Twitter.

Many of you know that I use Twitter and many of you actually "follow" me there. It's like being able to see someone's live, random thoughts as they happen....along with the other 800 billion people you follow and who follow you. What you may not know is that I tweet from two different accounts - one that's personal and one that's for work.

Let's talk about the personal one first. Personal tweeting is like....having a random thought and just shooting it off into cyberspace. There's usually not a lot of response except from those who you actually know in real life. And, really, that lack of response is just fine. Most of the time I'm not even looking for a response....just a chance to vent or tell a thousand people that I'm wearing my favorite new gray sweatpants that make me look hot. Nothing much really. Random and very little interaction. That's the personal Twitter account.

Now work. Work is a whole different ballgame, because the work account needs interaction. It's part of the company's social media effort and it's important to interact with our customers and fans. What does that look like exactly? Well, sometimes I post links to articles and products. Sometimes I ask questions of our teachers. Sometimes I participate in #EdChat.

Now, #EdChat is not really like chatting. It's like trying to pick out bits and pieces of a thousand different conversations all at once and respond to one or two. Again, there's interaction, but not a lot. What is #EdChat, you ask? Well, it's when people associated with education use the hashtag #EdChat after their posts to talk about things related to education. For the "formal" edChat times there's usually a moderator and a topic, but really, it goes so fast and furious you're lucky to comment on one thing before it moves on to the next. A cyber-blur is a great way to think of it.

It dawned on me early this morning that those of you who don't frequent Twitter or who don't know what a Twitter chat is may think it's very different from what it actually is. Believe you me, the term "chat" is used loosely within the structure of Twitter. It's not like chatting on WWF or texting or anything like that. And that was my ah-ha moment today....that you just might not know this information and might have a new perspective on what it is I actually do online. Because I know you're all so very curious. But really, all you have to do is ask me and I'm happy to tell you...and explain. Sometimes I forget that not everyone is as involved with social media as I am, so I apologize if it comes across as confusing at times. It's really not meant to.

Btw, you can follow my personal account on Twitter @GymMama if you're curious about how many cups of coffee I've had or what I'm wearing. I can promise you it will be the most exciting dull experience you've ever had online. You can get the free Twitter app for your iWhatever in the AppStore. If you Tweet, let me know so that I can follow you. If you're worried about random people seeing your tweets, you can actually set it up so that only those who you approve can see them. You can approve 1 person or 1 million....it's all up to you. Oh! And if you're trying to tweet TO me, make sure you start the tweet with @GymMama or I will never see it. My Twitter feed goes verrrrrrry fast. Fair warning. =)