Wine Party

Forgive me, I've just been laughing a little too hard just a moment ago...

#wineparty on Twitter is just winding down, and despite a bumpy start, I had a great time.  It almost felt like a real party - I couldn't get engaged in any of the groups talking due to technological issues, so I stood in the corner (whined just a little) and before I knew it, my friends noticed me and came over to the corner to talk with me.

Now, we didn't come up with anything so creative as Amish Swingers this time (I probably should make a label for Amish Swingers, too..), but we did have a lot of fun.  Particularly as I kept adding random strangers with one-off names to our party. 

I went on Twitter-crack this evening, folks.  Seriously.  My head is still spinning on this.  I came home determined to finally find a different app that would make following #wineparty easier.  See, it's a hashtag, and if you just watch that window, you miss people who might respond to you and forget the hashtag, so you kinda gotta circle back to your Mentions page, too (for those of you lost on FB, let's face it, you don't follow me anyway - at the moment all my followers are Tweeps).  I was doing this on the iPhone for the first two wine parties. 

But I thought there had to be an easier way.  And I was told there was. 

So tonight, when I got home, I made it my mission - before #wineparty began to figure out these other apps.  Two general ones were recommended: HootSuite and Tweetdeck.  I did a quick google for HS vs. TD (I've learned to be cool and abbreviate - only way you can talk about them in 140 characters or less!) and what brief few things I read, it seemed like HS - which was web based and not desktop dependent - might be the better way to go for the various things I might in the future use it for.

So I got on it, and I rolled.  And immediately a new tweep recommended TD, and we chatted for a few, and so she convinced me to open another tab and try it out.  And next week, I may use it.  But it felt a lot like Twitter itself, and so HS had some new features that I'd just been figuring out how to use to maximize my Twitter viewing.  So, I decided to try the slick HS this evening.

Right before #wineparty, of course, I was online watching the Bloggess' book party. Lots of fun there, and I've made lots of new tweeps from that interaction, but the chat function was not working properly for me for 3/4ths of the time, so by the time I hit #wineparty, I was already technologically frustrated.

Now Twitter - generally - has a way so that you can see the tweet to which the new tweet was replying.  So you can remember where you were at or figure out how the person got there.  It's quite helpful, particularly on a "party line" conversation like #wineparty.

But that screen, highlighting all the hashtag posts didn't have that functionality.  My patience was already shot, so I almost gave up.  I waved "Hi" at a few people I knew, and eventually others joined me in the corner, and we had a good time.

I missed a lot.  And it's a shame, but we still had fun.  I do feel bad for @kristin_g and @gcb who got pulled in unwillingly and unknowningly because HootSuite doesn't automatically pull everyone back in for the reply, and my typing left a little to be desired.  Ooops!  But it made me laugh!

Love you tweeps!  Thanks for a great evening!!