Lately I have noticed that we (yes, me too) sure tweet a lot of lies. We tweet a lot of untruths, falsehoods, fibs, fabrications, deceptions, inventions, pieces of fiction, falsifications, half-truths, exaggerations, and tall tales. Plainly, we tweet lot of crap.

Call me a skeptic BUT was that sandwich REALLY the best thing you have ever put in your mouth or did it not taste nearly as good as it looked in the picture? Was that 2.5 mile run REALLY exhilarating or would you have rather have been loafing around on the couch? Was that conference REALLY so overwhelming with goodness and inspiration or did it make you feel a little defeated and a lot insecure?

I fear we have gotten so used to making everything sound simply superb in 140 characters that we wouldn’t know the truth if it jumped up and bit us.

Today I am going to try to be different and tweet only that which is 100% true. It might not be pretty but it will be real.

Will you admit to exaggerating, falsifying, telling a tall tale, or lying on twitter?

Of course it’s not that you meant to lie you just wanted to make sure @soandso saw you giving their #randomthing some love.

Me, in a tweet:

Who are you, in a tweet?

You know the rules, 140 charachters or less.

Go.

Decided that today instead of normal “Follow Friday” tweets that I’d hook you up with some of the incredible people I encountered this week so you can get connected with them. Each of these folks played a part in making my time at Catalyst West (#catwest) incredible. Incredible.

@sarahmarkley and @cmarkley -  At the suggestion of a friend, I sought Sarah out at Blissdom. Still a practical stranger I somehow convinced her to bail on the last session and join me and a few friends for dinner. I discovered that I loved her heart. When I decided about a month ago to try to pull off Catalyst West, Sarah direct messaged me and said “you are staying with us, right?” I took them up on their generous offer and I’m so glad I did. I love the Markleys. Love the Markleys. Hard to believe I didn’t know them a couple of months ago and now I consider them great friends.

Sarah’s blog: http://www.sarahmarkley.com

Chad’s blog: http://www.chadmarkley.com

@lvhanson – I started following LV when he ventured to Kenya with the Compassion bloggers earlier this year. I loved his posts and his heart for the children of Africa. And I was just a little envious of how wonderfully he uses his gifts of communication and connection. But it wasn’t until I sat down with LV last night that I realized that he has an uncanny ability to get straight to the core of someone by asking just the right questions. Plus, LV is from Dallas and an alum of the University of Colorado, what’s not to like?

LV’s blog: http://www.catalystspace.com/catablog/

@keelymarie and @flowerdust – Keely and Anne are incredibly gifted artists. Keely’s photography and Anne’s beautiful prose allow me to be transported on all their adventures.  I loved the time I got to spend with them in Orange County. And I love even more that they are permanent fixtures in Tennessee.

Keely’s blog: http://www.keelymariescott.com/

Anne’s blog: http://www.flowerdust.net/

@biancajuarez – Bianca’s smile will light up a room. She is beautiful inside and out. I could tell within minutes of talking with her that she’d rather skip all the pleasantries and get right down to business. My kind of girl.

Bianca’s blog: http://www.inthenameoflove.org/

@kylezimmerman – One of my concerns about going to Catalyst West was that without the Cross Point staff on hand, I wouldn’t have anyone to make fun of me. (And I am the sick kind of person who enjoys being made fun of.) So glad that I met Kyle Zimmerman so he could step right in to the rigorous role of calling attention to the stupid things I say and do. I appreciate more than Kyle’s sense of humor. I appreciate the way he invests in people. I didn’t have to be at Mariner’s long to know that he is well-loved and well-respected.

Kyle’s blog: http://kylezimmerman.net/

@ryanoquinn – Ryan O’Quinn makes me laugh, a lot. Just go here to see why. And I love the work he does for Compassion. Great guy.

Ryan’s blog: http://ryanoquinn.blogspot.com/

@b_rewster – Stephen Brewster is the real deal. He’s one of the best encouragers I’ve met. Over the last few months, he has done several little things to encourage me along the way. I so appreciate that about him. It’s hard to believe that yesterday was the first time we had met in real life, as I already have enormous respect for him.

