In 2009 I made a Twitter account because… because. But as a result, I made so many wonderful friends. We tweeted every morning to the extent that it felt like we had our own morning show.
I tweeted my morning commutes from Midtown to East Shelby because there was so much to share. This was before live-tweeting was a thing, and I wasn’t live-tweeting anyway, I was posting once I got to work. People would reply “Pictures or it didn’t happen” when I described the random, only-in-Memphis things I’d see on my drive, but I never delivered. I didn’t have a camera phone. I was tweeting via the website, and eventually the technology progressed so that I could text a certain number, and whatever I texted would show up as a tweet.
That was a disaster.
But, as I said, I made so many wonderful friends. Wonderful friends to visit in other cities, wonderful friends who visited my city, wonderful friends I am still friends with to this day. But I left Twitter, for a reason I can’t remember now. It became too much, I’m sure; doesn’t it all?
I tried to join again just over a year ago, for photography, I think. Or my storytelling community. But it still seemed like too much. I couldn’t tweet and retweet and reply. I couldn’t keep up with all the demands of my online life on top of my real life.
I joined again two months ago, for professional reasons, following mostly authors, librarians, and people I know personally. And it’s almost, almost, like OG Twitter. But… better. I’m exposed to more people and more viewpoints than I was before, when I felt like my friends and I hosted a self-centered morning show.
I know most of it is the algorithm, that I’m seeing things other people liked so many times Twitter thinks I will like it, too. And Twitter is often right. Even when Twitter is wrong, I’m still seeing stories that are trending and I should know just because I’m a human in the world on social media.
But sometimes, Twitter hits it out of the park and shows me something relevant to what I’ve written about recently. Specifically, something I wrote about quickly and posted without editing or giving a second thought to, because it probably wouldn’t have been posted otherwise.
Allison Renner Writes 