What Is Great About Twitter

I realize and understand why many people are not familiar or comfortable about twitter. It's foreign, nothing makes any sense and no one seems connected in a way you see on facebook.

Let me tell you, it's not simple to those of you who are new or are too busy to understand the potential value and advantages if you should decide to give it a chance.

Facebook allows you to connect to people you already know, used to know, know your family and by chance, are willing to get to know you without these benefits because of common friends and interests. Once these connections are made, they can be quite fulfilling and lasting. But....that is as far as you will go. The conversations/interactions will always remain private among just you and them, and that can be a blessing in many cases, but not always. If you are going to talk about private issues and want to remain safe, this is where you should stay.

Twitter isn't about that. It is like a ride all you want bracelet around the world. You don't need to request to follow and fall in awe/love with a person. It's all free....free for the taking and if you don't like it, unfollow and no one cares.

So what is the difference here? What if you want to expand out of your sheltered world? What if you are trying to build a business outside of your immediate circle. What if you or a friend's child went missing and you want to get maximum exposure of possible tips? What about when natural disaster strikes and you want to reach out to the other side of earth to see if people are okay? Here is where twitter can save you and be your best tool ever in times of crisis.

Tweets are public, so don't say anything you don't want the world to see. What you want the world to know you can say it OUT LOUD at no cost and it is entered forever into the Library of Congress. Scared? Go back to facebook. Twitter is powerful and permanent. Use your common sense and reap the awards. If there is a law that should or should not be passed, all you have to do is tweet your Congress. Face it, calls are a pain, as are sending faxes or emails. The huge advantage is not only how simply easy a tweet is to voice your opinion, but the fact that a copy is sent out to anyone across the globe that might do a hash tag search (aka #guncontrol).

My nicest friends, CEO's of missing children, Child Protectors from Online Predators, Can You Identify Me (John and Jane Does found murdered) actors, actresses, musicians,advocates, politicians, authors, athletes, models and just awesome people pretty much I encountered from twitter. So to you doubtful s, you have no idea what you are missing. I followed Ultimate Ears and won. They sent me a direct message asking for my address. I skeptically complied. Within a few days I received a $300 pair of ear phones that blew my mind. Two years later the connection was shot. I unwittingly tweeted how heartbroken I was, ready to put it to rest. UE surprisingly saw my tweet and told me to call their 800 #. I called and what do you know, they sent me a brand new pair, even better within a couple of days. Wow! Anything you tweet cannot be hidden or ignored. Companies want and have to keep you pleased. Smart people take advantage of this.

For centuries, the deaf have felt stupid and incapable. Times have evolved giving us more equality, which is FANTASTIC, but.....we still feel ignored. When Netflix refused to caption their movies/videos twitter finally gave us a voice. The overwhelming outcry of being shut out was finally heard. Commercials that don't bother to caption are finally realizing how many of us are out there, which is up to ten percent of the population. Think about it, if you are advertising, why would you ignore 10% of your market share? Stupid by all means but they just never knew. Emails and TDD/Video Phone (VP) were mostly ignored. Twitter has changed all that and the deaf are pleased to be acknowledged. And hey, what seems like us whining, is really a compliment, we want to hear every beat, every lyric of your beautiful art. If you are so kind to make small accommodations, we will contribute ten folds back by not only being loyal fans for life, but have the ability to enhance your world in return. Give it a chance, Karma is a good thing!

Another surprise is how fun it is to watch a TV show via Twitter. If I am away when my favorite football team or series is on, I just type #jets or #bachelor and read what everyone in the world is saying. I can honestly say I have never laughed so hard or thought I could enjoy anything more. People say the funniest things and gives me such wider sense of humor and awareness. My goodness, I just love all different people and many different ways to see the joy in entertainment.

It is fun to see some of the followers I have/had now. Starting with Jose Canseco, his agent, the former Governator, Amy Grant, and my personal favorite, Romany Malco (black dude in 40 yo Virgin, Weeds etc), who not only took the time to mail me a DVD about "Food for Life" but interacts and compliments his fans with such gratitude. He is really one of us, and for that, I thank Twitter.

Not all celebrities are likable once you can see what is below the surface. It is also fun to get responses or retweets from people like Marlee Matlin, Maria Shriver, Harlan Coben, Jason Alexander and a quite a few more just based on my comments. Just maybe the statement of the deaf being impossible to educate or contribute to society really are wrong? We have a voice that can and will be heard, no matter what used to hold us back, deafness or any other oppressed minority: the world finally is at our very fingertips, indeed.

Dream Big, Always and Forever,

Dora