It Used To Take a Village…

Now it takes Social Media to raise a child.

Ok, maybe not really, but Social Media can help us keep our sanity.

When our Mothers and Grandmothers needed a little advice on what to feed baby, how to calm baby down, or just needed to vent, they more than likely went to their neighbors.   In today’s world most of us just don’t have that kind of neighborhood anymore.  Some of us have moved across country from our families.  Life is so busy, that most of us don’t have time to get to know our neighbors.  This can make motherhood very lonely.

Don’t fear lonely Mommies!  We now have Social Media!  There are blogs, forums, twitter, facebook, and the list goes on and on.  There is someone out there that you can relate too and isn’t nice not to feel so alone in this journey?

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve run to tweeter to vent, cry, or even celebrate a Motherhood moment.  There’s always someone there to sympathize, cry or celebrate with me.  I’m never going to master this Mommy thing, but knowing there are others out there going through the same thing I am helps me not to feel like such a failure.

A number our Rock On Mommies readers aren’t on twitter.   It might be that you don’t understand it, your overwhelmed by it, or  you just don’t see the point.  Don’t see the point? What?

I’m going to give you a few Twitter tips today to help you get started!

1. Go to Twitter and sign up for a new account.
2. Follow @rockonmommies
3. Search for other Mom’s like you. Search for people who have the same interest you have.  Now you’re ready to go.

Now lets get started with some twitter lingo

• @ – use before tweeters name to tag them in you message.  If you do no use the @ symbol it will not show up in their mention stream
• rt (retweet) – used before the tweet to state that you are quoting a tweet

-  Example – rt @rockonmommies on my flight to Chicago

• If you’re going to respond to a rt place response before tweet

-  Example – have a safe flight rt @rockonmommies on my flight to Chicago

• When responding to a comment, make sure you choice the reply option. This way the tweeter has the option to look back at the conversation and see what you are referring to.
• # (hash tag) this allows tweeters to follow along with a particular topic.

- Example – on my way to Chicago to attend #kenmorestyle summit

When #kenmorestyle is searched in Twitter you can follow along with the topic even if you are not following everyone participating.

So let’s go over a little do’s and don’ts

• Conversation – No one likes a one sided conversation. It’s important to engage in conversation with other people on Twitter.  If you’re only posting updates and not responding to others it can come off as impersonal.  In order to build a community you should respond, rt, and engage in conversation.
• NO AUTO DM’s.  I can not stress this enough. Auto dm’s tend to come off as spam. If you want to thank a new follower do it in the open or respond to one of their tweets.
• You don’t need to follow everyone that follows you, but if you’ve actually carried on a Twitter conversation with a person it’s polite to follow back.

So I think that’s a good place to start.  Next week I’ll address over tweeters, under tweeters and so on.

Now if you’re going to use twitter as a place to promote yourself or your brand, there’s whole set of other rules, feel free to email me at theresa@rockonmommies.com .

About Theresa

Theresa Seid has written 420 post in this blog.

I always hate the about me section. I’m so many different things, I’m never sure how to narrow it down into a paragraph or 2. I love taking pictures, dancing in my living room, talking, I really love talking, and Traveling. I’m an Ex NFL Cheerleader, a “first wife” and now a first time mommy with a beautiful little girl. My life is far from boring and though there are times I long for boring, in the end I’d have it no other way!

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