Have All Your Friends Disappeared From Your Twitter Timeline?

 

I've seen stacks of people complaining about this recently, and have found a sort-of solution.  It won't make them all come back again, but it's something I've found that works well for me now, and what I'll be using until the Twitterly algorithms sort themselves out (she says, optimistically).

I'm talking about Twitter Lists - I've never fully understood their usefulness before.  Now I do!  You can make a list of all your favourite profiles and use that as your timeline instead, if you wish.  Here's how:

(Please note: I only use a laptop, don't know how it all works on a phone.)

1. Go to the list on the left side of your page, and click 'More'.

2. You will then see this.  Click 'Lists'.

3. That takes you to this screen.  Click on the little rectangle with the two lines, top right (new list).

4. You will now see the screen below, where you can create your list.  Give it a name, a description if you wish, and make it private if that's what you want to do.  Click 'next' in the top right hand corner.

5. You are then given the option to add people to your list

6 ...you do so by using the search facility - click 'add' for everyone you would like to be on this list.

7. Keep adding, and you will now have your list of people whose tweets you don't want to miss.  Obviously you won't be able to think of all those random people you see and exchange the odd emoji with on a regular basis, but they'll pop up here and there, and then you can add them to your list by clicking on the three little dots on the profile page (top right, under the header photo) and choosing the 'Add/remove from lists'. 

 

Here is mine.  If you don't make it private, others can follow it too.

The link to it is HERE

8.  You can now follow the initial procedure to go to your list every day - there you will see all your friends' tweets and nothing else :) 

 

9. Now ... once you start using your list, you may find that you don't want to see stacks of retweets, from people (like me) who retweet a lot.  Might be too many book promos, or just stuff you don't want to see, generally.  In order to see your friend's personal tweets but not their retweets, go to their profile page and head for those three little dots at the top.  

10.  Click on the three dots and you will see this - the first option is to turn off retweets.  Click!

Hope that's easy to follow and is a help!  Do pass on to anyone else you think might find it useful :) 

If Twitter had been around in the 1980s... (Part Four)

.... what would some of my Twitter friends looked like, and been tweeting about?

To see what we're up to 30 years on, just click the user name above the picture.
😀😂😈

More youthful faces and Yuppie restaurants in Part One  HERE
... big hair and lack of jowls in Part Two  HERE
... Levi ads and pixie boots in Part Three  HERE

Alison Williams @AlisonW_Editor 

@AlisonW_Editor
#FridayNight: Black hat? Check.  Black make-up? Check.
See you after the black hours....
(btw, am not a Thompson Twin)

~~~

Trisha Ashley @trishaashley

@trishaashley
Pregnant, barefoot but not in the kitchen!  My #artwork on the wall; post-birth, do I take A Leap Of Faith and concentrate on #art, or #writing? 

~~~

Barb Taub @barbtaub

@barbtaub
Where did these come from?  Aren't I supposed to be a high-flying journalist? #amdreaming about a no-kids trek around India....

~~~ 

Sarah Boucher @saraheboucher

 

 

@saraheboucher
Am hoping my fairy godmother will magic me some new shoes 😍 .... the modern day fairytale!  #SixYearOldShoeaholic

~~~

Rose Edmunds @RoseEdmunds

@RoseEdmunds
Life Goals:
Be Sleeping Beauty
Be #POTUS
Be Famous #Writer
Wear pyjamas most days.
Yes, all at once.
#MondayMotivation

~~~

Val Poore @vallypee

@vallypee
That was me, thinking I'd never wear school uniform again... #ProperWritingJob
I WILL live on a barge one day, I will, I will....

~~~

Terry Tyler @TerryTyler4

@TerryTyler4
What a great way to see out the 1980s: meeting Steven Tyler on Saturday, November 25th, 1989! 


..... and I'll leave you with a few more, just for laughs.  First one is Proofread Julia and me, in 1984 😂😆😅

 I think this one was at the beginning of 1983 

(I had my first blonde highlight in 1984!)

 Julia outside my shop in Northampton, in 1984

 ...and a very early 1980s one - think this was taken in April 1980

Might think about doing a 1990s one some time......

If Twitter had been around in the 1980s... Part Three

....what would some of my Twitter friends have looked like and been tweeting about?

To see what we're up to now, just click the username above the picture 😃

More from the Big Hair decade in Part One HERE
... and even more shoulder-padded fun in Part Two HERE

~~~

Rose Edmunds @RoseEdmunds 

 
@RoseEdmunds  
#Thatcher'sBritain?  No, taking time off from the cut-throat world of high finance to give some exposure to my maternal instincts...!

~~~

Nick Mann @Nickmann70

@Nickmann70 
Fancy myself in the new Levis ad. Another Nick (Kamen) beat me to it. 

~~~

Jill Doyle @JillsBookCafe

 

@JillsBookCafe
My favourite pixie boots!  And love my new scarf; could this become my signature look? Now to find a nice Cafe and have a Good Read!

