Sweet Tweets!

If you haven’t jumped on the social networking/blogging bandwagon, let us give you a push onto the platform, ‘cause the train is leaving the station and it’s moving at high speed! What am I talking about? I have no idea, and its okay, I don’t have to know what I’m talking about, I’m a blogger!

Today, however, I’m going to try to educate SSW/Wink readers on the latest technology time-stealer. It’s called Twitter. And while I’m still trying to figure it out, I’m starting to get the hang of it, and I think I’ve got the Twitter bug!

Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows you to send out short messages (146 characters) called “tweets”. You send the tweets to your peeps (oh, this is way too easy!) who sign up to follow you. You can get the messages on the website www.twitter.com or you can request to have them sent to your phone (like a text message).

The types of messages you receive will typically be uninteresting activities that friends think you ‘must know’. For example, “Just finished lunch” could be a typical tweet. Which, nobody really cares about. But, say you are following Kathleen Sullivan, our Wink South fashion correspondent, who is at Fashion Week in NYC and tweets this message to the world: “Hold on to your 80s outfits, shoulder pads are back en vogue!” Now that might be an interesting tidbit, no? Timely information that you can really use!

Or, I’ve heard stories like this: A guy gets off a plane in Chicago, sends a Twitter message that he’s, “In O’Hare with 4 hour delay”. He gets a tweet back that his friend is in the same airport. They meet for a drink at the airport bar. So, it turns out, Twitter is not a complete waste of time!

In fact, I’m here to tell you that in the world we live in, social networking via the Web is the only way to go. If you don’t get it, I suggest you try to figure it out. Not only does it keep people connected while juggling very hectic lives, but our kids are growing up with this. To them, communicating via instant message and Twitter is second nature. They blog, they post YouTube videos, and they create Facebook communities.

We here at SSW/Wink South are doing the same thing. We started with the Wink South Blog (which you are reading!). We established a presence on Facebook (join the South Shore Woman group to plug in with crafty SoB women-- that’s South of Boston). And, we created Daily Cravings-- which gives you easy access to menu and daily specials from local restaurants—in which the restaurant members also get their own blog—check out The Chef’s Table blog, and chime in to get the party started.

Blogging is the best way to find out what’s really going on because there’s no journalistic integrity associated with it whatsoever, it’s all about your opinion with a dash of personality!

So blog, and follow us on Twitter! (see link to the right). Whether you’re just nosey, or you are interested in finding out about some of the cool stuff we see and people we meet each month as we are updating the SSW/WinkSouth site, you can’t beat the tweet! We’ll fill you in. And, as always, we’ll have fun!!!!!


-Steph