Follow Friday is a hashtag on Twitter. Hashtags are markers that catalog tweets from any number of users into a stream of related information that you can search. So, if you tag a tweet #FF (for Follow Friday), it will show up in the list of all tweets tagged “#FF.” This is particularly interesting or informative if you’re hashtagging an event or a place, for example, because then you can quickly look and see what others have to say about the thing you’re participating in. or the place you’re visiting For instance, I enjoyed checking out the tweets during the Miss America Pageant. Follow Friday’s directions are to “Tweet the names of Twitter users you’d like others to follow and tag it with #followfriday and/or #FF.”
I never really pay attention to the #FF tweets I see, and I’m fairly certain I’ve never actually followed anyone on the recommendation of an #FF. But lately, I’ve been wowed by several bloggers and really wanted to share them with you, so I thought I’d create a Follow Friday of my own this week here on the blog!
I’ve been reading blogs for years. Really, we could go all the way back to high school when I was into being emo on LiveJournal and Xanga, but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about. The real meat of my blog reading started in college; I’m not exactly sure what triggered it, but over the years I’ve curated a collection of feeds in Google Reader. These bloggers, whether I interact with them or not, are really a part of my life. If I’m away from my Reader for too long, I start to wonder what they’re up to. Sometimes I’m overzealous and subscribe to a bunch of blogs that don’t really do it for me after awhile, so I try to be intentional about culling my list pretty frequently. Lately I’ve been in a really good blog-reading groove and have found a few new voices who are adding a great feel to the posts I read every day!
Some of my current favorites:
- Laura Vanderkam, author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think I stumbled across this blog from MoneySavingMom.com. She writes about time management and work, and is much more career oriented than most of the blogs I read. From the description I wouldn't have thought I'd like her blog, but I find so many useful little tips and tricks and find that I really relate to many of the things she talks about. Plus, I love Vanderkam's voice, which is almost as important to me in a blog as the actual topic! I find myself wanting to comments on her posts quite often, which is a big deal to a self-proclaimed passive consumer such as myself. Laura came and commented on this little blog once and I felt like hot stuff. ;-)
- Jessica at Faith Permeating Life I think I found Jessica through 20SB, a blog network that seemed promising but was really mostly a bust for me. Jessica is young and married like me, grappling with really tough issues of how Christianity relates to modern life, and I appreciate that she does it in a non-preachy way. Her blog is not deep and theological; it's deep and real. Plus, not EVERY post is heavy and faith-related. I love reading about her marriage and her forays into the world of exercise. I find Jessica really relatable and approachable, and I hope I get to read her blog for a long time!
- And for good measure, and actual Twitter account: Anne Lamott It's no secret that I love Anne Lamott. She doesn't have a blog that I know of, but she's quite active on Twitter. Y'all, just about every tweet she posts has me in stitches. I think it's a gift that her dry sarcasm even comes through in 140 characters. She's authentic and hilarious and her words stick with me long after I read them on Twitter.
There you have it! My absolutely unsolicited, unorthodox Follow Friday.
Have you discovered any great new or new-to-you blogs or Twitter accounts lately? Share them in the comments!
