What am I doing? Not sure if anyone really cares
August 19, 2008
That’s not my page above, just a sample people.
Ok, so my little site has about 3,000 visitors a month. Much more than I ever imagined. I only represent 30,000 folks in House District 71 so I imagine others outside the district are reading and that’s good too! While those 30,000 folks here are the ones who actually can vote for me, the other 4,000,000 residents of our state are folks I represent in my role as as House member. It’s good to hear from all over our state when forming policy and shaping debate.
I kinda thought my blog would be a big step towards sunshine/open government and more accessibility for constituents than ever before. That was nothing compared to TWITTER !
What is Twitter? Well, I”m not exactly sure. I think it’s some social-networking thing. It’s probably somewhat ego-driven, perhaps. But it apparently is “the new thing” and I decided to sign up. Last night, I was bored. Karen and the kids are still at the beach, I’m back here trying to make a living at Wachovia Mortgage and I gave in. I “twittered”. Ok, I admit it.
What does Twittering mean? Well, basically it gives folks 24/7 access to your every-living move…if you want them to know.
You type what you’re doing, whenver you’re doing it (or I guess you “twitter” or I think it’s called writing a “tweet”). You can do it from your laptop, Blackberry, iPhone, whatever. Then you have stalkers (I mean followers) who click to follow you so that they will then see what you wrote whenever they check their own Twitter site.
It’s interesting (I guess) but to me seems a little Big Brother-ish. I’m not sold on it, yet. But I’ll work at it and see what happens.
The South Carolina Association of Realtors have been promoting it and I figured, it’s a good way to stay in touch with my line of work (paying job) because Nick Kremydas does frequent updates and I appreciate what he writes. Their Twitter Site is SCREALTORS .
I’m following a few folks so I can stay in touch. A few realtors, some politicos, even a constituent is on there. That’s kinda neat.
I’m also following one of our soon-to-be State Representative Dan Hamilton (R-Taylors) who will assume the seat his father just had for several years. Dan’s the first legislator to Twitter so I’m not trying to steal his thunder. Wes Donehue has been wanting me to Twitter for awhile and when I saw Dan (whose paying job is a realtor) join in…I said “ok, why not?”
For what it’s worth…..my Twitter name is NathanBallentin and you can get to it by clicking on that name. For State Representative Dan Hamilton click on dphamilton.
So…if your Starbucks Coffee, iPhone or Crackberry doesn’t have you wired enough, give TWITTER a try. Follow me….if you care.
UPDATE: A few hours after posting, a constituent - Kevin Benson - reached me via twitter with a link to this post about “12 Reasons to Start Twittering.”
UPDATE II: Spreading already….welcome State Representative Eric Bedingfield (R-Greenville) to “Twitterland” he can be found at EBedingfield
UPDATE III: Ok, so apparently there are spammers in Twitterland. Gotta be careful. Some scary stuff you gotta block!
UPDATE IV: I’ll stop after this…… Representative Shannon Erickson is now Twittering. You can visit her at ShannonErickson
Comments
8 Responses to “What am I doing? Not sure if anyone really cares”
Got something to say?
Nathan,
Congratulations and welcome to the dark side…seriously, I think Twitter can be a great way for your constituents (and mine) to hear directly from you in real time as things are happening in the Legislature.
Lots of potential and another step toward openness and accountability in the political process.
Now get yourself an iPhone and do it in style.
See you later.
Dan
Thanks, Dan.
C’mon though….you know me well enough to know an iPhone is out of my league.
Remember, I offered to buy your “old/used Ipod” today.
I’m thrifty!
[…] Look folks. We have another South Carolina legislator using Twitter. Check out Representative Eric Bedingfield by clicking here. […]
[…] Nathan’s News | What am I doing? Not sure if anyone really cares […]
Hi Nathan,
Signed up for Twitter but with new email above don’t have “contacts” yet to connect to you or Eric…or anyone else for that matter…
See, I’m THE “tech-NO-savvy” here!
S-
Shannon,
Call me - well, I’ll see you this weekend in Charleston - and I can walk you through what LITTLE I have learned in about 48 hours.
Of course, in the “techno world” 48 hours means you’re quickly outdated.
Nathan
[…] If you missed the earlier post about what all this is about, click here. […]
[…] site has grown to over 3,000 readers a month and I continue to receive “contacts” and “twitter messages” and even a few posted comments that help me stay in constant contact with my voters. I have always […]