When I was at the Press Publish conference in Portland each of the speakers names was written up on the board, and screens, with their Twitter address next to their names, not the URL for their web-site or blog but their Twitter moniker. I found this interesting.
Later on, talking with some of the Automattic people, as we tried to work out how thekitchensgarden had “flown under the radar” (their words) for so long when the blog is daily and the Fellowship is such a strong and numerous force, we came to the conclusion that it is because I have a very teensy Twitter footprint. (Plus I am still learning about SEOs and Tags) So much to learn! Though I am being choosy about what I learn, my wee brain is only so big you know.
Even later on – talking to the people who have published books – I asked about having a Facebook page for a book. That is one way they said -but – “Publishers love Twitter. They are all over Twitter.” Once again with the Twitter as a vehicle to get your message out there. Interesting. 
And this blog does have a message . You know the message. I am adamant that if I can farm – anyone can. I want people to know this. This is why you are invited on my journey to discover how to farm. How to create an old fashioned American farm (using modern tools of course). That it is vital to take control over as many aspects of our food as possible. If only growing herbs, or choosing to buy local or a small vegetable garden in a sunny spot, or chickens in town, or a goat in a semi rural setting or a full old fashioned farm like I have, utilising barns for what they were built for or (my joy of joys)- growing food for others to eat.
I think that we can all be involved in this and every time one of The Fellowship reports back about a chicken coop they built or a farm they visited or a market they go to on Saturday and we are all supporting each other in what is an endless struggle to keep small farms alive, to keep our connection to real food alive, then Sheila and I are succeeding with the message. But can we do better?
So, after watching how this Twitter thing works I think that we should ALL encourage each other to push the Twitter button at the bottom of each others posts, if we like what we see and if we think other people should read this too. One speaker told us how sharing other peoples work is a generous move. It invigorates the work. Empowers each other. And Tweeting information and inspiration is generous too. (Though I have to get over my aversion to the word Tweet!)
And I think this is what Twitter can be used for. Tiny written sound bites. Short and simple. And good.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Da Vinci.
Twitter is definitely simple.
And we could tweet actual quotes from each others work. The line that catches our eye and the link. I know this is not what they mean but I think this is how The Fellowship might create a twist to the Twitter game. Imagine us being important enough to quote! And we are.
An interesting fact is that the best time to Tweet (cringe) is just after lunch on a week day. 
What do you think? (And now I am looking at my writing more critically and wondering what I have said that is quotable – that is a good thing – makes me work harder at saying what is worth saying).
I hope you have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm
celi
P.S. One more day just to be sure then Poppy is going to make her announcement. (It is looking promising).
P.S.S. From dawn today the Give Away has closed. I hope you were in to win. And The Cadet is going to choose the winner of the signed print! ASAP. 
P.S.S.S. (is there a P.S.S.S?) Last night I collected one Korean student, one Japanese student and one student from Hong Kong (all university students) from the train station. They are here for a farm stay until Monday. And if they work as hard as Gracie (who sent them) we are going to get heaps done this weekend. This is another mission of mine – to bring young people back to farming.
See you tomorrow.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
114 responses to “Twitter for Bloggers – Can I Quote you?”
I have tweeted links to your blog before, but I tend to copy the link address and go into the Twitter website or app to tweet it, rather than using the little buttons at ends of posts. I just find this easier.
Thank you Emily, even without the bees i am still learning things in your pages, though it makes me even sadder that I have never been able to get a hive big enough to survive a winter here.. However i love what you do.. c
Dang, missed the giveaway. This was a super busy week and I’m working through the weekend too. Plus hosting the big dinner for nine on Sunday. Hope you have a lovely Easter. Fingers crossed for Poppy.
I miss hosting big dinners like that I am sure it will be wonderful.. c
and what is the past tense of “tweet?” Did they clarify that at the conference? 😉
I don’t want to say Twat, but i really really want to. .. c
Haha that made me burst out laughing loud!
