It was the 31st of August 2009 at exactly 1 PM that I sent out my first tweet and it read “hmmm… Twitter…”
Today we are nearly 5 years on and we are 7,303* tweets along. I have 417 people who are willing to more or less read what I send out, which is just amazing to me!
* As per April 10, 2014 10:54 AM
I just wanted to step back for a second and reflect on what Twitter did for me, and share this reflection with you.
I remember being very hesitant about starting to tweet. The usual arguments like; “Who ever would wanna know that I was taking a coffee” or “Why would anyone want to know what I saw or did”… I decided to give it a little bit of a go, inspired and with a little peer-pressure by @Tom_Schepers.
The beginning was rusty with not much tweeting going on. Finding my way, looking for inspiration on what to communicate.
Somehow it really took off with my visit to the Norwegian Oracle User Group #ougn13. During this event I took it upon me to share a little something of every session I visited or inspiring meetings I encountered.
From that point on, I gradually started tweeting some more, staying in touch with the people that inspired me personally, and somehow, most of them appeared to be in the field of #Oracle.
From here one, I started to “TKnow” a number of people, rather than really know them. This means that there are folks out there I have talked with before I have ever met them in real life. Nice examples include @oraclebase, @ultan or even @pfierens, my partner in crime in many events and fellow member of the #Pragmas.
There are even people I value highly whom I have never even met, like for instance @MathijsBruggink or @annsjokvist.
Getting to the point… how #Twitter influenced my life.
Twitter has given me a way to communicate and stay in touch with friends and peers all over the world. Share serious contemplations, joke around or just socialize.
It has played a part in enabling me to startup an international career, in connecting people and visions in and around IT in general and #Oracle specifically.
Such a simple tool, and for any non believers, please give it a try, it could also change your life.