I am fairly computer savvy. I use it for my work, I design on it, I write my own websites. I even have a blog! I can do computers. But the associated ways of communicating have so far failed to become an integrated part of my existence. I don’t have a smartphone. I text very infrequently. I don’t Skype. I have a Facebook account, but any friends or relatives trying to contact me through it generally have a three-month wait before I finally pick up their messages and reply to them. As for Twitter, I am not even totally sure how it works, and have managed to lead my life without feeling its lack very keenly.

Imagine my surprise when I looked at my web stats recently (a useful little gadget which tells me how many people drop in for a visit to Mabel’s Fancies every day, and roughly where they are on the globe) and found a visitor who had been referred by something called t.co – which on investigation turned out to be Twitter’s link shortening service. I have been tweeted!

Perhaps there is something to be said for all those new-fangled communication methods after all! So for all tweeters and facebookers out there I’ve now added the appropriate buttons. One day I may even find out what they do …