5000
Overnight, I clocked over 5000 followers on Twitter. I don’t want to brag about this – the number itself doesn’t really mean much – but I wanted to write something to reflect on how Twitter’s changed my life in positive ways.
I’m incredibly thankful for the friendships it’s forged, which I never thought possible when I joined the network. Over the last five years, it’s given me some crazy opportunities and connections I may have never had otherwise.
Some random things that couldn’t have happened without Twitter: I met my current flatmates, Samme and Charli, got a gig writing at The Next Web, made some incredible friends in San Francisco and around North America, got a tour inside Apple, got a job at Xero and more stuff that I can’t recall right now.
Despite my complaints when Twitter changes something, it’ll always be a special place to me. The service connected me to so many amazing people and given me some incredible friends around the world I’d have never made otherwise.
It’s incredible how just 140 characters can connect people from all sides of the globe. The community is great, it just takes work to find like-minded people.
Some random, special thanks to some people from Twitter:
- @alex for being an inspiring writer and good friend to me
- @rrhoover for teaching me how to hustle
- @bradmccarty / @panzer / [@martinsfp](http:/twitter.com/martinsfp) for giving me the opportunity to write at The Next Web initially and still to this day
- @tomwarren for being the first person to let me write for a real site
- @edzitron for being a crazy funny British guy but always available for real talk
- @femkesvs, my girlfriend, for putting up with my tweeting habits
- @nzben for being the dude that’s stuck around in my timeline for the longest ;)
…and to everyone else for following along. I hope to meet more of you :)