By Duncan Fremlin

I was at a real estate seminar the other day and overheard a conversation about Twitter, Facebook and the social networking scene. One of my associates, a gentleman in his 50s, was telling his friend that he had a Facebook account but “I’m not using it.”  His friend did not have an account and replied, “I have absolutely no intention of getting one.”

This struck a chord. Kind of made me squirm a bit. In my quest to become a hip Realtor with a solid social networking presence, I put myself through hell. I found myself wondering if this social networking scene was a young person’s thing or if it was it something an aging 62-year-old agent could embrace.

There’s been a lot of pressure to buy into Twitter and the like even though many of us are not particularly inclined that way. I decided to do something about it.

Over time, I signed on to these accounts. I had no idea what the heck to do with them but by golly, I had a Twitter nom de plume (banjodunc). Eventually, I took the plunge and joined the Margaret Atwoods of the world and began to Twitter.

Looking back, it appears I went through the five stages of change (denial, anger, negotiation, depression, acceptance) described by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book On Death and Dying.

I began my foray into social networking by DENYING its importance. I had convinced myself it was a fad that appealed to those who had absolutely nothing better to do with their time.  I have a good friend who is a commission salesperson and he’s so stubborn about this, his business is suffering because of it. That wasn’t going to be me. Deep down, I knew I had to deal with this if I wanted to continue being a full-service Realtor.

I knew I was at the ANGER stage when I began to feel resentment towards those who had progressed beyond me. That anger escalated when I saw them actually profit from this web tool. I would lash out at the Twitter logo every time I saw it. My competitors who were just starting out in the business were actively Twittering and this too raised my ire. “Who are they kidding?” was my internal mantra. The smug Twitter users had this holier-than-thou attitude, or at least I thought they did. Apparently I can be a very small person when the circumstances are right.

I’m not sure how long I remained at this stage but I knew I had entered the NEGOTIATING stage when I hired a young Twitter guru to teach me how to do it and perhaps explain why it was important. I didn’t quite get what she was talking about. I hadn’t yet written or published a tweet. However, in my little Twitter mind, I didn’t feel it was necessary if I wanted to make my point. I was now at peace and figured my journey was over. My conscience had other ideas.

I woke up one day and read some statistics in the business section of the Globe and Mail that the top salespeople in their professions were actually solidifying business relationships and profiting from their online tweets. My stomach knotted up.  I didn’t want to get out of bed. I was sad and Twitter DEPRESSION had set in. I realize now that I was on the verge of a break-through.

Then one day, I started sending my blog entries to my Twitter and Facebook accounts. I figured, what the hell? What’s the worst that could happen? Public ridicule? Bah. So what. I’ve been laughed at and belittled many times before. That won’t kill me. Funny thing is, as it turns out, nothing bad happened. In fact, one day someone actually re-tweeted one of my posts. I had arrived at the ACCEPTANCE stage and my life as a Twitter user was born.

For those sceptics who think this is still a fad, my bank is now responding to some of my feeds. Recently, I wrote a tweet about an issue I had with my bank account and their Twitter Guy (who knew they had a Twitter guy?) fixed it for me in short order. I was mightily impressed.

There’s no turning back now. I eagerly devour Margaret’s feeds and often re-tweet them. My dream is for her to re-tweet one of my little 140 character gems.

Duncan Fremlin is a broker with Re/Max Hallmark Realty in downtown Toronto. He’s about to celebrate 25 years in the business.  He’s also an avid blogger and writer.  www.Duncansblog.com is now in its sixth year. Email [email protected]; Phone 1-877-462-1888.  Of course, there’s always Twitter @banjodunc.