This September 30th will mark my third anniversary on Twitter. It has certainly been quite a journey. I'm an introvert by nature. When I created my account, I used a rather cryptic name that included a combination of my first name and numbers: marty0518. I was leery of putting myself out there, in public, on the Internet. For the first year, I only dipped my virtual toe in the Twitter waters, posting occasionally and rarely reaching out. I was fearful of what other people would think. Fear limited my interactions...until one person reached out to me.

 

In January 2009, Bill Mitchell (@askbillmitchell) replied to one of my tweets. I don't remember the particular post or reply, but that's not what's important. Bill took a chance on me and reached out. What started with a simple reply led to a phone call and many conversations. I credit Bill with helping me break through the wall of fear and begin to explore the potential of Twitter in forging REAL relationships. 

 

In the past three years, I've been fortunate to meet and become friends with several incredible people. For an introvert like me, this has been a wonderful gift and has made me realize that there are great people out there. You just need to break through the fear and reach out. If you seek positive relationships and look for the good in people, you will find it. I value honesty, transparency and real people and I've been blessed to find those qualities in most people I've met on Twitter.

 

This got me thinking and over the past several weeks I have contemplated changing my Twitter name to my full, REAL name. If I believe in honesty and transparency, I should put my thoughts and values into action. So, this past Saturday, I made the switch. I changed my long time Twitter name from @marty0518 to @MartyMcPadden. This is just another way for me to step farther outside my comfort zone in putting myself out there in a more public and transparent way. So far, it's been an incredibly rewarding and positive experience.

 

The number one benefit I've gained from participating in social media has been the ability to cast a wide net regarding meeting people. Instead of limiting myself to my immediate surroundings here in Connecticut, Twitter and other social networks have allowed me to meet incredible people from all over the world I would never have had the opportunity to become friends with, let alone be aware of their existence. 

 

My next goal in stepping outside of my comfort zone is to get out and meet as many of my Twitter friends in person as possible. I'm looking forward to attending some upcoming conferences and meet-ups and I'm currently making plans to do so. My dream is to put together a meet-up tour, so to speak, to meet and forge in-person relationships with as many of my virtual friends as possible. Isn't that what life's all about?

 

 

 

I'm Marty McPadden from Connecticut. It's great to meet you.

 

So it is these kinds of stories that I truly love to hear. Marty McPadden or as I originally met him as @marty0518 posted yesterday the story of how why he changed his Twitter name. He changed it because he recognized a change in himself. Marty opens up and tells us how his introverted personality held him back until a new Twitter friend helped him open up.Marty is a great guy one of many great people that i have met on twitter.

What's funny though is that not everyone hangs around Twitter that starts it either because they don't know what to say, do or they don't understand the idea of talking to strangers. Momma always told me to stay away from strangers.. but when have I ever listened to her.

What makes Twitter so cool is Marty's story. It's not about how many followers a celebrity has, making a topic trend or even saving money on teeth whiting solutions. It's about the genuine interaction between people. NOT people and marketers or PR firms it is about real people making real connections.

I have met so many wonderful people on Twitter and hope to meet many more. So to all those I've met thank you for being my friend. To Marty, you are the best and am serious about if you are in Wisconsin we'll take a trip to Lambeau and get that beer I promised you. Thanks for sharing and thanks for sticking around for all us to get to know.