No dear, do not say twat it will all make us spew our coffee/tea/water…… just as I did when I saw this. 🙂 Sunshine today and tomorrow – then the nasty spring storms return. What’s the plans for Easter with all the visitors? I so wish I could come with a huge bottle of wine and dine with all of you. After the meal I would take a nice plate of carrots out to all the animals and relax with the chickens. Yes, that is what I would love to do for Easter….
Twote?
It must be ‘tweeted,’ right???
Yes, let’s settle on Twote.. that should do it!! c
I Twote I saw a putty tat? Go Tweety!
So if you go crazy with Twitter – would you be Tweety? Yes, you would……
Shit, Shat. Spit, Spat. Tweet …
My favourite bad girl!!
You’re all mad! 😀 I love it! LOL
I think I might quote this comment- Veronica! Love it!
You are hilarious!
You are funny!
I look at twitter about once a day and follow you on it. I try to like your posts on both twitter and Facebook. And yesterday I messed up, thought I posted a comment but looking back see that it didn’t make it. sometimes wordpress gets the best of me! I love the snowy barn! And am anxiously awaiting Poppy’s news.
Just out of interest Candy, (as we are exploring Twitter today) about what time is your once a day sweep of Twitter.. I never seem to be able to see anyone I really know on there.. c
usually in the early morning. I read newspapers online and look at social media.
Sorry, Celie, you’ll have to count me out on that one. I really really dislike the twitter culture. I feel it is shallow and all-but meaningless. I use Facebook only because I like to play Scrabble online, but found myself being drawn in to other aspects that led to a lot of email spam, so I’ve cut back even that.
Have a lovely time with your visitors. It’s important to experience different cultures and lifestyles as your young people are doing.
love,
ViV xox
Oh I think that is absolutely true, it is a marketing tool, I still have not worked out how it is effective though as it is by nature very fleeting. I am just thinking that we should All be aware of what the trends are and what the conversations were.. c
I too am figuring out Twitter. I used it for a while to send IT ideas to teachers when I was still teaching. Now I use it to quickly scan for news items from recognized newspapers and tv news channels. I’d rather scan the news titles and decide what I want to ‘see’ than read the LOADS of bad news that seems to crowd newspaper front pages and websites. I’ve learned to make lists. So I have a list for ‘Donkeys and Farm Folks’, another for Thought Provokers, another for Just for Fun, one for News and finally one for IT (computing). That way I can decide what type of info I feel like browsing rather than sorting through the incredible line up of feeds. I do have my blog automatically posted to Twitter each day (using Publicize in Word Press). I have 98 people that follow my posts that way. I tend to check in in the evening after dinner. By the way … I can’t find you on Twitter. Do you go by you name or thekitchensgarden?
Thanks for some good information, I’m Twitter illiterate and what”s the deal with only posting so many words?
that is the essence of twitter I think… blogging is for words!
After a “Mum, you need to have this!” , kinda thing, I suddenly was signed up for a twitter account. Twitter does have a place: So many people work alone these days, particularly in the techie world, Twitter allows them the water cooler moment or a chance to ask advice about a problem from their other techie friends. You do have to follow people ( like on Facebook) I have 100 people that I know and follow, but I see that 336 people follow me. My blog posta are linked to both Facebook and Twitter. I notice that followers often link to my post. Be careful, it can become addictive. I seldom go near my account these days. I get quick answers or advice through my blog or on Facebook
Viv, I’m with you on this. It may be my personality as I am very sensitive, but social media is noise in my brain that I do not need. I really do not have time to incorporate it into my day and it flat doesn’t feel good in my spirit. But certainly, I do not deny that it might be a good thing – a great thing, for others. 🙂
Ditto for me, Littlesundog. (Left the instant at the office when I left)
But for authors/publishers Twitter is THE thing right now and very popular with the young crowd who write, think, and change directions/attention focus in a blink.
All depends on what final goal is and time frame.
Goggle/WP adore interconnected social media. – drives hits.
