Anatomy of a tweet

I recently read yet another celebrity memoir, Guts, Kristen Johnson’s book about her addiction to pills and alcohol. Had I not been a rabid fan of Bravo’s Watch What Happen Live (WWHL) with Andy Cohen, I probably wouldn’t have known about the book. But Johnson, or “KJo” as I will heretofore refer (did I say that correctly, Shakespeareans?) was a frequent guest. If two appearances means frequent. Because I only caught two.

Anyway, I remembered her from 3rd Rock from the Sun, a series that ran on network television from 1996 to 2001. Later on, she became tabloid fodder for her weight.

Since Andy Cohen has good taste in guests – meaning fun, loose, can take a joke – I watched when KJo was on. She was very funny. I laughed out loud. Or, using today’s vocab, LOL’d. Had no idea she was a recovering addict.

After I caught her appearance a second time, I downloaded her book on my Nook.

I read it. I liked it. A lot.

I had recently read articles about social media, several specifically focused on Twitter. It seems so-called social media experts like to harangue those of us who don’t use the tools to our advantage.

Twitter, apparently, is one of those tools we can “leverage” (pardon the over-used corporate-speak) for the good of ourselves and others.  I’m totally focused on the “self” part, Pam admitted in a moment of pure, unadulterated candor.

Somewhere amongst all that gobbledy-gook on social media was a little tidbit about tweeting to famous people. Evidently, getting re-tweeted by one such famous person can be a real kick-in-the-pants. Or a way to get exposure. Or more followers. Or something.

I had heard KJo was very active on Twitter, and her tweets, hilarious. So what the heck, I thought. I’m going to tweet her and tell her how much I liked her book. A sincere tweet, because I sincerely liked her book. Not a suck-up tweet. Nope. Sincere. From a regular person who does laundry every day. And occasionally Swiffers.

Pam Houghton @Pamela19sixty @kjothesmartass Just finished “Guts” – a celebrity memoir by Kristen Johnson. I highly recommend. Honest. Funny. Sad. #AmReading

I had zero expectations. Figured it would just a do loopy-loop in Twitterville like all my other tweets. Where it felt like I was talking to myself.

Well, Glory-be-to-God in the highest. Not along after, I received an e-mail. From Twitter.

Pam Houghton, Your Tweet got retweeted!
Pam Houghton @Pamela19sixty @kjothesmartass Just finished “Guts” – a celebrity memoir by Kristen Johnson. I highly recommend. Honest. Funny. Sad. #AmReading 06:09 PM – 15 Jul 13 Retweeted by   kristen johnston @kjothesmartass To 29851 followers.

Well, wasn’t that the sweetest dill pickle ever? KJo retweeted my tweet. To her nearly 30,000 followers. But was I supposed to tweet back? As in, “@KJOthesmartass: You made my day!” Or, “@KJOthesmartass: Thanks for adding sprinkles to my cupcakes!” Or, “@KJOthesmartass: OMG OMG OMG SO excited you retweeted my tweet! LOVED YOUR BOOK. EVERYONE-READ KJO’S BOOK! ”

Instead, I left the e-mail in my in-box to marinate for a few days. Having no clue as to proper Twitter etiquette, I finally responded.

Well, lo and behold, Glory-be-to-God again! I received another e-mail from Twitter. (I imagine true Twitterphiles don’t rely on e-mail for these notifications.)

Whoa! A message, directly from KJo! And she says I’m to be proud of my Twi-illiteracy. I had been feeling so inadequate. But no more. Oh, no. Now, I was validated. Thank-you, KJo!

That was over a week ago. The e-mail still sits in my in-box, waiting for action. If I were hipper, younger, willing to learn the ins-and-outs of Twitter and Instagram and all-other-matter of micro-blogging sites, maybe I would have kept the conversation going by tweeting back.

But I don’t want to be like the sad, lonely mom whose children never call. I’m sure my new friend, KJo, doesn’t need another tweet from a fan, desperate, er, hopeful, for a response. Even if the fan, weary of tweeting into the giant black hole of anonymity, rather enjoyed her brief shining moment in the sun.

So I’ll let that e-mail/Twitter notification from KJo-the-celebrity sit a while more. In the meantime, I think you should read her book. Then tweet her and tell her how much you liked it.

UPDATE – I boldly tweeted this blog post to KJo and here’s what I got in return:

Then:

And finally:

Cool, huh?

Question of the day: have you ever tweeted with a famous person?

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