Yesterday, I experimented with my favourite Web 2.0 fad, Twitter.

I’ve been a persistent Twitter user since registering back in November 2006 - way before the masses joined in, may I add - and must admit I have a tendency to use Twitter as a place to rant and vent my rage about general day-to-day happenings. This isn’t uncommon on Twitter, especially within my circuit of friends where we all tend to work in IT. I’m sure it’s genetic that everyone who works with computers are keen moaners.

Anyway, I decided that I should break convention and start all my tweets for the day with the word “loves” in an attempt to be more positive.

If I wrote positive tweets, I should feel more positive, I’d get more done throughout the day. If it went well, it may have even prevoked my followers to feel more positive too (James certainly appreciated it).

Over the course of the day, I ended up with 24 “love” Tweets (the first one of the day didn’t count):

1. loves Monday mornings - it’s the only time everyone feels the same (miserable).
2. loves the idea of breaking the norm on Twitter and being more positive for the day. All of today’s tweets will begin with the word “love”.
3. loves @siphilp’s attention to detail. Well spotted sire.
4. loves the free font Museo http://qurl.com/pc3vh even if @clagnut’s related blog post http://qurl.com/8s878 keeps crashing my browser
5. loves @stephenfry’s explanation of Twitter to the media, even with the occasional embarrassing moments thrown in http://qurl.com/2mdqd
6. loves how @FullCreamMilk is the guest but still ends up making tea for everyone. What a nice chap.
7. loves the reciprocal love from @kulor. Maybe we should make Valentines Day “Love Tweet” day…?
8. loves that his wife just got an “Outstanding” evaluation by the school’s headmaster in today’s observation. Well done lady!
9. loves the idea of using Twitter in aid of charity with @brumtwestival. Ticket has been purchased for the 12th Feb at Poppy Reds.
10. loves the “soup de jour” from @dailygrindco today. Chicken, vegetables and pasta nearly makes a whole meal!
11. loves that @birminghampost are doing Saturday Football Liveblog - if only it covered @derbycounty too.
12. loves Bart B More & Oliver Twizt’s remix of Cece Peniston’s “Finally” - another classic remixed in style http://qurl.com/9pttp
13. loves how @neilcrosby isn’t even smiling for the Last.fm Hack Day publicity shot http://www.last.fm/group/Hack+Day
14. loves the thought of It
15. loves the new Cadbury Eyebrows advert from Glass & A Half Full Productions http://tinyurl.com/c6quwe - genius!
16. loves a good laugh and is not at all jealous of @aajhiggs‘ prize to see @eddieizzard live (would Izzard really Twitter?)
17. loves it when the roads are empty - it makes driving quite pleasurable.
18. loves doing odd jobs for other people - such as returning a movie to Blockbuster that he didnt even watch. (OK, sarcasm doesn’t count)
19. loves homemade coleslaw - but doesn’t everyone?
20. loves the fact all the old CBBC presenters are joining Twitter. First @Schofe, now @xxandip. Now, we just need Andy Crane.
21. loves Will Smith’s ability to nail every acting role he takes on. Seven Pounds is brilliant!
22. loves the legend that was Brian Clough. The film based on his story looks to be Damned good http://tinyurl.com/cneomp
23. loves the potential of YQL when teamed up with large amounts of information like Twitter (hat tip to @codepo8 for the idea)
24. loves his bed. It’s beckoning.

As you can see, the tweets ranged from personal thoughts to findings around the Web to listening and viewing habits, all in a typical day on Twitter to be fair (this topic of tweeting habits probably deserves an additional blog post another time).

In principle, the theory seemed to work.

I felt more positive all the way through the day, even after watching the emotional blockbuster Seven Pounds.

I also managed to acheive more than usual in my working day, getting much of the mundane Monday tasks sorted early and making great progress on a redesign I’ve been working on for the last few months.

I even identified a spin-off project along the lines of the experiment and got the ball rolling with that (further details coming soon).

If you’re an avid Twitter user like myself, I can highly recommend you have a day of starting all your tweets with “loves“. I promise you will feel the benefits by the end of the day, even if it does annoy your pessimistic friends and followers along the way.