Two Delightful Reasons I Love Twitter

All journalists blog about Twitter. It's great for sources, it's great for media news, it's great for networking, it's great for "branding" (hate that buzzword) ... we get it. Well, I have a couple reasons for loving Twitter that are cheerier ... and here they are:

I'm friends with celebrities.

And no, I don't mean @coldplay who only tweets about band-related news, articles, and events or @britneyspears's assistant or even @barackobama who really only tweeted press releases during the campaign - all things that we know are majorly faux pax in the Twitter-space. I'm talking about the celebs that actually put something out there and say something, well, real (or at least hopefully real), like my fave new Twitter couple Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and Demi Moore (@mrskutcher).

How adorable is that? They tweet like themselves and actually interact with their followers. Yes, they will talk back! And sure, when it comes down to it, they are movie moguls and get photographed while in line at Starbucks, but I find it at least a little refreshing. Plus, through them, I now follow @moonfrye! (You know, Punky Brewster ... or, if you're from my generation, that hip college friend Sabrina the Teenage Witch had.) She's a real person!

Which brings me to my second Twitter-swoon:

Twitter encourages - and is in essence defined by - interaction.

And don't mean this in a vain "new-media-expert" sort of way. Recently I've come into contact with some people on Twitter that at some point - present or past - I've known in real life. You know how you friend someone on Facebook, but then there are all these "rules" defining your interaction with that person? Don't comment too often, don't invite them to events, don't tag them in pictures unless they look good! On Twitter, these rules don't exist. Aside from the actions of ugly brand-spammers, Twitter invites and even expects conversation. Anyone can follow me (unless you look like you might show up on my doorstep with a knife), and anyone can comment on what I say - in fact, I enjoy and welcome it. Conversation is organic and people say what they feel - it's pretty cool.

Oh and where can you follow me? @twoshoes5887 of course!

Misfortune Cookie

So ... dark shadows are good?

What. The. H-E-Doublehockeysticks. Does that mean. You order Chinese food expecting some of that ancient, Chinese luck and what do you get? A mixed metaphor that makes little sense, and is difficult to see any good in at all. Ho Choi, I am not pleased with you.

The Chocolate is Taunting Me

My roommate is rather adorable. For the past two and a half years she has decorated for every holiday - Halloween … Christmas … Flag Day. The list goes on. And of course, with the Hallmark day of love coming up soon, our apartment is bedecked in all things pink and heart-shaped. And chocolate. As I sit writing this to you, dear reader, there is a bowl of Hershey’s kisses not three feet to my right. And I’ve already eaten like 10 of them. If not more. Damn.

I’m the queen of lacking in self-control, so these taunting Kisses are becoming a problem. In fact, as a college student, I’m faced every day with more or less unlimted food whenever and wherever I want it. I think I can hide from calories in the library but then I hear the call of the pumpkin muffins in the study lounge cafe. If I have business to tend to in a certain academic building there are three eateries I must pass by to get there. And forget hanging out in student center. A ill-considered WildCard swipe is all it takes to turn an empty belly into a regret-filled stomach-ache. For reasons unbeknownst to me and my waistline, I've become somewhat of a cheese fries and salad addict - a habit that I am desperate to kick.

But alas, tomorrow is another day. What do you do to make healthy food choices each day?

Outside The Oreo 1.22.09

If you've been following my Twitter updates in the past week, you have found that something pretty exciting has occured in my (small) life. I am the newest features columnist for The Villanovan! And a pretty good one, if I do say so myself. So, for the next 12 or so weeks, the entire Villanova community will be hearing (reading?) my voice within a column I pitched and will continue to craft myself! Want the scoop? The first edition can be found here. Or, click the pic below to read it newspapah-style. And sure, there's a glaring copy-editing mistake that changes the meaning of a sentence and my major is incorrect, but that's okay! Cause there's always next week.

Thoughts? Love Letters? Hate it? Or, better yet, ideas for my future weeks? Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail!

:)

Fake ESP

Reading Post Secret a couple weeks ago, I came across this postcard:

It's as if the act of getting to know someone has gone by the wayside with the advent of blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and the like. I write something on this blog and you know about it without ever having to talk to me. I Twitter what I'm doing and you can seamlessly add my thoughts into conversation even though I never expressly told you anything. I post a link on Facebook and you know what I'm reading, what I find interesting, and what I enjoy. You can literally read up on someone before you meet them just by Googling their name or reading their blog. Not only are we no longer anonymous, we no longer have secrets that others must discover about us. Going on a blind date? Perhaps read the guy's Tumblr first and it won't even be necessary. Considering a business partner? Not with a LinkedIn like that!

Since I love interpersonal and nonverbal communication as much as I love the media part of my chosen field/major, I find this fascinating more than I find it progressive. What will this mean about people's "getting-to-know-you" practices? Will we ever interact with different-minded people again? Even if every blog, Twitter, or Myspace incorporates individual thoughts, will we ever experience something totally outside our thinking or interests if we only follow or interact with those who lead lives similar to ours?

Heavy right? When Twitter goes mainstream and invites in all who aren't "social media experts," PR branders and media fiends, I'm going to follow someone who does something totally different than me. Any suggestions?