Near as I can tell I first signed up with Twitter in 2007, but I did not begin to actively and consistently use this service until January 2009. There must be something about the month of January that makes me want to begin using a particular social media/networking service, because in January 2007 I began to use StumbleUpon.

Perhaps some sort of secret new year’s resolution pushes me forward.

Anyway, Twitter is by far and away where I connect with people online followed by StumbleUpon a distant second. Much further back is Facebook which, although a very good tool, is a bit too chummy for my tastes. At the moment, I would probably move LinkedIn up to third place ahead of Facebook with Mixx, Digg, and a few other sites meriting the occasional visit.

But back to Twitter. I now maintain three accounts through Twitter, each one serving a different purpose. @mattkeegan is my oldest account, while @theautowriter is my most active. I also manage @wordjourney which is my most intimate. All three serve their own purposes, with some overlap—after all, it is me doing the tweeting, retweeting, and connecting.

I know some people think multiple Twitter accounts is a waste of time or simply not beneficial, but I am not here to argue that point. Everyone approaches social media/networking in their own way, sometimes reflecting the way that they interact with people face to face. I found an approach that works for me.

I am not advocating multiple accounts either. They are a lot of work, easy to neglect, and open to spamming. But, hey, we are talking about Twitter where people still tell you what they ate for lunch, how they survived life in a crowded airport terminal, and lots of other mundane details.

Here is how I approach Twitter:

@mattkeegan – If you are a writer, you probably found me here. After all, when you find my Twitter connection on the sidebar of this blog (which has mysteriously disappeared…I shall investigate) that link takes you to my oldest account. Lots of writers, bloggers, journalists, and other media folks connect with me here, but I am not all that restrictive when it comes to connections.

@theautowriter – My automotive presence online is huge, thanks to my The Auto Writer and Auto Trends news and information blogs. I have one account for these two sites (@autotrends is taken by someone else, but not used) where I tweet up tons of industry news. I am most active through this account when a major auto show is held, tweeting while press conferences are being held. Has this helped me? Oh, yeah! I am connected with all of the major media people working with the car manufacturers—something I need when writing a story for my magazine gigs.

@wordjourney – I express my faith through this site, though not exclusively. Word Journey is my Christian blog, a place of encouragement and a way for me to emphasize God’s love. Unlike my other two accounts, I am very choosy about my connections because I want my Twitter stream to contain relevant tweets. I use this account to pass along prayer requests, information about the persecuted church, and have been very active of late sharing news about Haiti.

I like to use several tools to enhance my Twitter experience including TweetDeck which crunches URLs via Bit.ly and allows users to connect to Facebook as well, FriendorFollow to purge inactive users, and I am experimenting with SU.PR and TR.IM, a pair of URL shorteners. I tried scheduling tweets, but that wasn’t for me. I am experimenting with paid tweets, but I have yet to make my first million. When that happens I will let you know!

How about you? Are you active with Twitter and, if so, how can you be found?