~~~

Liz LLoyd @LizanneLloyd 

@LizanneLloyd
Mum of the year - if only she would sleep, so I could get Lost in a Good Book! #amreading #Iwish 

~~~

Bev Spicer @BevSpicer1 

@BevSpicer1
Practising my Bunny Girl pout in Crete! #TravelTuesday

~~~

Julia Gibbs @ProofreadJulia 

@ProofreadJulia
Just woke up from an amazing #dream set in the future, in which I was working for #A-ha! Must make it come true 😍 #MortenHarket #MondayMotivation

Julia in 2002....

If Twitter had been around in the 1980s... (Part Two)

....what would some of my Twitter friends have looked like and been tweeting about?  More 1980s fun in Part One HERE!

To see what we're up to 30 years later, click the user name above the photo....

Terry Tyler @TerryTyler4

@TerryTyler4
The Ladies in Red....!!  
Hope someone invents hair straighteners soon....

~~~

Rosie Amber @rosieamber1 

@rosieamber1
Shadow Puppets time!  Any requests? Complete the form on my BLOG, and it will be performed for you by a member of my Shadow Puppets team #RSPT  Meanwhile, #amreading.  No, really. 📚

~~~

June Kearns @june_kearns 

@june_kearns 
My life: Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub.... 
(famous novelist dreams currently on hold...) 👷

~~~

Georgia Rose @GeorgiaRoseBook 

@GeorgiaRoseBook  
Early start (yes, Before The Dawn!) and wilful horses ~ #amriding!  (#SentFromPub #SouthernComfort #Wahey!!) 🏇🏇

