Social networking sites such as Twitter are becoming popular ways to connect with others who share your interests, including adoption. You can sign up for an account for free, and then search for people or organizations that you are interested in. Simply type in “adoption” and you will find thousands of people associated with adoption personally or professionally.

Twitter allows you to search for adoption agencies, organizations, and individuals who have adopted. If you see some that you might be interested in, you can "follow" them by clicking on the follow link on their twitter page. Following someone means that anytime they post an update or information on their own twitter page, it will automatically appear on your twitter page. They may chose to follow you as well.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions about adoption on twitter. Often, someone will help point you in the right direction. However, keep in mind that you need to confirm any adoption specific information you receive with a reputable agency. In addition, be weary of any unsolicited requests about potential adoption situations through twitter, just as you would any other website or blog.

Twitter allows you to keep up with current stories in the adoption community. Many people will post a few lines of a current issue along with a link to the main story. This is a great way to keep abreast of the latest news in the adoption world.

On the flip side, there are a few things to be aware of as you make new friends on twitter. I’ve followed people in the past, because I thought their twitter posts would be related to adoption. However, most of the posts had to do with products they were selling (another great use of twitter, just not what I was looking for at the time).

Another down side of twitter (though some will say it’s a plus side) is the word limit. You can type 140 words per post or tweet. It seems like a lot, but the limit can pass quickly! Many people use abbreviations to help get their post across within the word limit.

Bella Online’s Adoption site now has it’s own twitter feed! You can follow it by typing “Adoptioneditor” in the search box on your twitter page. I’ll be “tweeting” (or updating) followers with links to the latest articles and forum discussions, along with links to the latest news stories on adoption.

For more information, please visit: www.twitter.com/adoptioneditor.