Week 1 – Saw some quite terrible pictures of slaughtered animals (don't worry, I won't show them). Think I want to become a vegetarian tho.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 2 – I made a commitment to give up eating meat. Can I really do this? Wish me luck!
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 3 – Started by telling everyone of my decision. Either this is good or bad for me. What if a fail?
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 4 – Did shopping and switched my kitchen to a #vegetarian kitchen. Kids are mad but whose in charge anyway?
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 5 – So no more fish either this week. Why is it so hard to do this? How is it that some people make it seem to easy? I am doing it tho.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 6 – Brought #Tofu Food. Hate it with a passion. Didn't know what it really looked like until now. Never again! pic.twitter.com/ZTSMjwySJv
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 7 – Seitan General Tso chicken was better this week and it actually tasted like meat. pic.twitter.com/XC91Q5JCYH
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 8 – Really miss burgers so I made a black bean burger. Got this idea from a professor. Not bad. Will make again pic.twitter.com/EaU0Wl7iDZ
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 9 – Okay, nothing is working. It's been 9 weeks and I still want meat. Last chance. Will try a Shake Shack Shroom burger.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 10 – That burger was just too expensive. BTW, did you know that being a vegetarian is expensive. Killing the pocket and the appetite.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 11 – Family not with it either. This is decision time and I have to decide one way or another.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 12 – Feeling really bad about the whole thing. This week I decided to make a new commitment and stop putting on myself.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 13 – Instead of giving up meat all together, I will just cut down. What's wrong with phasing out meat slowly? Day by day.
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 14 – Decided to phase out meat one meat at a time. This is week one again. Brand new!
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Week 15 – (Week 1 again) Victory – No more pork (this week).
— Pamela (@Pamela3506) February 18, 2016
Reflection:
This was a very engaging and interactive experiement. I enjoyed expressing myself through my writing the series of tweets and experiencing it through different mediums has made it more and exciting. It bacame a way of sharing my story with a larger audience who may be primary vegetarians and vegans, and secondary, really anyone who has an interest in making that change. Allowing my audience to know me in a quick yet personal way quite challenging. Also challenging was going beyond the limitations of Twitter to turn a few tweets into a powerful tool where the story is divided over several tweets while keeping it cohesiveness. Learning this technique has added a new dimension to tweeting and it made me look at tweets as not just individual messages but connected to a larger spread of information. I feel that my experience was a success and the feedback was quite positive.This only makes me want to experience more in different ways. It was interesting to think that if the tweets were posted over several days or even weeks, would the audience come along for the journey? I also feel that the audience are now a part of a large collaboration with me and can engage in the writing, editing, publishing, and reading stories.
Analytics:
Being new to Twitter, other than using it last semester in class and previously for class projects, the idea of posting it all over and linking it to other sites is quite new to me. I posted 15 posts which contained 3 photos. I find that the photos increase the likes and the discussions even more than just the text. My analytics is low because I have a lot to learn about optimizing my tweets for user engagement but this is a challenge I will happily participate in.
