Down with Twitter

I was reading a lot about Twitter and Facebook and how these tools have changed the way we communicate and how businesses can market themselves through these two social marketing tools.

I opened a Twitter account out of curiosity and update it regularly - average of one Tweet a day. After 577 Tweets, I've come to a fundamental conclusion that all these hype about Twitter are a whole lot of BS.

Because unless and until you have many followers who are active Twitterers, don't bother to open a Twitter account.

About 2 weeks ago I was working on a corporate gift for a regional meeting that we're hosting. My boss wanted the gift to incorporate the national heritage of all the participating countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Malaysia and Singapore were easy - Petronas Twin Towers and Merlion respectively. Thailand was a headache but after much thought I figured the Thai cultural dance would be good. And then came Indonesia which I haven't the faintest clue what to feature.

So I Twittered:

"What would be the best thing to represent Indonesia - Pura Besakih? Tanah Lot? Indonesian cultural dance? What ???"

Till today I've yet to receive any reply. So what's with all the hype about posting a question and you'll get an answer on Twitter? All utter BS.

To me, Twitter only works if you have a few hundred active followers. Only then will you have the volume of connections to help reply to your questions or whatever. But then, how do you get people to follow you in the first place if you're not a celebrity or someone important?

So if you need advice, help or whatever, you would be better off posting your questions on Facebook where you're guaranteed to receive comments and replies from your friends.

And I know I'm not alone in being stupified by Twitter after reading this entry from The Drayton Bird Blog.

New Look for My Blog

I've used the same blog template since I started blogging 1.5 years ago. Since we're in the first month of the year, I thought I would change my blog design for something more refreshing.

Instead of using the typical designs from Blogger, I wanted a design that has more colour and allows room for creativitiy. It must also be reader friendly and information should be presented systematically and obtained easily.

So thanks to a few sites offering free blog backgrounds, graphics and whatnot, you are looking at my new blog look.

So how do you like it?

Why Do I Blog

Because blogging equals to writing and writing is something I do rather well.

Because I want to share my knowledge and experiences, and hopefully learn much more in return.

Because I want to improve my wordsmith touch.

Because I want to make new friends.

Because the workload in my current employment is not so heavy, and I want to kill time rather than idle my office hours away.

Because blogging is an avenue for my relatives and friends to know what I'm up to.

Because I want to earn pocket money (still working on it); and most importantly,

Because my previous employer refused to confirm me; she said my writing sucks. And now I want to tell her, "Go to hell! This is me at my writing best!"

My Blog's URL

I use the name Winter Swallow in my blog's URL. Now, where did I get the name from? What is the significance of the name?

Let me explain ...

My full name is Julie Lim Seet Yin, and yes, Julie is the name in my identity card, birth certificate, passport, baptism certificate, etc. Julie is not a glamour name that many Chinese people like to put in front of their Chinese name. It is my 'real' name. I get asked that a lot, you know.

If you translate my Chinese name into English, you'll need to break it up into two parts: (Lim) and (Seet Yin). So ...

• (Lim) means Wood or Tree or Forest; and
• (Seet Yin) means Winter Swallow

So now you know ...