My Hypocritical Love of Twitter

I have this awful tendency to scoff very loudly and openly at things I later become obsessed with.

I used to sneer at runners because they always looked miserable to me.  I swore that if I wanted to cover miles, I'd do it on wheels: skates or a bike.

Now I run marathons.  15 of them at last count.

I used to make terrible fun of my sister-in-law because she edited Disney movies, fast-forwarding past anything scary so her kids wouldn't be freaked out.  These were DISNEY movies!  They were specifically engineered to coincide with children's psychic needs!

My daughter is six years old, and only just found out Mufasa dies in Lion King.  I'd been saying he retired.  She still doesn't know about Nemo's mom — she thinks the movie starts with Nemo screaming "First Day of School!"

I guffawed when I heard about Twitter.  I understood Facebook; those are your friends.  Even if they're friends you'd never otherwise hear from, they're still friends.  But Twitter?  Why would I want to follow a bunch of random strangers?  And why in the world would a bunch of stangers want to follow me?  It's an idiotic time suck!

I had a whole rant on the topic that I loved to unleash at a moment's notice.  I was positive I would never never NEVER go anywhere near Twitter.

I started Twitter back in August.

I'm completely obsessed.

What I love most about Twitter is that it's like going to a fabulous cocktail party… without the hassle of dressing up, putting on makeup, or even changing locations.

I recognize that this very comparison is what makes some people think Twitter and other social networks are the downfall of real social interaction, but I completely disagree.  I go out as much as I did before, but I get to connect with many more people.  And they're people with whom I have something in common — that's how we found each other.  I've met incredible authors and book bloggers through Twitter, plus fellow marathoners and Eagles fans.

And I don't know about you guys, but I suck at approaching people I idolize at a real cocktail party.  One of these days I'll share my story about meeting Carrol Spinney, who plays Big Bird.  It isn't pretty.  But on Twitter, I was able to make conversation with the greatest YA writer of our time, Laurie Halse Anderson… and I did it without embarrassing myself beyond comprehension.

A really thrilling development has been all the Elixir fans I've met on Twitter.  It's beyond phenomenal to have someone read the book I helped Hilary Duff write, then shoot me a tweet to tell me how much they liked it.

I'm sounding like an ad now, but my point is that I have once again proven myself a complete hypocrite, proselytizing for the very thing I held in complete contempt.

Ever done something like that?  I'd love to hear your comments below.  Or better yet… Tweet Me!