~~~

Carl Rackman @CarlRackman

@CarlRackman 
Bumped into Tessa Sanderson in the pub. 🏃
She chased me home.  Honest.

~~~

Lizzie Lamb @lizzie_lamb 

@lizzie_lamb 
Wonderful #Usigebeatha!  Had idea for novel set in Highlands and Islands; well, I've got the title!  Scotch on the Rocks - like it?

 More next week.....

 

Guess Who I Met Last Weekend!

We'd been planning it for months, and the day finally came!

I think we first talked about it in May; it was so hard to find a weekend we could all make... so, on October 10th, I went to Sheffield to meet four friends from Rosie Amber's Book Blog ~ I was so intrigued to meet the lady for whom I've been reviewing books since last Christmas, the mysterious Rosie (!), along with three others: Cathy Ryan (from Between The Lines book blog), Barb Taub and Alison Williams.  Before this post gets too filled up with links, I'll just say that a click on their names leads to their Twitter pages and all links to blogs that I haven't already included, etc!

Sheffield, why Sheffield?  We chose this city because it was mid way between us all - we were coming from as far north as Glasgow and as far south as Hampshire.

Barb travelled on the same train as me and we met the other three outside the hotel.  I knew what Alison and Cathy looked like from their Twitter photos, but Rosie?  I was looking for a lady in pearls with a big hat, a trug filled with roses, and a pair of secateurs...  

....but here they are!  Barb, Alison, Cathy, and ~ Rosie! 

Rosie Amber's Review Team #RBRT!!

We lunched at an Italian place and then spent a great afternoon in the hotel lounge/bar over coffee, discussing Rosie's blog, blogging/tweeting in general, reviewing, books we've read, plans for #RBRT, such as annual book awards and a new hashtag (more to come!); the hours flew by and I was so surprised to look at my phone and see it was 5.45 (nostalgia alert ~ do you remember when everyone used to consult watches for the time, rather than phones?).  What struck me most was this: how lovely it is to make new friends so late in life ~ we range in age between 46 and 61.  I've become a lot less sociable in recent years, my attitude being 'right, I've got enough friends now', and I often find I can't be bothered to socialise, looking forward to going home when I'm out.  Saturday, though, made me realise it's all about being in the company of people who are obsessively interested in the same things as you.

We left the booking of the dinner venue to Barb, who was threatening to go elsewhere on her own for her favourite sushi ~ Rosie, Cathy and I hate it (I totally love all fish, but I like it to be at least on speaking terms with a grill, or any other cooking appliance).

I've long been interested in the dynamics of groups of people; my mother used to be a therapist who led many group therapy sessions, and said that there is always one who directs which way the conversation goes; I'd say that was Barb, though Rosie and I were pretty vocal, too (well, we're both Leos!) while Alison and Cathy listened more and talked less.  Mum told me there is usually a group 'clown' and sometimes an antagonist, too ~ I am not sure who wore those hats (or maybe I just don't like to consider it!!). 

Barb and me ~ clown/antagonist/group leader?

Cathy and Alison ~ listening to Rosie, Barb and me doing most of the talking!

Our partying days all being over, we were back in our hotel rooms by 11.30 ~ aaaah!  I very much enjoy staying in hotels on my own - I don't hang anything up or put stuff away, I just lay my clothes out on the sofa, and have my phone, glasses, iPad, etc, next to me in the empty space.  Out like a light and slept really well.  I'm not saying that my husband's snoring wakes me up during the night, of course, I just happened to have a really good night's sleep on my own....  

Me when I got in ~ you can tell my drinking days are over, too; 

look at my unaccustomed-to-wine eyes, and the slant of the camera!!

An early morning call enabled me to have several cups of coffee and play several games of 'Plague' on my iPad (you have to destroy all human life on earth by means of virus, bacteria, etc, I'm totally addicted).  And so to breakfast, which was fabulous, the meal I enjoyed most!  Couldn't you just sit there all day with those buffet breakfasts?  I had muesli with all sorts of stuff on, and eggs and tomatoes, and fruit, and a ton more coffee...

I love this picture of Barb and Rosie!

And then it was nearly time to go....

Must get some lowlights in that hair, I look like Lucius Malfoy...

To sum up ~ it was great, we all thoroughly enjoyed it and got on so well, even though we're all quite different.  Shows how similar interests can bring people together so successfully.  We're planning another meeting, in Spring next year, if all goes well.  There's so much still to discuss!

(We're wondering whether to call the review team 'Rosie's Angels'...!)

 

So, you're not just a little square head????

Yesterday I did something I haven't done very often in my life, and which I find exciting yet just a tiny bit daunting...

I could just leave it there and let you guess, but I won't!  Here is what I did - I met up with an online friend.  This time it was.... Carol Hedges!  For anyone who doesn't know her, Carol is a fellow writer I first met on Twitter a couple of years ago

The meet was Carol's suggestion; she lives in Hertfordshire and me in Tyne and Wear, so it would have been unlikely ever to happen had Carol's husband not wanted to see Watford (not Arsenal...!) playing Middlesborough (I always think Carol's BH - beloved husband - is called Bernard, though he's actually not at all - you know how you get these things in your head?  No?  Oh, okay, it's just me, then....).

Because of traffic problems, Carol was an hour late, which meant that I'd spent the time wandering around the Toon (Newcastle); the inclement weather turned my smooth and glamorous hair into an explosion in a mattress factory, about which I only complained ten times during the afternoon.  We met in a restaurant....

.... where I was delighted to discover that, like me, Carol isn't a 'foodie', will eat what is put in front of her and is more interested in vino and chatting than gastric delights.  We both had a starter consisting of smoked salmon, rocket and capers, loads of wine (I admit to having the lion's share, which is fair enough as I am a Leo) (good excuse, huh?), and that was all!  Anyway, we were talking at such a rate that a larger meal wouldn't have stood a chance.

The big question - were we as we'd imagined we would be?  Answer - yes and no! Carol thought I would be loud and quite caustic, but I'm actually fairly mild in company, unless I've known people for years, maybe quieter than my online presence suggests.  I thought Carol would be very nice and warm (which she IS!) and a sort of wise sage, but she was more like an excitable kitten!!!! More extrovert than I had imagined.  Dead good fun and interesting, which is what I had expected.  We had LOADS to talk about, and I think we'll definitely need a 'round two' to say all the stuff that we didn't get to say in the three and a half hours we spent together.

We had a token wander down to the quayside, because you can't visit the Toon without seeing the Tyne Bridge - and here is a picture of Carol with The Sage, Gateshead, behind her!

We also had coffee in a nice little cafe where a chap was playing guitar, which is just the sort of thing you want to chance upon.  

.... and when the man we shall call Bernard came to pick Carol up, they very kindly drove me all the way home - I live about 8 miles outside Newcastle. It seemed weird to have them drop me outside my house - no, Carol, you're supposed to be on my computer screen, not outside my house!! I pointed up to the window where I sit and write and tweet....  and here I am at my desk!  This photo was taken before I went to meet Carol - when my hair still looked nice! (Look, I know I'm a bit obsessive about my hair.  It's a Leo thing, all right??)

It was a fine afternoon, and Carol tells me that next time Watford are playing Middlesborough she will come up again - hopefully that time we can meet up with Jon Fletcher/Gardener too!  

I'm thinking of starting a Facebook page for pictures of writers meeting writers, but I don't suppose I will ever find the time... maybe when I've finished the current novel.

Cheers, my new real life friend!

ps ~ Twitter friend @WillowCWinsham just said to me that some of her best real life friends started as online ones.  Quick think - it's probably because you get to know each other first in the best possible way - by sharing thoughts, witticisms, experiences, preferences etc, without being distracted by others, getting pissed, prejudices over looks, etc.  So you already know that person is going to be on your wavelenghth ~ half the 'getting to know you' stuff is already done....