Just be cautious – the instant nature can cause accidental missteps. Make useful interesting comments and observations – not annoying constant updates about what you are eating or shoes you have on…
Here’s a couple of links from WP bloggers I had bookmarked about hashtags and Twitter in case I decide to jump in: (from Chris the Reading Ape blog)
https://serinssphere.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/the-a-to-z-lowdown-on-blogging-t-is-for-twitter/
Really enjoyed the post and all the discussions in the comments
Thank you Mouse.. I would like to check these out.. Isn’t the Lounge of Comments Glorious! c
There’s another really good one if I can find where I saved it. I’ve tried to save helps for future. Big waves from sunny and mild.
I like twitter. I regularly tweet your posts already. I’m not such a fan of Facebook. Each to their own. I think folk are often either tweet or facebook – as in preferring one or the other – I think it’s like favouring Mac or PC -depends on your brain’s wiring. 🙂
I think so too Anne and often they are used in different ways, Facebook is more for our friends and so forth and Twitter is a great way to find what people are reading, interesting articles etc.. c
I am with Viv on this one Miss C. I had a twitter account and found it distracting-not because it was busy but because I had to think about it when I would rather blog. I do have a facebook version of my own blog and I post some extras there, but Twitter isn’t in my game plan. To be honest here, we all want different things from blogging and WordPress, and of course they are going to push anything that will market ‘their’ blogs. If you want your words out there, I don’t think that you will have any trouble getting most people on the Twitter bandwagon.
I really am just reporting back as it were – living on a farm and working with animals we have no idea at all how actual people are communicating.. And you are right in that we still need to Limit our internet time or it becomes a big time waster.. c
I think I Tweeted…I do Twitter but I never know if my tweet is right… and yes it is a brilliant idea..my blog is already connected to twitter and as yet I have not had anyone wanted to make a book of me….still we can live in hope!
International Helpers Day..super! We have had these lovely people from that part of the world and by gum! do they work hard…..they also eat a lot!
I am hoping they cook too! At the moment they are cleaning out the last cows pen.. Boo loves them.. c
So nice to see Aunty Del in Daisy’s field. Looking forward to hearing about your weekend with new visitors. Laura
Aunty Del is a biyt unhappy to be over here but she will be used to it shortly.. those boys over there need fattening up and we don’t want a fat heifer.. plus I like her to be home with me.. c
/8I went back and looked at Aunty Del. She does look a bit out of sorts, a bit annoyed. Perhaps she misses being the only girl and the attention that comes with that? Like a teenaged girl being sent to an all girl’s school?
I’m going to try to concentrate a bit more on Twitter, simply because “I don’t get it” – but I really want to. It’s everywhere. Two of the bloggers I really enjoyed and followed when I first started blogging moved to Twitter, and no longer blog. I hope that doesn’t happen here.
Elizabeth, I have noticed this same thing and wonder on the reasons. I know many writers blog to simply get the word out about their books, then places like Twitter/FB seem to take over as being easier?, more advantageous? to their needs. I think that it’s often too easy to get caught up in technology and while useful, things like Twitter (in my opinion) don’t have the valuable connection that blogs like Miss C provide.
I agree, Debs. I don’t blog to sell anything, or make money. I blog as an outlet for creativity, and to communicate with other creative people. And I would be devastated if the Kitchen’s Garden disappeared over to Twitter!
That makes no sense to me either as I cannot see how one could Tweet instead of blogging.. They seem like very different fields, though they would a different kid of writer I am sure.. I love who we are over here in WeB-Log land.. c
Not to mention the impossibility of enjoying your photography on Twitter… It is essentially a sound-bite medium, and what is written here, by both you, Celi, and all the Lounge contributors, would be crippled by the constraints of Twitter word count. I think Twitter is a marketing tool, and blogs are a forum in which to have conversations, convey information and make friends.
I am all over Twitter. A few months ago, I pointed Freshly Pressed in your direction on Twitter because I couldn’t believe you had never been FPd. Twitter is magical. It’s an easy way to get connected to other writers (and farmers and photographers, and…), and its a great way to engage.
I have a couple of how-to-Tweets on my blog. If you would like, I can send you the links. They’re under the “how to blog” tab on my menu bar.
