Twitter's True Value

Waiting for the moments to tick by was murder. "Is it over yet - why isn't it over yet?"My friends know that,for three weeks in a row, I had entered the Fiji Water Facebook contest to win a gift card to Benihana. I had to create a haiku - a three line poem with very specific syllable lengths. Whoever had the most people to click "like" under his or her haiku would win the gift card.

Week 1 - left in the dust. Resolved to start earlier. (started too late)
Week 2 - Started earlier, smoked in the end by late entry. (started too early)
Week 3 - my friends convinced me to try again, and I put my poem in about two days before the end (timed just right).

Was the lesson proof of my mantra of Never Give Up, Never Surrender? Not quite.

The lesson learned was about the true value of Twitter.

The true value of Twitter is in the connections that you make with others - the friends that you make. I've been on Twitter for awhile, and at first, I had no earthly idea what it was about. I didn't know what to tweet and who to tweet it to, but slowly, after looking around and finding things that interested me, Twitter finally started to make sense.

The day I started entering contests was the beginning of a new experience for me on Twitter. I started seeing familiar names, and we started talking. Any time of day or night, someone was on that I could talk to, or just vicariously enjoy their tweets. Contest people are a community unto themselves, and even when we are all chasing the same prize, we understand that most of us are not going to win. We are happy for the winner, and happier still if it happens to be one of our ever-widening circle of friends. We support each other.

Such was the case when I entered the Fiji Water contest for the third time. My contest buddies convinced me to try for the third time because they were sure that I could win; I wasn't convinced. I enjoy playing with words, so I entered because the challenge of coming up with another haiku was more than my brain could ignore. I went to the site and sat there with my finger poised over the "Share" button. Should I? Should I wait? Yes, and no - now or never time. I hit the key, and there it was, for all the world to see.

I told my friends that it was there, and they went to work. The message started going out, telling followers that their friend was in a contest and needed their vote. I kept getting messages from people telling me that they voted for my poem, or that they had their husbands or boyfriends vote for it too. If they could do that, I could work hard too, so I went to Facebook to look for votes.

I learned some great lessons along the way. I learned that if you ask people for help, they're happy to help. I learned that, more often than not, if you ask for their vote, you get it. I learned that my bright, funny twitter friends are the most supportive group of people that I may ever meet.

After a day of down-to-the-wire updates and probably a thousand page refreshes, the time finally ran out. The third time did prove to be the charm. Thanks to Fiji Water for your contention that 3 can be a lucky number. Most of all, thank you to my friends. I couldn't have done it without your encouragement, your cheerleading and your votes.

That, is Twitter's true value.