Stephen’s blog: http://stephenbrewster.me/

@pastormark - Mark Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Yesterday he shared some of the most powerful words I have heard in a long time. He spoke truth with the correct doses of transparency and humor.

Mark’s blog: http://theresurgence.com/md_blog

Who is one person that you have discovered lately that I should be following? What do you find engaging about them?

I started twittering a few years ago with the simple hope of wanting to keep others updated with me. (I know, stupid. Who really cares what I am up to? Besides my mom and dad, not a who lot of folks.)

This spring when I started blogging, I had the simple goal of having a place to put my thoughts down in written form to make sense of them. (I discovered that sometimes in written form they still don’t make a lot of sense.)

Yet today I find myself completely immersed in this Web 2.0 world. Not because I am naive enough to think people care what I have to say or because I need to bring order to my random thoughts but because of something entirely different. Because of community.

I blog, I facebook, and I twitter as a way to interact with friends, old and new. I want to hear what they have to say, I want to find out what they think, I want to discover what they are doing (and sometimes eating), and I want to encourage them in their walk. Because they encourage me in mine. (more…)

Last Thursday morning, I had the privilege of hearing Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), the New York Times bestselling author of Trust Agents, speak at an event was hosted by JTMarCom and Stage Post Productions which benefited Social Media Club Nashville. I soaked up a vast array of knowledge from Chris Brogan (literally I took six pages of typed notes).

If you are not familiar with Brogan here’s what I can tell you about him, his blog is a must-read and his twitter feed is quirky, informative, and engaging. He is a master of social media, partly because he acknowledges that the game is constantly changing and that the only rules is that there are no rules.

Here are a couple of things that Chris Brogan reminded me that have stuck with me (like super glue):

1. Social Media is work. (more…)

Yesterday I started a new series on my blog, “Why I Love Social Media.” This series is for all the folks that are resisting blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc. because they are convinced that the internet is full of cunning predators. This series is hopefully will give them a taste of what they are missing out on.

Here’s a link to Part 1 (in case you missed it yesterday).

And without further ado, “Why I Love Social Media, Part 2.” (more…)

Last Thursday, Thomas Nelson hosted LifeWork 2.0, a Social Media tutorial created by Spence Smith and Randy Elrod. All in all, there were about 30 attendees from Thomas Nelson and 20 folks from all around the United States. I love Randy and Spence’s energy. Their passion about this stuff is contagious! And I have caught the bug.

It was really fun. And informative. Here were my top 5 takeaways: (more…)

I recently read somewhere that, “you are what you tweet.” Although this may not be exactly true, I do think that Twittering has the power to shape people’s perceptions of you DRAMATICALLY.

For instance, if someone’s tweets are constantly whines and complaints, I start to think they are negative. I start to change the way that I interact with them, in person and online.

And the reverse is true too. I feel myself drawn to friends on Twitter who are constantly encouraging and educating. I enjoy interacting with these tweeps. I am happy to pass along (RT) their tweets.

And I consciously think…I want to be more like those people. (more…)

Please tell me that I am not the only one that yelled at the TV as they watched Friday’s episode of Oprah. On Friday, Oprah (@oprah) and her “Friday Live” friends, talked to Ashton (@aplusk) and Evan Williams (@ev) about Twitter.

If you didn’t get a chance to watch, check it out here:

Here is why I got frustrated watching the segment: (more…)

I have fully embraced all things Twitter. It has been a fun way to stay in touch with friends and colleagues and it has been a fabulous networking tool. For those not familiar with the technology, I highly recommend Michael Hyatt’s posts, 12 Reasons to Start Twittering and The Beginner’s Guide to Twitter. He shares the basics on why and how to get started.

But, there is one aspect of Twitter that I really struggle with – the awkward introduction…

An Awkward Introduction

(more…)