It gives me hope for the future and keeps me going. Yes, there is a lot of negativity on Twitter and plenty of trolls, but I also see so much kindness, support and love from the book blogging community on Twitter. I can see the fact that the book blogging community is changing however Twitter gives me hope that it’s not for the worst and I can expect so many more great things from everyone
It points out my prejudices to me. If you asked me, I, like many others would say that I’m not racist, ableist or prejudiced in any way. However sadly that’s not true. As a privileged white straight middle class girl from England, I am often unaware of my own unconscious prejudice. Twitter has helped to educate me and ensure I am less prejudiced than I was when I first joined. By pointing out my prejudices Twitter allows me to change them.
It helps me to feel confident expressing my opinions and have discussions. Twitter is a great place to have discussions and hear or express opinions. I’ve learnt so much about so many different things just by listening and reading what others have to say. In order to learn, sometimes you just need to be quiet but other times it’s a great opportunity to get into a discussion and share what you think.
It makes me more politically aware. 2016 was a huge year in politics with #EUReferendum and #Election 2016 being two of the most popular hashtags of the year. Being on Twitter has allowed to listen to and be part of conversations about these political issues that didn’t happen in my everyday life. Twitter helped me to become more fired up about politics and although I was disappointed by the result of both votes, I’m now more excited than ever for when I have the right to vote!
It allows me to meet and chat to people that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to otherwise. In my day to day life I meet a lot of different people but at the same time I attend school 5 days a week. Twitter allows me to talk to people I don’t get the chance to in my daily life, whether they’re different ages, nationalities, religions or just have different opinions to me. This is so important because it gets me out of my little bubble and allows to experience more from the world and people around me.
nevillegirl
Yes! This! I love that you highlighted the positives of using Twitter, because so often I only see people complaining about “drama”… and like, yes, there IS drama on Twitter. But 99.9% of the time what I’ve only heard referred to as drama is people, liked, getting called out for their prejudice. The book blogging community is particularly bad at handling having their prejudice and privilege pointed out, so it makes me really happy to see that you view Twitter as just another way to educate yourself instead. 🙂
alwaysopinionatedgirl
Thank you! I think it’s important sometimes to take a step back and have a look at the good things rather than always focusing on the bad! I think it’s so vital that people like myself use twitter as an opportunity to educate themselves as it’s a great chance for us!
Joey @ thoughts and afterthoughts
Honestly, a few years ago, I would have been “blah blah Twitter is just Facebook but not Facebook” and now I’m finding myself on Twitter a lot more because reasons. I really do appreciate this medium for the community (even if people have to tweet 100 threads re: limited characters per) as I too have found it has crafted so many meaningful relationships spanning the globe. And cheers to many more!
alwaysopinionatedgirl
I think Twitter can be great and it’s a really good way to get involved in the book blogging community. I’ve certainly made many new friends thanks to Twitter!
LyfWithEm
I love Twitter so much! I’ve only just started using it properly since coming back to blogging but I always find myself opening the app! I agree with you that it’s so useful for chatting to different people and keeping involved in what’s going on in the world!
alwaysopinionatedgirl
Twitter is fabulous! It’s a great way to keep up with the community and make loads of new friends. I’ve discovered loads of great blogs through twitter too! Thanks for your comment!
Trisha Jenn Loehr
You hit on so many of the reasons why I love Twitter! It has definitely opened my eyes to a lot of prejudice that I wasn’t fully aware of and I know I’m better for it. I also use it to keep track of what’s happening in my city (my Mayor tweets a lot, journalists live-tweet city council meetings, transit tweets about delays, and the traffic reports are up to the minute and fully of hilarious hashtags).
alwaysopinionatedgirl
I think Twitter is so important to help educate our selves and encourage people to think about their own prejudices! It’s cool that you can use Twitter to keep up to date with goings on in your city! Thanks for commenting. x
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