peeked what was happening in the virtual world–I remained unimpressed or didn’t find the ‘need’.

In July of 2009 I took a cross-country road trip with my mother from NYC to California to embark upon a year long hiatus from my life in NYC, stumbling in Africa and Asia and then on my parents’ farm in California. My closest friends wanted updates of our road trip since it was going to be off the trodden path. Text messaging was becoming frustrating, always forgetting someone or two or three part texts that didn’t make sense. Twitter was a luck of the draw coupled with my intuition. It just “felt” clean. It was a wonderful idea–not only did I post updates but I was able to jot down thoughts to further elaborate for my own writings. And then I discovered spammers and got scared and made the account private. I just went public…less than three weeks ago…to date? Yes, somewhere along those lines.

I have the following image in my head permanently associated with Facebook and I j.u.s.t. c.a.n.t. g.e.t. i.t. o.u.t. o.f. m.y. h.e.a.d. and hence remain forever turned off by it despite logical proof to the contrary by many a good person who find it very useful.

Here is the image ingrained in my imagination of Facebook courtesy of @ruhanirabin
Typical Facebook

I wish @scottgould articles were mandatory reading for some to learn how to effectively use Twitter. His posts are unique in my humble calculation as compared to the plethora of information out there about how to use Twitter for communicating or marketing.

Here is a recent great article by him: 5 Ways To Use Twitter As An Active Authority

And this article: To Tweet or Not to Tweet by @ jeannevb says it best for me personally. Through Twitter I have discovered a great community of writers, artists and entrepreneurs changing the world, providing a treasure of resources and links.

A good article to read on information overload or upkeeping with twitter streams is by my original Twitter guide (and a marvelous guide for my yoga home practice and inspiration on so many other levels) Avoid Twitter Overwhelm by @zenpeacekeeper

Twitter is short, quick, and organized for me and works for me.

I do not have twitter linked up to my blackberry. It is hard enough to stay present when I can get my emails and texts on my cell phone. Just like I don’t think I can have the kind of conversation I want to have by being on the phone with one person and talking to another who is in front of me simultaneously, I don’t think riding my cybermobile while driving my car in the physical realm effectively does anything for me.

But I do have my twitter account set up so I receive direct messages on twitter as texts and updates via email when someone new follows me so I can stop spornos (pornos + spammers) dead in their tracks (or anyone else I am not comfortable following me).

How you approach making connections and meeting people in the real world is no different than on Twitter. Although I have heard, “That is not true. I am shy in person but a freak online.” Um, negative. You are who you want to be (and can be right now) in either realm. Whether or not you are comfortable or not being who you really want to be (and what does that really even mean) is beyond this discussion.

Simply stated, what you put in, you get out—in the physical realm as well as the cyberworld.  The kind of energy you attract online is no different than your physical existence. I remain in awe of the phenomenon of energy! How the iotas of energy that comprise another’s essence can be picked up even online if you “listen” carefully. Of course there will always remain a few rodents that none of us can avoid in either realm despite whatever type of energy is permeating!

And realistically speaking, we all have some people we communicate with more frequently than others in the “real” world–so it is on Twitter. There are always some we listen to and others we offer to and others we share and communicate with in sync–sometimes regularly and sometimes not as much as we could like. That is not to say there aren’t self-indulging Twitter snobs out there, there are, but their loss! As in the case in the real world, by holding the view that you can’t learn from others  or boxing people as worthy or not worthy of what they have to offer you or if you do not consider others worthy of acknowledgment when someone mentions you and you know it, you are only stagnating and limiting yourself.  Of course I don’t mean NYTimes or the Huffington Post!  If they started responding to everyone they would hardly be reporting and seriously I already have enough complaints for need of good journalism.

And if you are not on twitter (or facebook or both if you prefer) yet or as active, don’t worry, when the timing is right, I am sure it will all come together for you.

Toodles,

~a.

p.s.
oh–almost forgot! Here are links to other humans trying to compare facebook and twitter if you are curious beyond my personal reasons. Not as many google search results for why facebook is better than twitter but plenty for the other way around; I just thought these were the least ‘rant-iest’.

3 Quick Reasons Why Twitter is Better Than Facebook and People’s Discussion

Why twitter is 100000x better than facebook

Posted via email from Annie Q. Syed’s Vault