I have found Twitter to be an excellent accountability and encouragement tool for reading the Bible in 90 Days, as it allows our online community to have an more personal feel and it allows somewhat direct communication between each reader.
Several of those signed up to read the Bible in 90 Days with us have asked me if getting a Twitter account is critical. No, it isn’t critical. If it pulls you into Twitterland and keeps you from your daily reading, it definitely is not a good tool. But if it enhances your experience, which I believe it can, it can definitely help.
I write this post on Twitter, hashtags and TweetDeck for the last go ’round of our online reading. If you are new or unfamiliar to Twitter, I would suggest you hop over to that post, give it a read and then come back. Just be sure to come back as I have more to say.
Now that we are all (somewhat) up to speed, I will share a bit more.
Since we cannot all meet in person, our study meetings will be held online via Twitter every Monday night beginning July 5, from 8-9 CST. (Consider setting your phone or an alarm reminder device/ sticky note now so you don’t forget.) We will chat about our reading in terms of observations, questions and the process is general. This is a great chance for you to hear what others are hearing and get each other’s input. My role in the Tweet-Ups will be as facilitator, not teacher. The meetings will be discussions for everyone to get involved and ask or share. And the messages will at time fly by quickly so get yourself ready to focus for the hour.
For the Tweet-Ups I use a Twitter application called TweetChat. You log on using your Twitter account information and the hashtag you want to follow (in this case #B90Days)and then it pulls just those tweets for you. You can even set your ‘refresh speed’ to get tweets closer to real time.
When we aren’t meeting, I often keep TweetDeck open on my computer with my #B90Days column active. This allows me to check in and see what others have to say about the reading. Throughout the day, B90 readers will tweet that they have finished their reading, that they need prayer, that they have questions, that they have posted on their blogs about their B90 journey… all sorts of things. It’s a great way to stay connected and meet your fellow readers. It can also be a distraction, so proceed with caution and set limits for yourself if you have to.
In addition to keeping that column open, I also plan to follow all the Bible in 90 Days readers and set up a column on my TweetDeck with just their tweets.
At the end of this post, I will ask all of you who are reading the Bible in 90 Days with us to share your Twitter ID on a linky. This way we can follow each other and read each other’s tweets which do not include the #B90Days hashtag, as well. (That being said, I will admit that I try to limit my Twitter time and during B90 ‘season.’ Please don’t be offended if I don’t respond to many other tweets for awhile.)
So, no, Twitter is not required, but it certainly helps. It helped the last time more than I ever expected it to and I look forward to the relationships that will grow this time, as well. I hope you’ll join in the conversation on Twitter as well as here on MomsToolbox… They’ve already begun!
Please link up below. In the first box type in your Twitter Handle. In the second, copy and paste the address to your Twitter page. Once you then finish entering your information, your Twitter ID will be listed and hot-linked so each of us can easily hop through each others’ pages and follow each other.
Hope to see ya on Twitter… and at our first Tweet-Up Monday, July 5, from 8-9 CST!
PS: My Twitter ID is @MomsToolbox. I included it to give you an example.
PPS: Only enter your Twitter ID if you have signed up to read the Bible in 90 Days with us. This list will be monitored. If you skip two weekly check-ups in a row your link will be deleted unless you contact me directly.
Okay, here’s the Linky:
Any questions? Feel free to leave them here and/ or Tweet them on Twitter. :)
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