Bad Boys, Twitter & Some small changes
I will be making some changes to how I interact on Twitter. While these changes will seem small and perhaps barely noticeable to you, they are in fact big changes for me.
What’s happened?
Do you remember that bad boy/girl you fell in love with? The one who you were sure wouldn’t hurt you. Everyone around you knew this person was no good for you. Everyone could see it but you. Then one day everything came crashing down. Why didn’t anyone tell you (they did), why couldn’t you see it (you didn’t want to), how was life ever going to go on (it did, and it does). Well, twitter is becoming that bad boy for me. I never intended to get so drawn in. But…the allure has gotten the better of me. In fact, I hadn’t intended to use twitter (or social media) at all. However, I had heard that it was a good platform for generating business and getting myself out there. My chosen advertiser (Scarlet Blue), I discovered, would also tweet automatically on my behalf when I created content on their website, added photos, made announcements or created tours. ‘Why not give it a shot?’, I thought. If I didn’t like it, or if it wasn’t working for me I could just leave it alone. I was curious and so I created an account. I wrote some tweets, got some responses and began interacting with others. I discovered that It was actually fun and amongst other things there was a lot of valuable (and for me much needed) information from those more seasoned professionals. It even appeared that I was getting some client interest. My first dinner date booking, with a very lovely client, told me that he found me from my advertising, and proceeded to follow me extensively on twitter before choosing to make a booking. He read both my Scarlet Blue ad and my twitter in great detail and knew a lot about me already. At dinner he even discussed a particular tweet with me which I had completely forgotten about. My response, said with a flirtatious smile, was ‘sorry, I think you have the wrong girl’. He was certain he in fact did have the right girl but with neither of us wanting to argue, we left it at that. Then, in the middle of the night after this booking, I was awoken by the memory of the tweet he was referring to. Of course, I waited for the sun to rise but quickly sent him a message apologizing and confessing my mistake. I was mortified and embarrassed but I think he took it ok. The point here is that it seemed I had an audience and a likable twitter presence. There was no need to change anything. Twitter was a good decision for me.
I also created my #Countdowntomybirthday hashtag. My birthday is in January and on January 1st I wanted to tweet something to celebrate the New Year. Up until the very moment that tweet was actually live, and perhaps not even then, I had no idea I was committing to a Countdown that would last for the next 21 days. This is where things began to unravel. Not at first, but as the countdown went on. It was a fairly quick unravelling - the response was addictive. I was getting a lot of positive feedback from my countdown, I still do now even though my birthday has long passed. I think I increased my followers by the greatest percentage during this time than during any time before or since opening my account. I loved the engagement. I was interacting with people that regardless of what category they fell into (potential client, fellow sw, independent advertising platform, or just someone who I liked chatting with), the interaction let me know that I would be ok. This affirmed for me that my decision to leave an establishment in Sydney and create my own business was the right decision. But the allure was becoming all consuming. With the exception of some pot smoking, I have never been a drug user. In fact, drugs scare the shit out of me. Twitter was becoming my heroin. I couldn’t walk past my phone without checking the app. While I was still able to leave my phone behind when I went for a walk, for example, I was becoming anxious about checking it as soon as I walked back in the door. I greeted my phone before I greeted my dog. It was the first thing I checked when I woke up and the last thing I checked before I went to sleep at night.
I thoroughly enjoy my twitter interaction. I’ve met some amazing people on there. I’ve engaged in various activities on twitter which have been fun, thought provoking, informative and exciting. I’ve had bookings and future interest as a result of my engagement there. I’ve met other escorts touring to my city through this platform. However, while twitter is a great source of fun for me, some days it is becoming my primary source of fun. While, initially twitter was ever so helpful, it has slowly become equally as hurtful to me as it is helpful. So before the scales tip in the other direction and while my head is just a tad bit stronger than my heart, I am going to make some changes. Nothing dramatic, just a small shift.
Earlier today I met with a wonderful escort who is touring Newcastle. She had about an hour before a booking and so we shared a Valentine’s Day coffee together. Well, she had coffee, I had chai tea but anyway…that’s not the point. We were having a lovely chat (she’s very easy to talk to) and twitter got brought up. She said to me ‘you have an amazing presence on twitter’. What happened next not only caught me by surprise but confirmed for me the impact that this deceptively innocent platform is having on me. I began crying. And if I hadn’t consciously stopped myself (I didn't want her to think I was some nut-case) I would have flooded the table with my tears. I knew then something had to change. This isn’t a sudden realization or a snap decision. I’ve been aware for some time now that I’m neglecting certain things in my life in favour of twitter. I’ve been aware of the anxiety that creeps up on me when putting my phone down (except in a booking - in fact bookings are the one place where I never have the desire to check my phone). Many of you may know (just refer to my first ever tweet) that until I started working privately I rejected smart phones entirely. I worried about having facebook/google/etc. ‘in my pocket’ with me at all times. Not having access to social media, without logging onto a computer, has been the best decision for me in my non-working life (I only use facebook there, no other SM). But now this new work life. I needed to keep up with the times. Social media is a very important part of that. It’s immensely helpful but can easily spiral out of control. I’ve been neglecting other areas of my life which I know in the long run, will have a far greater negative impact on my business and myself than a minor shift in my social media engagement ever will.
What hasn’t happened?
I’ve been very fortunate. All of my twitter interaction has been nothing but positive. I haven’t had one negative experience: bullying, trolling, getting involved in or escalating unnecessary arguments or drama. So for anyone who is reading this and may be concerned about me, there is no need to be. I greatly appreciate your concern but I am ok.
What does all of this mean?
Creating Carrie’s account was initially a business decision. Of course it was, otherwise I would have a twitter, not a SWitter account and that would be in my legal name. I was curious and after much debate, decided to take the plunge. I have every intention of keeping this account and remaining active. This is still partly a business decision. However, I also have made some amazing friends on here, some of whom I know I will never have the opportunity to meet for a number of reasons, including distance. So my decision to keep this account now is not strictly professional – it is personal as well.
Where to from here?
The good news is I’m here to stay. While it may sound like I’m leaving, I’m not. Even if you want to, you’re not going to get rid of me that easily. In fact, if you don’t actively follow me, or don’t regularly engage with me on Twitter you probably won’t notice much difference. If you do follow me or actively engage with me, you may notice that I’ve stepped away a bit. I may not see every tweet, every reply, may not engage with your tweets (comment, like, retweet) as often as I have and responses to DM’s may be delayed. I am not sure how my twitter time will be structured. I may set aside certain times each day to check in, or a longer chunk of time several times per week. I still need to experiment with this and find what feels best. My newly launched weekly hashtag #MondaysAboutMe will remain (although I’m still not sure about the name – suggestions welcome). I will continue to compose tweets just as I always have – just being me. I will even continue to tweet those annoying calls for more followers. This is a place for you to get to know me, meet me and call on me if you need me. If I have not met you and you are interested in a booking, please email or text as per instructions in my ad. If we’ve already met and you need/want to chat, feel free to contact me by email or text as well as DM. As long as you are respectful of my time, this isn’t an imposition. I truly love keeping in touch. If we haven’t met but you wish to continue contact, as always, my DM’s are open. As I said, I’m not going anywhere and I don’t want you to either. I just need to listen to those other voices which are warning me to be careful of this bad boy and not to let him get the best of me.
With much love,
Carrie x
