The Gospel Coalition

I don’t know why I entered the twitterverse.  It was late on a Sunday night.  Somehow I ended up looking at someone’s twitter page.  Then in a glorious lapse of judgment I mistook the leisure of a Sunday late-night with the normal amount of free time I experience daily.  Now I’m tweeting and noting disturbing behavior changes.  Nearly a month into the experiment, here were a few of the tweets I posted:

3 weeks on twitter and my spelling is already suffering.

3 weeks on twitter and my consumption of news and resources is through the roof. Thx to all those who post, RT, and link to excellent stuff!

3 weeks on twitter and I’ve been able to pray for more people, more countries, more leaders, and more issues than I would have otherwise.

3 weeks on twitter and I’ve not yet figured out what #FF means???

3 weeks on twitter and I’ve also not figured out RT etiquette. Is it me or is RTing every mention of yourself self-promoting?

3 weeks of tweeting and the temptations to vanity, pride, and voyeurism are way up!

After 3 weeks of tweeting, overall, I think I really like it. Challenged to be thoughtful and sanctified using the medium.

3 wks on twitter and I learned my friend @ostrachan can be seriously mistaken about the quality of action movies! Avoid his invites 2 movies

3 weeks on twitter and one can become addicted to the near instant feedback. I’m predicting a spike in OCD diagnosis among twitter users!

3 weeks on twitter and I still feel… well… like ‘twitter’ and ‘tweet’ are a bit too feminine. How about ‘Blaster’ and ‘blast’? Yeah….

3 wks on twitter and blogging is suffering. But somebody doesn’t mind: RT @eastpc ”Glad to see Thabiti is back at work .” My wife is too!

3 wks on twitter & just learned #FF is “friend Fridays” or something like that. Now just need to know why we only rec’d friends on Fridays?

So, it’s been fun to hang out on twitter.  But now that it’s been six weeks, I have some more reflections.  These may not be 140 characters, but I hope they’re pithy enough.  They’re in no particular order, but they all register the pleasant surprise that twitter has been.  I’m still not gung ho about social media (primarily because I think it confuses mere interactions with social relationships and dabbles atop our bowling alone culture a little voyeurism narcissism), but I’m grateful for the grace I’ve received so far.  So, here goes.  A few more twitter-sized observations six weeks into this experiment:

6 weeks on twitter and my sentences are shorter but not my sermons.

6 weeks on twitter and I have 450 posts.  Is that a lot?  Too much?

6 weeks on twitter and I don’t know why they rec’d Fitness Diet Guru. My wife’s work I’m sure.

6 weeks on twitter and I’m more math conscious, counting every jot and tittle.

6 weeks on twitter and I love keeping up with friends in far off places. Does that make me a voyeur?

6 weeks on twitter and I realize how little I have kept up with friends in far off places. I’m sorry.

6 weeks on twitter and there’s some really clever worth-smithing folks out there.

6 weeks on twitter and my attention sp…. What was I saying?  I’ll be back….

6 weeks on twitter and I’ll be so very glad when the election is over and Christians regain sanity. Come, Lord Jesus!

Some people are still surprised that I’m on twitter and managing to participate without a cell phone.  I think the first two comments I received were something like, “But wait, you don’t have a cell phone do you? Welcome to this century.”  Friends.  Despite the ridicule, I’m having fun.  I’ll keep it up for a bit.  If you’re looking to develop a nervous twitch, you can find me at @ThabitiAnyabwil.  If you value your concentration and time, you’ll stay very far away.  Be very wary the pretty blue bird.  He’s a killer.  I tell you this because I love you.