I struggle with this aspect of the digital world. I joined Twitter to learn more about it, but am reluctant to tweet and have no desire to follow anyone. I find the public nature of this type of social networking awkward and overwhelming. Pinterest is more appealing to me. I found it much easier and less threatening to participate in. I enjoy the visual aspect of this site.The Pin It Bookmark makes it quick and easy to build your board.
Fair enough Margaret, Twitter can be very overwhelming, especially as it moves so quickly. In many ways, I am reluctant to call Twitter a social network. Obviously it is, the idea is inherently social. However, the phrase social network comes with specific connotations, mostly because of Facebook, that because it's social it's about personal connections or personal updates, friends and revealing the machinations of your personal life. Twitter is in fact a very different beast. Yes there are people that use it to broadcast the mundane happenings of their day to day movements but these people are not worth following and are in fact rarely followed, unless they happen to be a celebrity (don't even get me started on the folly of that passtime). But for every one such person there are a thousand more using it to share the resources they have found useful in their profession. The articles that interest them. The videos that have taught them. The ideas they have explored. The tips and tricks for succeeding in a particular industry. It is because of these people that I urge you to try following one or two people to see if the atmosphere may in fact be of some use to you. You don't need to tweet, but I think the source and curation capabilities of the tool may be quite useful once you get the hang of things. However, all that aside, if it doesn't appeal it's not a big deal and it's fantastic that you got onto Pinterest!! Definitely a fun little tool :)
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