Media Outreach

I ran across a tweet from a friend this week that I wanted to comment on. I had a really good response all typed out in my head…but the problem that faced me was that he had posted his tweet the day before, which left me feeling that I missed my chance to reply.

There were several thoughts that went through my head.

1. I could reply and mention his tweet from yesterday, that might look like I was somewhat stalking him. Plus, if I did that, then I would be letting everyone in on my secret that I don’t keep up with all my followers.  I login 2 or 3 times a week and review the current tweets and click on a list or 2 of people that I want to keep up with.
2. I could just send him a Direct Message (DM) and no one would know…but my response was so clever that I wanted my followers to read. (Selfish ambition, I know!)
3. I could just not reply and laugh to myself at the clever response I had all written out in my head.
4. Tell him the next time I see him about my response to his tweet…that might even sound more stalker-ish, as if that was all I had been thinking about and couldn’t wait to talk to him about.

So, this got me thinking about the brief mark in time that we make when we tweet. It journals a moment’s thought that is soon passed by as time keeps moving forward. It’s a moment that is missed by many and only truly means something to the writer.

Then I got to thinking in the broader picture…And began asking myself these questions:

1. What kind of brief impact am I having on people around me?
2. Am I missing opportunities to connect with people because I’ve got my head in my next project or running around trying to build a name for myself?
3. Tomorrow will I look back on today and think, “Wow, I missed my chance to encourage that one person that crossed my path.”

Let’s hope not.

Photo By: Steve Keys