#BoatsThatTweet

Yes, I too was one of those people who asked, “What is the point of Twitter?” I had already wasted hours on Facebook keeping in touch with my friends’ status updates, and I didn’t need a whole other social world on line to mysteriously suck away my time and energy. But as I got more into blogging and ‘met’ other bloggers on line I kept hearing that tweeting was the thing to do.

I find Twitter to be a lot faster and busier experience than Facebook, it is a constantly moving conversation, like walking into a bar where everyone is talking at once: That makes it sound awful! But it’s a quick and easy way of sharing news, links and information. It’s a place to socialise, network and meet new people.

To get people ‘following’ you on Twitter you need a short and interesting bio, saying what you’re about. Advertise your Twitter ID on your email signature, blog, other social network profiles, and website if you have one. Follow other people and companies with similar interests, and follow people that you would like to follow you. Whenever you see something interesting ‘retweet’ it, and that person will thank you.

On Twitter I’ve discovered people that I would never have randomly met or spoken to in real life. Last week I discovered a campaign to stop the government closing 50% of coastguard stations that is tweeted by @CoastalJoe1. I heard that a 74 year old man who fell into the Coventry Canal at Tamworth is seeking the girl who saved him via @unofficialNBW and I heard that British Waterways are looking for volunteer lock keepers via @waterscape_com. It’s also useful to follow @BWcomms. Boats I’ve tweeted with recently include @hotelboats (Snipe and Taurus) @b0atg1rl, @nbchalford, @workinboatwoman and @albiondumsday (Granny Buttons narrowboat blog). I’ve even discovered a boating hairdresser @FloatingSalon. @workboatpug is an Oxford based marine engineer who publishes a daily online paper called ‘Tweets from the Fleet’, sharing boating articles and information.

The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It is a way for people to search for tweets that have a common topic. Hash tags allow you to create communities of people interested in the same topic by making it easier for them to find and share information related to it. Try following the hash tag #BoatsThatTweet and easily discover so much more about canals and narrowboating!

This week I will be taking over the Boatshed Grand Union Twitter account so why not follow me @BoatshedGU for regular news updates from this blog and information about buying and selling narrowboats?

You can also follow my personal account @Boat_Wife for blog updates from www.narrowboatwife.blogspot.com and any other random things I might tweet about.

I look forward to ‘meeting’ you on Twitter!

Boat-Wife
xx