Tweeting is something I decided to do rather hesitantly and very much in the slow lane, as a conscious effort to keep myself up to date with the various tools available to me as a writer. My previous post on the subject was perhaps a bit naïve – and managed to wash all sorts of stuff out into the gutter…. Now, having edged out into the middle lane, got a few Tweets under my belt and a few followers, I can re-asses things a bit.
Of course Twitter provides a too-often misused platform for those who want to get rid of unsavoury aggression or whatever – enough people are looking at that, so I won’t. And there are those compulsive but basically harmless self-publicists – I am learning to ignore those too. But for run-of-the-mill, salt-of-the-earth gardeners, Twitter can be a definite plus, I think.
A love of plants and gardens bordering on mild obsession with them, spending time messing around amongst and in them and writing about them can be quite a solitary thing. You can be out there all hours, twiddling or toiling or in my case a scatty mixture of both, and you think things, notice things – they can be appalling, glorious, or even be just jaw-dropping moments of realisation about something – things that you would love to share. But next door’s cat isn’t listing, the robin just shrugs his shoulders and the blackbirds have other things on their minds. So the random-thought-and-picture-tweeting, which is what I find myself doing quite a bit, is a neat alternative. (O how sad this sounds, but it’s not, I’m not, and I will press on…).
So heartfelt thanks, Karen Tolmie, who was encouraging after my previous post, and to fellow Tweeters for sharing your similarly random thoughts, pictures and enthusiasms, your RT’s, your Favouriting (you see, I am getting the hang of it slowly), which indicate from time to time that others ‘get’ what I get, which in turn makes me realise that we gardeners are all in it together and that in itself, dare I admit it, gives me a bit of a warm glow. And we have had a bit of a larf, too.
My unilateral declaration of ‘n vwls dy’ provided light relief on a sweltering day.
I shall be declaring ‘n vwls dy – th squl’ shortly…
Helen Yemm 
You may think so, Nickie – and it is perfectly fine for you to express your misgivings here about my true motives – and thanks, incidentally, for being so courteous. However, what I tried to convey is that what I find appeals to me about Twitter (and it surprises me) is the ability to share completely inconsequential trivialities and spontaneous ideas and enthusiasms on Twitter. And having to express things with a limited number of characters is a bit of a game, too, for someone who counts and juggles with words for a living (hence the n vwls dy!) If I was a compulsive self-publicist trying to impress, wouldn’t I be running to keep up with the big players, hell bent on displaying my horticultural erudition and all that? Would I really want reveal, as I do, just how truly silly I really am? The thing is, I really don’t care about all that. And when I don’t have time or don’t feel moved to Tweet, I won’t Tweet. Easy peasy. My final word.
Some rather odd comments have been removed from this blog because it transpires that several (including from those from ‘Nickie’ to whom I innocently addressed the answer below) all came from the same source, i.e. I was painstakingly, systematically ‘trolled’.
Please don’t be put off leaving genuine comments, however.
Now that I know how to ‘out’ or rather ‘off’ any offenders, I will ruthlessly block people who try to get attention by being deliberately, needlessly nasty.