I resisted it for quite a while. “I already blog,” I thought. “Who needs Twitter? And I can’t even really navigate Facebook. So I’ll just keep blogging.”

That was years ago. Now, I’m just as embroiled in the web of status updates as anyone else. It just seemed to be the next step, the natural progression of my blogging activity.

I have noticed, in the time since trying to figure out how status updates fit into my life to now, that these 140-character updates serve a few different purposes in my life, both good and bad.

1. They take time. It’s hidden time, time that I would have committed to other things (like picking my fingernails and staring at the sky, in many cases). Sometimes, this time is also better committed to other things (like the dishes or the messy living room). Blogging also takes time, though, and when I find myself against a brick wall, sometimes those status updates (either writing a new one or looking back at past ones) can get me launched into a new post.

2. They help me remember moments in my life. I live with little kids who say the darndest things, and by sharing these things, I create a bit of a log. There are times when I realize, as I’m capturing a blissful moment or a slice of hilarity, that I have plenty of material all around me for my blog. I see the evidence of God at work; I feel the need to make connections; I have a way of keeping myself aware of the world around me because I’m documenting it for myself. (Maybe it’s just the voices in my head, needing a way to express themselves?)

3. They give me ideas for longer pieces. Somehow, the act of writing things down–whether on a scrap of paper or a status update–aids my spotty memory. (I have hopes of getting my memory back, but…who knows?) It also, as I mentioned in #1, warms me up, so that when I have a chance to sit down at my computer for the window of time I have to write a blog post, I can DO IT: the ideas are there, cultivated in my mind or saved on my Twitter feed.

4. They connect me in different ways to more–and varied–people. This can be a pro and a con, but it’s there all the same. There are quite a few people who read blogs through Facebook, and though that does NOT suit me, it gives my blog a wider audience and sometimes a more interactive audience. When I take time (which is sometimes not often) to read other people’s updates, I might find yet another source for ideas.

5. They’re fun and they give me interaction with other people. (They’re also addictive, but we’ll leave that discussion for others.) I feel, so often, like an island in my little writing world, especially as an avid extrovert. The interaction and amusement I get from social media feeds that part of me that sometimes feels like it will wither away in the middle of a lonely, blank screen. The fun has to be balanced, it’s true. But it’s important for me to enjoy my work, and since my work these days is rather isolated from other adults, I appreciate the outlet and input of social media.

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Sarah Reinhard, author of Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent & Christmas Reflections for Families, is a Catholic wife, mom, blogger, reader, and farm girl who can be found online at SnoringScholar.com. She’s also active on Twitter and Facebook, if you’re so inclined.