About Twitter & My Blog

Use and challenge of writing a blog: 

I started writing my blog at the end of February (of this year). My first post was written on 25 February.

There are so many good food blogs and I just don’t see the point of repeating them. I would like to write something different. As I have been living in Hong Kong for the past 25 years I should not waste anymore time and put in writing my experience with local food (recipes and cultural aspects). The virtual world, via a blog, is the best option for sharing my stories and recipes with a lot of people. It is also an eco-friendly, fast & efficient and inexpensive way.

When my son came back to Hong Kong last April for Easter holiday I announced proudly that I had a blog. He replied: “that’s good Mum but how many people read it?” True! He advised me to use Tweeter. He said: “It will give your blog more exposure”. Of course Twitter is being used by more than 34.5 billion people!

@Colombe36

Within these 2 months I learnt some Twitter terms such as RT (Re-Tweet); LOL (Laugh Out Loud); #FF (Follow Friday), and even WW (Wacky Wednesday).

Today, 17 June or a little bit more than 2 months after becoming part of the Tweeter family, I count 50 Tweep or Twitter followers. I am known as @ Colombe36 and my profile picture is a plate with mandarin, grapes, and dragon fruit and I am following 118 Tweeple or Twitter users. So I guess some people are looking at my blog.

Each time I post a new entry on my blog I tweet the link to inform my followers. I assume that, out of my present 50 Tweeps, 1/3 might not have noticed me, another 1/3 might have read it quickly, and the remaining 1/3 might actually have read my post. How many of the latter group have actually read the whole post? Nobody has ever sent me a comment or became my [blog’s] follower. However my son was right in some way. I know that these 50 persons might have already had (or will have) a look at my blog.

I learnt that catchy tweets are the key for Tweeple to click on links. I discovered that re-sending old posts or messages tweeted before was a way to attract potential followers. And I also realised that:

- It was difficult at time to keep tracks of all the messages,

- It was very difficult to get French Tweeps. {I might have to consider amending my bio and replacing my profile picture with my real face}, and

- Tweeter has made me discovered many recipes and articles that I would otherwise not have had a chance to read. I find most of the posts really inspiring. It gives me ideas while sipping coffee on my sofa.

But I also realised that it was a challenging task to write an attractive blog and I needed to work harder, improve my writing and take nicer pictures.

Despite all of the above I am happy to tell you that 2 nice ladies have advised their Tweeps to follow me. A big thank you to Sandy Hu of www.specialfork.com and Ruby Beets!

加油！（Means add-oil）

The 17 Tweep I like best with some figures:

Key: Figures are as of today 17 June, 2011

{a = number of Tweeple @ is following; b = number of Tweep/followers}

Ω = My Tweep (= my followers)

Living in USA:

1. @Specialforksndy by Sandy Hu - San Francisco {a/536; b/631} http://www.specialfork.com/. Ω

2. @ChefFelisha by Felisha Wild - Milwaukee, Wisconsin http://www.ourdailysalt.com/ {a/4,072; b/4,592} Writes about food, restaurants & book reviews, recipes, teaching, etc. Ω

3. @Drwinnie by Winnie Abramson – New-York http://www.healthygreenkitchen.com/ {a/3,346; b/ 3,042}. A lady full of energy. Sends pictures of her chicks, home-grown radishes, etc. Ω

4. @Simplyrecipes by Elise Bauer - Carmichael, California http://www.simplyrecipes.com/ {a/1,427; b/77,925}. Amazing lady! I recommend you read her biography. Ω

5. @MoreThymeBlog by Roberta - Columbus, Ohio {a/1,683; b/1,990} http://www.morethymethandough.com/  Gives not only recipe (ingredients and illustrated steps) but also the cost. A short story precedes the instructions.

6. @CookUnderwriter Mrs. Mix It - Los Angeles, CA {A/1,691; b/ 1,594} http://www.cookingunderwriter.com/  Ω

7. @CannelleVanille by Aran Goyoaga a Basque lady living in Florida. http://www.cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/ {a/271; b/ 10,798} She is a remarkable photographer. Write on food, life and photography. Her romantic pictures are really amazing!

Living in Europe:

8. @Davidlebovitz American living in Paris {A/457; b/75,679}. Writes about food, and a lot about French food.

9. @Clothildenet by Clothilde Dusoulier - Paris {a/195; b/53,927} http://www.chocolateandzucchini.com/  Parisian food writer.

10. @Lucyvanel by Lucy Vanel, Lyon www.kitchen-notebook.blogspot.com {A/340; b/592}

11. @PreteMoiParis by an American in Paris http://www.pretemoiparis.com/ {A/338; b/ 1,589} writes on restaurants, boutiques, Paris, and food (of course!)

12. @BonjourParis.com written by Paris insiders. {a/687; b/ 3,114} Provides news and events in Paris.

13. @RecipeDepot from London, UK. No blog or website {a/2,410; b/2,713} similar to @CuliBlogs – sends links with catchy tweets. Could be recipes from famous chefs or not so famous bloggers.

14. @Cookitaly Carmelita Caruana – Bologna, Italy http://www.cookitaly.com/  {A/4,200; b/5,700} Ω

Living in different countries:

15. @Doriegreenspan Dorie Greenspan lives in NY, Paris and Connecticut {A/1,013; b/66,078} http://www.doriegreenspan.com/ author of cookbooks.

16. @EatingAsia by Robyn Eckardt http://www.eatingasia.typepad.com/ lives in Penang most of the time {a/373; b/3,880}

Does not say where he lives:

17. @CuliBlogs by Marcel Kaptein {a/ 3,663; b/ 3,360} similar to @RecipeDepot – sends links with catchy tweets. Could be recipes from famous chefs or not so famous. Ω