The other day I chronicled my baking experience on Twitter. I made the best brownies in the world, and I posted pictures for each step. I thought it would be kind of cool if I opened up my kitchen to my cookie fans (that’s what I call my customers).
I love Twitter. A lot of people who are not on Twitter complain about it because they think that it invades their privacy. But one crucial point that these people seem to overlook is that Twitter let’s you choose who follows you.
I use Twitter for two reasons.
Ultimately, it’s a part of my “hustle.” I tell my cookie fans what’s going on in my world. Even though they love my funny thoughts and jokes, they follow me to find out what’s in my oven. Not only do I share with them what I’m baking, but I also provide incentives for following me on Twitter. Everyone loves free cookie contests!
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| Chart borrowed from www.eMarketer.com |
I may regret saying this later, but I also use Twitter because older members of my family are on Facebook. According to eMarketer.com, in 2009, 57 percent of American Internet users maintained a social networking site. For baby boomers, like my dad, their social network of choice is Facebook.
About a year ago, my aunts, uncles and dad, joined Facebook. I thought it would be cool to accept their friend requests because they’d get an inside look at my life in college. I’m proud to say I have nothing to hide, so I didn’t see any harm in letting them into my world. For a while it was nice to post a greeting or two on their Facebook walls or to tag them in Christmas pictures. But after a few months, it got old and annoying. I stopped posting statuses on a constant basis because I got phone calls from my concerned family members, and I untagged pictures of myself because my parents constantly questioned my whereabouts.
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| Illustration borrowed http://www.time.com/time/ magazine/article/0,9171,1879169,00.html. Drawn by John Cueno for Time. |
“Why Facebook Is for Old Fogies,” an article that ran on Time.com, suggested older people flock to Facebook for 10 major reasons. The top reason? To find people they’ve lost track of. Why drive hundreds of miles to a class reunion when Facebook is free? And on top of that, they can pry into an old classmates’ business in a matter of clicks.
The author of the article, Lev Grossman, lists a plethora of great reasons “old fogies” jump on Facebook. But, in the case of my father, I don’t agree with Grossman's list. If you scroll to the bottom of Grossman’s list, you’ll see why my dad joined Facebook. Ladies and gentlemen, my dad joined Facebook because of me. I’m not sure whether to be fearful or to feel flattered.
So now I’m on Twitter, and life is sweet (literally). I check my Facebook page every once in awhile, but my main medium is Twitter. I know that I can’t keep running from my family online. I’ll have to deal with this issue eventually. I often ask myself what I’ll do when my parents get tired of Facebook and join Twitter.
I’ll deal with that when it happens.
