The Power of Twitter
The first thing I must say here is that I don’t get lonely per se, but there are times when I am dreadful company for myself. I spend lots of time on Twitter, being verbose and making comments that can be political, and also can be nonsensical – If I were to be truthful, nonsense tends to rule the day.
Just before Christmas I caught sight that someone was setting up a twitter hashtag for people who felt lonely at that time of year. the hashtag that was set up was #notalone365, and the person behind it, @notalone365, needs a medal. I wasn’t actually feeling lonely, but was happy to spend some time being sociable and ‘being there’ for anyone who thought that no-one was there to listen to them. This went on through the whole Christmas and New Year period, and is now a year-round phenomenon.
Please don’t think, though, that the purpose of this blog is an exercise in some sort of self-aggrandisment, because I was happy to chat, because it’s not. Never before have I seen anyone set up anything that has caught on so quickly – it’s the community, the people, the person who actually had the idea in the first place.
I am grateful to #notalone365 because it has helped me make new friends, all over the country and, indeed, the world. I cannot guarantee being there all the time every single day, because no-one can, but as long as I am on Twitter and tweeting, I am always happy to chat.
So, the single purpose of this blog entry. If you ever get fed up and feel alone, follow @notalone365 or tweet with the hashtag #notalone365 and someone will be there to chat to you. If you just feel like a chat, there are lovely people there who will talk to you, whether you feel lonely or not. If you are lucky, you might not end up chatting to me!
