I got into the Twitter game a little late. I was a naysayer, who thought it was just something people used to seem more interesting than they actually are. I’m 62% right, but I’ve seen how useful and effective Twitter is. Not just the results we give clients here at Melaroo (holds up Melaroo logo, smiles into the camera), but also personally. “How have you seen it personally, Ike?” Well, I’ll tell you.
Let me give you some background that will seem obscure and unconnected right now, but eventually will make perfect sense. I love The Karate Kid movies. Fact. Admittedly, I only own the first two, but only because I haven’t found the third one on DVD by itself. I would buy the DVD pack, but they include The Next Karate Kid which is an abomination to the Karate Kid legacy. Yes, it still has Pat Morita and an added bonus of Michael Ironside being the villain, but Hilary Swank? Seriously? First of all, saying her last name makes me feel dirty, and second of all….ugh, seriously? OK, I won’t get started. I’ll just continue with the story.
So, I got on Twitter and noticed that a lot of celebrities have an account and actually update them. I set out on a search for beloved actors/actresses/writers/directors/musicians such as Tina Fey, Rainn Wilson, Michael Ian Black, Jason Reitman, and whatnot. After that, I added some people I actually knew and then added companies that I like. I saw that a friend of mine was friends with one Ralph Macchio. This is where the Karate Kid stuff connects. I clicked on the thumbnail and saw that not only is it the Ralph Macchio, but he actively posts updates. SCORE! I took the next obvious step of following him.
The next day, I noticed that he put up a movie quote and said that the first person who can guess the movie and actor that said the line will be re-tweeted by him. For some reason, I knew the quote. I’ve never seen this movie, but somehow I knew that his quote was from it: Biloxi Blues. I also knew that Matthew Broderick was in it because I remember the poster with him on it, with a kiss-print on his cheek, all fresh faced and Ferris Bueller-like. I re-tweeted the quote and said the movie and actor, thinking I was most likely the 900th person to answer it, because it’s the Ralph Macchio for Pete’s sake! Who is Pete, by the way? And why is everything for his sake? First person to answer that for me will be re-tweeted. Believe it!
A few hours went by of actual working, then I took a quick “corporate” break. If you don’t know why I’m calling it a “corporate” break, consider yourself lucky. Anywho, I went to the Twitter homepage where there’s a huge list of the latest updates from the people you follow. Then, I saw it…
Daniel Larusso aka the Ralph Macchio had re-tweeted me, Ike45. Actual quote: Hey @Ike45! Stay cool!
The Karate Kid told me to stay cool! That meant that not only did the Ralph Macchio think I was cool, but the Ralph Macchio wished me to continue to be cool! That moment immediately went into my top 5 greatest moments of my life. It went right behind the moment I had lost 50 lbs and right in front of the time I squirted the perfect amount of ketchup on my plate to balance the french fry to dipping-in-ketchup ratio. In other words, this was a glorious moment.
In conclusion, Twitter is a great tool to have.