Random follow #233 - @BubblesReedy

"Whāia te iti kahurangi Ki te tūohu koe, me he maunga teitei"

@BubblesReedy is an amazing lady who lives her life in pursuit of both a challenge and excellence.  She pursues her dreams that are fulfilling not just for her but the overflow of her success goes out to her family and whanau as well.  Being involved in the teaching of digital media to young people both at Lytton High and across the Gisborne region she knows what it is to be at the coal face of dealing with youth in a complex and changing world.

Her lineage is Ngati Porou (East Coast) and she is also fluent in te reo Maori.  It is with her mastery of te reo along with her passion for teaching that has the opportunity to be involved in a number of projects whereby both the preservation of the language as well as the support of Maori students is the focus of her energies.

So what sort of challenges or pursuits of excellence is she engaged in?  Well being fluent in yet another language is one pursuit that Katarina is currently trying to master - 

"#tonganlanguageweek Malo e lelei! He Maori ahau. My word for today. Lanu = Tae = Colour.#becomingmiltilingual"

Learning how to work with digital media - 

"I'm making my superhero profile webpage (http://www.codeavengers.com/c/bubblesr/profile.html …) learning #HTML#CSS the fun way with @CodeAvengers http://www.codeavengers.com/web/1"

And then there is her own challenge which is sharing a repository of collected poems and poetry with the world.  You can view her ever growing collection by checking out her website which is located here - http://bubblesreedypoetry.blogspot.co.nz/.  Every now and then she shares a new poem via twitter too.  And here is a nice example of her work -

"New moon/Blue pearl/Orbiting her ocean king/Afloat on the black/His captivating jewel revealed/Salacia/Salt sea empress/Home at last #Poem"

So what value will she add to your timeline if you follow her?  @BubblesReedy brings creativity, a Maori world view of issues facing us today, some fantastic links to resources for both teaching and digital resources.  Her pursuits of challenges will hopefully make you stop and think.  And she also brings a fun and energetic approach to both life, and social media, that will put a smile on your dial.

Katarina is one of the absolute newest follow I have made recently I am thoroughly pleased that I did.

"Pursue excellence – should you stumble, let it be to a lofty mountain"

(Note - todays kiwi tweeter was recommended by @winstonmoreton. If you know of someone who you think is a great tweeter who deserves some shine feel free to drop me a line.)

Random follow #181 - @OrangeRogey

What makes a good tweeter?  If you were take a tweeter and dissect them or boil all their tweets down into their liquid form what would the key elements be?  Well lets try this little experiment - 

Key element #1.  Think about and support others.  "Hope that people are registering and supporting Riding for the Disabled gingerbread horse campaign. http://Www.gingerbreadhorse.co.nz "

Key element #2.  If you're going to tweet then make it interesting.  "Just waiting to go into a meeting so thought I would post a quick tweet. #stillalive #stillinteresting"

Key element #3.  Stay in tune with popular trends. "I feel I need to confess that I've started playing Candy Crush. Sometimes I am just so right now".

Key element #4.  Have an opinion, share it and stick with it. "Getting off twitter for a while cant bear the idiot comments criticising govt support for starving kids - get a life fuck wits."

Key element #5.  Take a contrarian view and be funny about it.  "Can't believe that we are having another series of NZ's got Talent. I thought we found out last year that we didn't".

All of the elements above come from one great tweeter.  @OrangeRogey is a tweeter who has been around for a while using the platform and has an innate ability to both converse with people while also maintaining focus on what is important.

Guy has a healthy tweeting volume.  He jumps in every now and then and offers an opinion, tells a joke or shares a RT with the twitter world as he sees fit.  @OrangeRogey is one of my cornerstone tweeters in my timeline.  He stays true to himself and his values and this shows through in his tweets.

There isn't too much more to say about Guy that can be well said.  Apart from the fact that he hails from Wellington the rest of the story about him can best be read by following and interacting.  So go on - what have you got to lose?

Random follow #176 - @RAARTEMANA

The purpose of this blog is to discover the tweeting people who don't make the news headlines or are considered stars of the twittersphere.  Today's person fits both those boxes exactly.  With a total of around 300 tweets to date @RAARTEMANA is very much a new kid on the block.  Couple that statistic with just 7 followers and following 16 people - you get my drift.

Ra is a very elusive tweeter.  Not much is given away about location, lifestyle or any of that stuff.  And to be honest I have no issue with that at all.  Whats good about it is that the tweets are very much what you see is what you get.  And its not a 'no holds barred' kind of account where the purpose is be totally obnoxious but no one knows who you are.

Rather Ra brings a new perspective and a piercing insight into the affairs of the day.  Ra will confront you and challenge your thoughts.  Challenge in a way that makes you reconsider your standpoint and think about just what it is you are actually hold as a value.

So when you read comments like these, what do you think?

"work for 40 years? if no qualifications for pittance, might as well invest 4 years uni cutting it down to 36 years for better results"

"Democracy was created In defense to Communism just to have Capitalism enslaved the people instead?"

"Me & The Pakeha Party believe in the same things, equality, justice, self determination. tell me when has one Law for all been a bad idea?"

So you're going to need to turn your brain on should you choose to hit the follow button.  Ra will challenge you and quite possibly offend you - not in a rude intention sort of way but more to make sure you do actually engage your brain.  In conclusion there are some people who can type up 300 tweets and not many of them wil be as good, profound or challenging as what has been achieved by Ra.