de·scent
dəˈsent/
noun: descent;
plural noun: descents
1 1. an action of moving downward, dropping, or falling.
"Jill’s descent
into Twitter madness."
I was
captivated by Twitter in an instant; like a junkie who is hooked the first time
they shoot up. And like said junkie I was constantly searching for the feeling
of that first high. Where would it come from:
- a Favorite
- a Retweet
- a Quoted Tweet
- a Response to one of my Tweets
- a Mention
- a Private message
- or the Ultimate: a famous person follows you
I quickly
expanded those who I followed, everything from celebrities, to lawyers, to gay publications,
gay rights advocacy groups, art magazines, science stuff, SCOTUS (Supreme Court
of the United States,’cause someday I’m gonna be a lawyer), TV shows, TV show creators,
politicians, writers…. pretty much anything or anyone that grabbed my interest.
I have pretty diverse tastes and love randomness, I figured cast a wide net and
see what I could catch. That elusive high was waiting out there somewhere.
One thing I discovered
on this journey into obsession: trying to become a Twitter phenomenon is time
consuming. My face was constantly in my phone, as soon as I woke up, I grabbed
my phone. First thing I did when I got to my desk; check Twitter, because that
6 mile drive was just too long to be away from it. Practically every waking
moment was spent checking my phone.
This coming from someone who usually left
said phone in her purse for days on end without looking at it. I was such a
poor phone user, if my Pumpkin (not her government name) to FaceTime (something she enjoys even
though she’s only 16 months old) Pumpkin's mother would have to text her mother, Debi (who is my partner):
Tell Jill to answer her phone!!!!
Tell Jill to answer her phone!!!!
My how I
changed.
Then I found
out about live Tweeting. When a show’s cast & crew, creators, writers,
producers and so on live Tweet during the show using # for whatever show it is.
What a rush! It was as if the people on screen, the writer and a million other
fans were sitting with me in my living room!
It’s a witty, nerdy, snarky, random person’s
dream…. right up my alley.
I have been told I can be snarky (totally
true), I have a sharp wit (mostly true, depends on the day) and I am self
admitted, random. A perfect match!
The first
time I participated in a Live Tweet session was on SYFY Friday during Defiance
(a fabulous sci-fi show on the SYFY channel about an Earth that has been
invaded and practically destroyed by a collective of alien races called, you
guessed it The Votan Collective), Killjoys (a team of bounty hunters in space
led by a kickass chick named Dutch) and Dark Matter (the crew of a spaceship
wake up from stasis with no idea who they are or how they got there, oh and
they have an Android, brilliantly brought to life by Zoie Palmer).
All great
shows and ones you should check out if you like sci-fi and shows that aren’t
afraid to do the unexpected. I checked several of those boxes mentioned above
during those live Tweet sessions. I got a couple of ReTweets (one from a member
of the crew for Dark Matter no less), several Favorites and a Mention!
My new hobby
was found and I was on a mission to check the rest of those boxes.
Tweet, Tweet,
Retweet, Favorite, Respond, Favorite repeat, repeat, repeat……………..down the
rabbit hole I went…………….
Then, it
happened! I started checking the boxes on my list left and right! The creator
of Dark Matter @BaronDestructo
quoted one of my Tweets, @penn_state (106k followers by the way) Retweeted one
of my Tweets and the ultimate box..…a famous person followed me and kept
following me, STILL follows me, weeks and weeks later.
Incredible!
One thing
that eludes me though in my Twitter world is gathering followers. I have about
19-25 at any given time. I gain a follower, I lose a follower, back &
forth, up & down it goes.
I do have to give a shout-out to the best
follower ever: @JediMonkey79
He always has my back, Favoriting and Retweeting to his 250+ followers.
I figure in
order to gain a ton of followers you have to be famous (I’m not), produce fan
videos (I don’t have the skill), create fan art (I draw & paint, but not
people), write fan fiction (I write, but I’m not delusional enough to think I’d
be any good at that).
I took it personal for a bit, you know, woe is me, nobody
likes me, what’s wrong with me? Am I not good enough for people to follow and
so it went until I realized it was
making me insane.
I thought about deleting my account and walking away from all
things Twitter; giving up.
Then I got
this quote from a Chinese fortune cookie:
“A man can fail many times, but is not a
failure until he gives up.”
I forged on,
but with a different tactic and a different attitude.
Next Week On……..I
begin my ascent from madness….
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