Not only has Twitter served as a source of entertainment for me where I can find hilarious memes and ratchet World Star videos at the click of a button, but surprisingly, it’s also been such an important asset to me for various reasons.

Twitter has connected me with so many people, including my college best friend. I was anxious going into college not knowing anyone, so when I found out there was a “follow train” on Twitter for the UT19 class, I saw it as an opportunity. All I had to do was tweet #UT19 and just like that I gained about 30 new followers who were all people that were going to be freshmen at UT that next fall, just like me. It was slightly comforting knowing that I was at least familiar with a handful of people who were going to be in my same situation. It’s funny actually because on several occasions I actually ran into some of these followers on campus, and so I’d stop and say hi and whatnot. It was nice to have a sense of familiarity in a place that was still so foreign to me.

Anyway, I ended up following a bunch of people who also tweeted the hashtag and I noticed one of the girls had the exact same taste in music as me. Then coincidentally, I realized from her tweets that she was going to be at some of the same shows that summer that I was also going to. So I decided to DM (DM = direct message) her, and we planned to meet up at the show that August right before the semester started. We’ve been best friends ever since. So yeah going into college with a new friend already was pretty lit, 10/10 recommend.

Apart from instantly connecting me with hundreds of people, Twitter is also really good for keeping up with current events. I can guarantee you the moment something extravagant happens in the world, it will be on Twitter within .25 seconds. Whether it’s about Kylie Jenner’s latest hot new lipsticks or an update on the presidential race, you can expect Twitter to hear about it first.

My advice to you is that you take advantage of this massive social network (especially if you’re going to a college next semester where you don’t know anyone). That little blue bird has more connections than you think.