Another reason I still blog and tweet

Yes, that's right, tweet.

I've been tweeting a lot more lately than I used to - more than I've blogged actually. It's much faster for expressing quick thought or linking to a story that intrigues me.

Those of you non-tweeters, you can stop laughing at the word "tweet" and any other twit/tweet references. Yes, tweet/twitter/etc. are ridiculous-sounding words, but we didn't come up with the name now, did we? Thousands of people drive Hyundais despite an awful name.

Okay, a crappy Korean car was a bad analogy.

Regardless, I was reminded tonight of why I still engage in social media like this. This blog's 4th anniversary is in 9 days. I posted some thoughts about this blog a few months ago, but at the risk of sounding redundant will throw a few more out there.

I started with the idea of being a big shot in Wisconsin conservative politics. "Wide White" alluded to my last name and my political leanings (wide right...I know, it's a stretch). In some ways, I started to move towards being that big shot, especially after breaking through with a big post outing a state senator for some rather contentious comments he made.

Over the last 4 years, I've left politics as a career, left the state of Wisconsin, and have all but left political activism as I've struggled to support a party I once (naively) thought was so great.

Naturally, the content on this blog shifted. It was heavily political. Now it's more personal. There's freedom in being able to say what I think, but there's also more limited readership since the content is rather unpredictable. I garner roughly 25-30 percent of the readership I once did.

But I'm no longer pressured to post every day. I post when I want, what I want. If people want to read it, that's great (and I'm a bit surprised). Posts range from local politics to family updates to national issues.

But back to why I'm still doing this. As I've said before, my "blog father" (that's such a weird title) is Owen Robinson over at Boots and Sabers. Owen has a wife who occasionally blogs on Boots and Sabers too. Her name is Wendy and she also happens to tweet at @Samdham. Tonight, she said:

Samdham

When @onejoey goes more than a few hours w/o tweeting and his wife goes w/o blogging, I wonder if they are bringing babies into the world.

about 1 hour ago from web

Samdham

So excited for these people I've never met!

about 1 hour ago from web

And that's what "social media" - Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. - is really all about. For all of the great ideas and collaboration that social media offers, I think the greatest value is in the relationships that are formed and maintained.

Blogging has provided much more than a writing/venting/thinking outlet for me. I've met people I didn't know before like Owen, Sean, and Bill - some briefly at an event, others for lunch, and others have stayed at my home - and have kept up with family and friends who are hours away, like my mom and my cousin. This blog has served purposes I couldn't have known it would when I started it.

So thank you for reading. More than that, thank you for interacting! It's never fun to post something you think will have relevance to a lot of people and receive no feedback or interaction.

And for those of you thinking about jumping into the Twitter fray, you can find me at @onejoey.