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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

All in a Twitter

Well, I've gone and done what I said I'd never do.

I activated a Twitter Account.

Le sigh!

But...but...BUT....it was for a good cause.

That would be RCRC - The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. I am so incredibly impressed by the young team of Grassroots Organizers and Policy Activists and Staff! They are smart and well educated and passionate and well informed and skilled and creative and....wait for it...totally committed to using religion as a vehicle for social justice.

Amazing!

These kids (well, 18-35) are Roman Catholic and Methodist and Episcopalian and Lutheran and Presbyterian and UCC and UUA and Jew and Orthodox and Muslim. They know their religion and hate (as in loathe and detest) what religion is doing / has done in the political and legislative arenas.

So, they are out there, in the thick of the weeds, working the system and trying to bring about change. I LOVE it. It is so amazingly infectious!

I'm not fond of Twitter but I want to be part of this action. The future of the world is in great hands, y'all - even if they hold it in their hands as they twitter on their smart phones.

So, a young woman who is a great policy developer and activist named Kelsey helped me set up my account, gave me a few instructions, and off I went, deeper into the deep recesses of cyberspace.

Just so we're clear, let me make the following statement: I. Have. No. Idea. What. I. Am. Doing.

Which is pretty scary when, on Twitter, you have "followers". I mean, I don't know what the heck I'm doing much less where I am or where I'm going with this, and yet, people can "follow" me.

Sheesh!

Well, I've never let lack of information get in the way of taking a bold step into something new. There is some comfort in knowing that I'm following others. I'll just watch them and learn as I go.

I'm off to a workshop to learn some lobbying techniques. We spend all of tomorrow afternoon on Capitol Hill. I'll probably pick up some more Twitter accounts to follow. Congressional staff people, I'm told, are highly influential on our elected officials, depending on what they read on FaceBook and Twitter. So, I guess I got a Twitter account just in the nick of time.

It's a brave new world out there and I'm twittering in my boots.

I'm joining a dear friend whose prayer is, "Please God, no more technological social media until I get so old that my mind goes and I don't care anymore."

Amen. Amen. Alleluia, Amen.

8 comments:

DeanB said...

People can follow you on your blog, as well as on twitter. If you think of Twitter as a blog where the posts have to be really really concise, you 'll be fine.

Matthew said...

I hate twitter because I am so verbose and talkative, hence my long posts here, but Twitter has been good for me to think how to be succinct and say something short. I wish you well. Matthew

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

DeanB - As someone who loves words, I am terrified of the word "concise".

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

Matthew - I think it's possible to teach an old dog new tricks. Well, and then there's Possible and then there's Probable. (Tee hee)

Jeffri Harre said...

Welcome to Twitter, Elizabeth. As soon as I post this, I'll log on to Twitter and follow you!

A couple of things. You can set Twitter so that whatever you Tweet automatically posts on your Facebook page. It's fairly simple to enable and disable (like when Tweeting a meeting--you don't want a ton of Tweets going over to FB).

You can also add a widget to your blog where your Tweets will show up (look at my Fluting as Fast as I Can blog).

I have every confidence you'll master Tweeting as you did blogging.

SCG said...

Very heartened to think such passionate people are emerging to lead organizations like RCRC. That's great! I'm baffled by Twitter. I have an account, and I don't know why anyone wants to follow me... unless they want to head over the cyber cliff!

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

Hi, Jeffri - I'm still learning my way around. Once I get through being intimidated, I'll be fine. It will actually be a useful tool in terms of activism - which will make it completely worth it.

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

SCG - The energy in the room gets me totally jazzed. They are GREAT!