It’s the middle of the month and that means it is time for another #Meme15 assignment, the brainchild of Jason Strate (blog | @stratesql).

This month we are going to talk about Twitter. Specifically with regards to the following two questions:

Why should average Jane or Joe professional consider using Twitter? – and-
What benefit have you seen in your career because of Twitter?

I’m going to answer those questions in reverse order.

What benefit have you seen in your career because of Twitter?

The simple way to answer this: “You don’t just get me, you get my network”.

Twitter allowed me to expand my network in an exponential fashion. I’ve met more people in real life as a result of interacting with them through Twitter than I would have ever been able to do without using Twitter. I’ve built stronger professional relationships as a result of being more connected with them, even virtually, which allows for me to learn and grow even more. We are there for each other, day and night, weekends and holidays. We have our own hashtag, #SQLFamily. We help one another to succeed. No question that Twitter has helped my professional career, and not just as a database professional.

Why should average Jane or Joe professional consider using Twitter?

I have no idea, I really don’t. To me Jane or Joe aren’t the type of people who want to grow their network, or their careers. They are content with the jobs they have, staring at their cubicle walls, and never wondering about what might be on the other side. Or they are new to their profession, and think that keeping their heads down and focused on their work is the only way to succeed.

So I don’t think being on Twitter would do much for them.

To me it is the high-achievers who are the ones who should be considering utilizing Twitter as part of their daily routine. Those are the people who are open-minded to new thoughts and possibilities. They are the ones that aren’t afraid to learn new things, or meet new people, or share a laugh every now and then. They aren’t plain Jane or Joe, they stand out and know that there is a world of knowledge out there and people willing to share.

It’s those folks that should consider using Twitter.

The post #Meme15 – Why The Twitter? appeared first on Thomas LaRock.

Why Did I Start Blogging?

Because I had children, that’s why, and I didn’t want to be “that parent” that sends out letters to relatives and friends during the holidays to recap everything that happened during the year. Being somewhat aware of the Universe around me, I knew that my ISP provided free web hosting, I think 10MB worth of space at the time. So I started blogging about the events in our lives as we had children and as they got older. The updates were very frequent at first because there are lots of changes that happen early on, and they have tailed off somewhat now that my children are older. But I still keep updating the family blog whenever something happens that we feel is noteworthy.

Eventually I decided to start blogging about my life as a DBA, probably because I needed reassurance that I wasn’t alone in my daily struggles. And soon enough I would find that to be very true.

Why Do I Keep Blogging?

If you want to learn something, go teach it. That’s how I’ve gotten better at anything in my life, by trying to teach it to others. Blogging allows for me to do that as well, as I get a chance to explain a topic to others it helps me to learn and understand as well. Blogging also gives me the opportunity to express thoughts and opinions, and occasionally rant.

But mostly blogging is a way for these words to get out of my head, through my fingers, and perserved for all time on the intertubz.

I’m certainly not doing it for the pageviews.

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