I opened my Twitter account this fall. At first I didn't do much with it; hardly followed it, and rarely Tweeted. Now, I'm addicted. First of all, I mostly follow authors, publishers, and book sellers. This is where it gets dangerous for me. I love to read. If I could read books, especially Young Adult books for a living, and get paid the same I do now, I would be the absolute happiest person on the planet! However, I have to do my reading in my spare time, which considering I am a mom of two, a wife, a teacher, and all the other hats I wear, is actually not so bad. My daughters have caught the reading bug, seeing me do my reading at home. I guess there are worse things I could pass on to them, like my bad cleaning habits (I would rather read, than clean!). Twitter has been dangerous, because I keep buying books! First, I would see this new series by a favorite author, or a new author, or whatever; and I would HAVE to have the books! Now, I'm buying Kindle books on sale, for $1.99 or $2.99. Not a big deal, but when you add them all up...!
Next, Twitter has been dangerous because I enter EVERY contest that's offered! Of course to do so one must Tweet the offer, hence, more time on Twitter! Kind of circular, right? Another way that Twitter has become addictive is when someone re-Tweets me. Especially if it's an author. OMG, I just love that! But I can tell you, my family is getting a bit tired of me telling them when and which of my Tweets get re-Tweeted, and by whom. I feel like I am getting a bit boring in my dinner-time conversation when everything evolves around Twitter: which books I found/bought, who re-Tweeted me, what cool pictures I saw, etcetera, etcetera!
On a more serious note, some students have recently caused a stir in the district with their inane Tweets about fights, sex, and bullying. What's worse is their innate ability to get disgusted by adults, teachers and administrators, for caring what they Tweet. It is so hard for teenagers to see past today into their future 5, 10 years down the road, but with Twitter's popularity and usefulness, those inane Tweets could really haunt them when they try to get into college, get a job, or even start a healthy relationship.
Such are the dangers of Twitter. It is so easy to say what we want, see whatever others are saying, and goodness knows, be persuaded to purchase items we don't need but sure do want! So beware. Twitter has been fun, but I think it's time for me to cut back a bit.
