Why I'm suddenly all of a Twitter

Ok, so I changed my mind, I know... but I'm a woman, aren't I (please note, tongue firmly in cheek)? 

What we look like on Twitter @dairyfree

I'm 'coming clean' about it, because I believe in honesty and because the eagle-eyed among you might already have noticed a subtle change to the layout of the dairy free blog page. Yes, it's a Twitter feed!

So, only a few days ago, I was planning to just do FB, but... I changed my mind when I discovered a new reason for Tweeting - which might respectfully be called 'lobbying' or 'campaigning'. Well, strictly speaking, it's probably more like hassling, but what it boils down to is getting your point heard and it struck me that it could be a very useful tool for those struggling with food allergies.

It first came to my notice a few days ago. No sooner had I put out my FB post and started 'liking' other pages, than I discovered that another allergy blogger had used Twitter to contact a major supermarket chain and got a swift response! So, having a few questions of my own that I wanted answered, I decided to conduct an experiment.

Twitter account activated, I first contacted Starbucks, from whom I still haven't had a reply, when, over a week ago, I emailed them about a sandwich. I'm rather keen to get an answer on this one as it has the potential to make quite a difference to my life. Still waiting for an answer on that one Grrr!

Next, I tweeted Tesco, about my gluten free bread - Genius. Again the availability of this brand has made quite an impact on my life. If I can't get it, I literally have to find another supermarket that has it in stock. Success! Tesco decided I was worthy of a response. Kudos to them for that! It didn't actually solve my problem - I want them to keep better control of their stock, but at least they bothered to reply. I have other issues with them, but those can wait for another day!

My last target (for the moment anyway) is Jamie Oliver. Now some people don't like him, (and if you are one of them, you are perfectly entitled to your opinion) but I think he has done very well at getting his voice heard in regard to health issues, such as school dinners. Now, I would love, love, love him to take up the cudgel and campaign on behalf of the food allergic - in fact it's a secret dream of mine. How great it would be, if he could raise the profile of the needs that we have (in terms of sourcing food that is suitable) especially when it comes to eating out.

No response on that one, as of yet, but even if he doesn't reply, maybe having put the idea out there...

Meanwhile, there's still a lot I need to get to grips with. I'm currently taking baby steps. I do find myself getting a bit frustrated, 'cos, when Tweeting on Twitter, you only have a limited amount you can say - at the risk of sounding rude! And maybe, in the heat of the moment, you could be a little indiscreet - I'm going to have to watch that one!

Other uses for Twitter, I discovered (in case you're interested) are making new contacts (two so far - welcome to them) and finding new sources of information, which could be useful (keeping my eye on a doc from New Zealand, who has some interesting things to say about food allergies - not sure if i agree with him, but we shall see). 


I also found it quite fun (and a bit of a revelation) following responses to 'The Voice' on Twitter! Going to try and avoid doing too much of that last one though - I've been neglecting my other duties!

As for The Hub, he has started his own (maybe more practical) form of lobbying - he's discovered you can 'recommend' products to Ocado, that you'd like them to stock. Hopefully they'll be selling my favourite flavour of Kirsty's Freedom (chocolate of course) before long. Will let you know how we get on!

To FB or not to FB? That is the question!

I think Facebook (or FB as it is otherwise known) is a bit like Marmite. Most people either seem to love it (and consult it every five minutes they have spare) or loathe it (in which case they regard with suspicion and wouldn't touch it with a barge pole). Me, I mostly like using it to keep in touch with friends and family that I don't get to see that often, but now I'm ready to take a new step with Facebook.

You'll know it's us, when you see this!

Just in case you're wondering why on earth I'm wittering on about Facebook, there is a point to all this and it has nothing to do with promoting any particular form of social media.

How to update

The thing is, for the last few months, something has been bothering me. Every so often, I find something new or interesting, which relates to being dairy free, but I don't always have time to create a whole new post on the blog. If I merely update the relevant post on the dairy free blog, then people who've already read that post won't know. 

It first began to bother me when I wrote a blog on milk substitutes - no sooner had I posted, than I came across a new substitute (based on hazelnuts). Straight away my blog was out of date and it bothered me - I wanted my blog to be all up together, so that people  can rely on the information I present. Similar problems were encountered when I blogged about Easter eggs - although I did create some follow-on posts for that topic. 

To Tweet? Or... 

Now some bloggers I know, tweet, which seems to be a good way to send out short messages that get straight to the point. Ideal for updating, perhaps. However, not being on Twitter myself and not sure how many dairy free followers are actually on Twitter, it's hard to know just how useful this could be. 

or... not!

Not being quite brave enough or sure that I can devote more time to social networking, I'm not really ready to go down that road, just yet, but FB... well I'm doing that already, so for me its just a short hop. Also, I know a lot of friends and acquaintances who use FB fairly regularly. So although I know not everyone likes FB (and apologies to those of you who don't) I have decided to branch out. 

What will be...

I've created a community page called (funnily enough) 'Dairy Free Baby and Me' which is open to everyone. Hopefully, the link I've added should take you there. If not, you  can search for it, using the bar at the top of your FB page, it should come up. If you click the 'Like' button on it, then anything I post should enter your news feed.


A link to any blogs I write will be posted as soon as they're written. Any snippets of information I post, that are relevant to an existing blog, will be added to that blog in addition to being posted on FB. Oh, and of course, it will be open for others to make  (hopefully) helpful comments, which I shall look forward to reading.

What if you don't want 'to FB'?

If you're not on FB and don't intend to be, then most of the information that I post on the Dairy Free Baby and Me Facebook page should make it into a blog at some stage - it just won't be as immediate. It'll be done when I can find time or gather enough information. I shall try my hardest to include each bit of new information in a relevant blog, but not all may make the crossover.

And finally... a tip: Keep your friends close and... your targetted ads even closer!

I can understand people's concerns about privacy and Facebook. I'm very selective about who gets added to my list of friends on my personal account and am similarly careful about my privacy settings, so that my information isn't accessible to everyone. I know people who won't trust FB at all - their main problem seems to be privacy and intrusion.

FB can certainly seem intrusive, especially when it targets ads at people based on what it thinks their interests are. You know the ones - if you're a woman, it's weight loss and dating and if you're a man, I'm guessing it's stuff like Lynx deodorant. Recently my little sister complained about the targetted ads that appeared on the side of her FB page and it gave me an idea! 

My tactic involves purposefully 'liking' lots of dairy free products via my FB page. This is in the hope that I get targetted with ads that I DO want. Meanwhile, I'll be kept up-to-date with all the latest dairy free products. Well... here's hoping! 

Oh yes, and if I get fed up with all the updates in my news feed, I'll just 'hide' 'em!