Estimated reading time: 6 minutes, 44 seconds

Hi Maha, loved how Bonnie’s post came out of a conversation you had with her – it’s interesting, isn’t it that despite ‘open’ being the mantra of the day, a lot of thinking and reflecting still happens in private forums like DMs and in particular email. (That’s not to say open platforms and communication isn’t great – just not for eveything.). I noticed the same pattern of usage emerging for me a while back as well (ie not really checking timeline much) – I think you get to a point where there’s too much noise after a while, and you need a filter. That said, I do need to make much better use of lists I think. I do still occasionally check my timeline and still get some serendipitous finds now and again. But I think the point is, interaction – and genuine connection – bourne out of mutual interest in ideas rather than as a means of mutual self promotion. And the best way to get to this is via moocs, participating in communities – and reaching out to people you respect and admire – all three of which you do so well.

I think possibly the thing I like most about twitter – and probably what makes it unique amongst social media platforms – is that it is a place where you can potentially connect with well known leaders in various sectors – and probably get a response, or have a conversation. I think it may be something to do with the 140 characters that makes it a bit more casual and lowers the barriers for responding. Anyway..just a few rambling thoughts from reading your post!