When I first heard of Twitter, it was through news commentators bragging about their new connectivity and begging for people to follow them. I was far from impressed with their vanity. Not long after that, a respected milblogger and I were discussing various ways that the world could find out about websites, what raised awareness and what did not.
He was directly responsible for what I learned initially about twitter and for convincing me that we needed to be here. But what we knew in those days was fortunately not what the future of Twitter would prove to be. It's a good thing too, because I really don't think my eating habits are all that interesting nor that anyone would want to know nor even that they should want to know.
I got on Twitter in time to see the race to a million followers between a "news" agency and a celebrity. The vanity was less than impressive, but by the time the Iran Election came around, I had learned enough to play a minor role. I still have contacts from that event.
And that was a turning point for how twitter is perceived and used. True, many use twitter to feel a connection to heartless news agencies and vain celebrities. Ellen has developed games involving having assistants tweet search criteria on live television. I have nothing against Ellen but it has to be one helluva power trip to be able to send hundreds or thousands of people scrambling with a command to push a button. I know how good it can feel to give away things but also recognize that it builds loyalty and admiration in a way that the giver is rewarded much more than the recipient.
Still the point is that twitter has real life purposes that can unite people behind a purpose. Sure, one can attempt to use twitter for vain purposes and brag about the number of "followers" they have or how many people jump at their command. I prefer to think of those on my lists as contacts and I have been richly rewarded with meeting some great people through it.
Rather than a power trip, I think of it as a tool. The number of "followers" is not a score to say how great I am, but a measure of how many may receive an important message. I don't discriminate between those of honorable professions versus those who may work in jobs less respected. You'll even find politicians of both parties in our lists.
I recognize that I am but one cog in the wheel, that those that may see our tweets have a reason to. I recognize that Twitter is one of the purest forms of Free Speech, Communication, and Democracy in todays world. I am in command of no one. A cause, often united by a hashtag, rises and falls based on the willingness of a multitude of individuals to accept it as important and worthy.
The Iran Election became a trending topic and provided the Persian People a means to organize against a tyrannical government because those involved and citizens around the world were interested enough to want to know. Left, Right, Peacenik, and Warriors tweeted the efforts of a people attempting to peaceably overthrow their tyrannical dictator. Even CNN bowed to the pressure and finally began talking about it a few days later.
The Tea Party movement before that used twitter to communicate a groundswell of people to causes around the Nation.
These tags and causes succeeded in part due to the ability of tweeters to communicate across wide swathes of people with the push of a button. Whether you support those causes or not, twitter was a major factor in the success they attained. Sending out individual texts messages, calling friends, or relying on the media to tell you would have resulted in showing up late.
Twitter still has the vain, the curious, and the arrogant, but it has also the mature, the intelligent, and the communicative. It has people who believe in its use for real, meaningful efforts but are independently minded and refuse to be whipped into compliance.
Twitter is a forum where one can gather news as it happens from those that witness it but it is also a place where discerning, intelligent humans decide for themselves what cause is just and who is self-serving. Often it is easy for others to see the difference.
Since we tend to surround ourselves with those most like us, breaking into new circles of associations can be difficult. When a group gets large enough, it has a natural tendency to break into smaller groups. But some things should be greater than the individuals involved. Support of Our Troops is one of those things. It should supercede party lines (and it does) but it should reach out to both parties and to Independents and 3rd Parties.
It should suspend personal endeavor. It doesn't matter who created a hashtag if no one uses it. No one person can make the tag successful. You'll find most Veterans will discount telling their own stories except to say that it is a reason to Support Our Troops still in the fight.
Our Troops serve with those assigned to their units, without regard for party or personality conflict. They fight and die beside those that they might never talk to in any other world. They trust with their lives peole they might otherwise have never known or perhaps not even liked. Our Troops come from across the American spectrum of society and serve regardless of what party runs the government. They serve and sacrifice for the Defense of this Nation, of Freedom, and the Constitution.
This site, devoid of all advertisements, of anything I thought might be thought self-serving, is not a site for me to tell others how to Support Our Troops. It is a site for many to express their thoughts on how best to unite the Twitterverse behind Our Troops. It is a place to promote those that are doing so, such as @FingerTipNews and @ThankASoldier who are in contention for recognition in the Mashable Open Web Awards.
It is a site for the same kind of Selfless Service that Our Troops live and fight by on a daily basis.
It is a place for others to publish their thoughts on these things, to unite in consensus, but, for that to work, others must write, others must step up and volunteer to contribute or recommend others to contribute. No ONE person can make this succeed on their own and I am but one person. No ONE person in the Twitterverse can advance a cause, no matter if they think they can command the world to do so. Support of Our Troops can succeed in the Twitterverse, but only if the multitude of tweeters believe it is the right thing to do, not simply because one person thinks so.
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