Random follow #81 - @mumsontop

Being a parent can be both a rewarding as well as tough time for many parents.  Whether you are a new parent or are an old hand at it each and every baby and child brings a new set of challenges and issues that both parent and baby/child need to work through.  In the old days there were nurses, telephone hotlines and a greater sense of community for parents to tap into.

So where do parents go now for help?  Well there are a menagerie of websites that offer lots and lots of help.  And those websites are great.  I know that @janeyee writes a column for one such website and she does a really fab job at it. The thing is though that websites are repositories of information rather than being a live and interactive conversation.  And the old faithful Plunket NZ have a presence in social media.  However (in my limited experience) it would be fair to say that Plunket are aimed at the younger end of the child lifespan.  And no child manages to stay at the cute 18 month age stage for very long.

So bring on twitter.  I personally follow HEAPS of mums who talk about their kids and ask for help with some of the issues they may be having.  Often times those are individuals conversing and the ideas and suggestions they have last only as the tweet stays in circulation.

And then there are the good ladies who bring you @mumsontop.  This twitter account is a link out from their main website where they do all their best work.  They also have a strong presence on Facebook as well. So what do they do?  They attempt to answer (as best as they can) any and every question that you the parent may have.  (From my experience - dad's don't ask questions.  They tend to be a bit more intuitive be it rightly or wrongly).

As you can well imagine there are a whole plethora of topics covered.  Lets have a look at a few -

Nutrition issues.  "Did anyone else's child turn into a new type of troll today? Boy, did I learn my lesson about mixing three year olds and chocolate!"
Give aways "Tell us about your first kiss and you could win a lip balm from ecostore. Nourishes lips without the nasties. http://www.mumsontop.co.nz"
The parent life.  "That awkward moment when you have a night out without the kids and all you do is talk about them..."

They also share some very amusing stories too like this one about getting smacked on the bum (probably not what you think it is).

The @mumsontop twitter feed does link back to their Facebook page but if you tweet the team they will reply.  And they will also help you to find an answer to your issue via their social media networks as well.  @mumsontop is a labor of love that was started by one dedicated mum and is now being carried on by two other mums who have a passion to help mums, and dads, be the very best parents they can be.

Random follow #67 - @t3rminallyg33ky and @purelybecky

It takes a honest person to admit they have an addiction.  Often times most addictions occur with some sense of shame or self loathing and people attend self help groups to try and break the cycle and overcome what is weighing them down.  That would be for your usual addiction.

And then there is twitter.  @t3rminallyg33ky is quite open and honest in saying that he has a twitter addiction.  But can twitter actually be an addiction?  Seriously.  If you look at twitter in its most purest form it is one huge melting pot of people having conversations.  So IMHO what @t3rminallyg33ky is really admitting is that he loves interacting with people.

One thing that is immediately apparent in @t3rminallyg33ky's bio is that he has a partner who means the world to him.  I don't think I've seen too many better links to one's love interest than this -
"♥ @purelybecky is my better half ♥".

And then when you hit the link to view @purelybecky's bio it is again immediately apparent that she is completely smitten with @t3rminallyg33ky.

@purelybecky is quite possibly the most prolific tweeter I have profiled so far.  With a whopping (almost) 20,000 tweets she is streaks ahead of many others in the numbers game.

This blog post is not meant to be a gushy, romantic, lovey dovey kind of post.  I mean seriously who writes a blog post like that???  But I do have to say that if you follow one of these two tweeters then you would be well served to follow both of them.  Here is a tweet example -

"Yaaaay! @t3rminallyg33ky is making pancakes for tea!"

Its never a dull moment in the house in which they reside -

"I am never sure if technology is going to work in this house. @t3rminallyg33ky likes to change things daily."

And there are some ways for the good man to have his twitter addiction dealt to -

"Eheheh! @t3rminallyg33ky is in twitter jail! :P"

The tweet mix between these two is quite interesting.  He tweets a lot about technology, interwebs and geeky stuff.  She tweets a lot about whats going on in the every day.  Really funny, slice of life and generally exuberant tweets.  So depending on what flavor you like your tweets you can select between the two.

Oh and one last thing.they live in Dunedin.  A fantastic little city with an overflow of intellect and really smart people achieving really great things.