I would love it if you could send me the links.. Though i think I remember reading one, but maybe others might like to check them out too.. can you drop them into the Lounge of Comments today? as a reference.? That would be very kind heather.. have a great day.. c
Link #1 is a what-to-do. https://becomingcliche.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/the-bloggers-guide-to-social-media-twitter/
Link 2, what not to do: https://becomingcliche.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/the-sins-of-the-tweeter/
I am not the world authority on Twitter, but if anyone has questions, I’d be happy to help find the answer.
I’m not on Facebook, and the only reason I have a Twitter tag is because a friend in publishing asked me to join up and follow her on Twitter – her boss thought she should be tweeting all over the place. She didn’t have much to say, I had less, and let the thing lapse when she left that job. I dislike the lack of filter you get with Twitter, and can’t think of anyone whose very fleeting opinions I’d want to read… I really much prefer blogs, where you get some solid stuff to get your teeth into!
Hear hear.
Wheh I scroll through myself I am often frustrated that i cannot find the people I want to hear from.. just tons of advertisements, i need to work that out somehow.. c
I loVe Twitter and as a matter of fact Twitter got me home for a friend’s funeral. True story. Here’s the link to that post if you want to read :
http://www.itsjustlife.me/how-twitter-got-me-home/
You can schedule tweets using schedulers like HootSuite so if you want to get your tweets out there at the right time use one of those. I don’t normally do that but I can see where it would be a good tool in certain cases –for example if you are traveling and really want to get the message out there or if you are doing chores!!! 🙂 I use IFTTT a lot to schedule my social media sharing because you can make “recipes” that are specific to your needs. I will be interested to see how this all develops for you but YES–you need to be tweeting more!
Oh good info Beth Ann – I shall follow this up.. the link to my posts goes out when I post which is around 5 in the morning.. hmm.. c
I use IFTTT to schedule my posts going to Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, etc. It works pretty well since the publicize part on WordPress hasn’t worked well for me since I changed to .org and self hosted. I almost always schedule my posts and don’t write them “live”.
I feel like such a Loon, but I don’t even know what IFTTT is.. c
I just discovered IFTTT (IF That Then This) … It is a service that offers automated tasks. For example, my daughter is a brand new professor at Rutgers U. She shared her course outlines with me. I set up IFTTT so that it searches daily news stories around the world that relate to her topics. They get sent to my email. I have a folder set up in my email for them – so they don’t clutter up my regular correspondance. I then read them (It filters out the top few that relate to my search terms) and send her the links to ones that her students might benefit from. That is just one simple example.
Thanks, you convinced me to study Twitter. I love your post about your flight.
I, too, love Twitter and vastly prefer it to FB. Maybe because I’m a writer, and as you say, lots of publishers hang out there–so do lots of writers. I do most of my tweeting and interacting in the morning, very little later in the day, though I have a VA who tweets stuff like links and so forth then. I highly recommend Hootsuite (a free site and app) to help you manage Twitter–you can set up streams. And, best of all, you can get a little Hootlet on your browser which you then click when you want to tweet a page–like this one–and it makes it much easier. I love it when I see you on Twitter and we have an exchange, as we did yesterday, Cecilia! So fun. I’ll look for you there more often and retweet you.
Thank you Charlotte. I am a personal person – and love to have those exchanges as opposed to dropping info out there then leaving it. Looks like this Hootsuite you and BethAnn mention is the tool i am looking for.. c
I have a very un-used Twitter account. I check it maybe once a week, but prefer it to Facebook. After my blog, Instagram is the ‘social media’ that I prefer most! Can you let us know what your Twitter handle is? I can’t seem to find you on there. Thanks! Maybe I will give it more of a try. (I am @baabean there if you want to find me instead!)
um.. ceciliagunther I think? I will find you too! Thank you.. c
Yeah! Found you. Stunning photo at the top of your Twitter page … of course! I love how each time I ‘see’ you (your picture) I see a different person. Short hair, long hair, curly hair, straight hair!
Yup, I just found you too and started following you!
I’m not much of a Twitter user myself, but understand where you are coming from about it regarding using Twitter as a vehicle to get your message out there. I checked out the links from becoming cliche and found them helpful, so now I intend to make more use of Twitter for my own blog, and of course, to re-tweet yours!