Plot

4 ordinary people share 4 extraordinary stories about how Twitter has changed their lives.

A man opens his laps top computer and is delighted. Twitter is the new way you connect and communicate with people. Twitter allows for a real time response from people, opens up new opportunities for one's self and one's business and allows people to meet other people they may not otherwise meet. Four people with four different stories about how Twitter has affected their lives is the subject of this documentary. Random people answer the question are you on Twitter?" Different levels of interest exist. Those that participate stress that they can truly get to know someone when both are using Twitter. What is Twitter? Twitter is an online social networking service that allows the user to send a text message to the world. A hashtag attached to your tweet will create a trend or a topic. The most frequently used hashtags become a trending topic. All the tweets are store under that hashtag topic. Gaining followers allows other to see your tweets. At the Hillside Market and Motorfuels, the Grill Cheese Truck is parked. Twitter allowed Dave Danhi to start another business selling sandwiches off a truck. Eight months prior to opening his business, Dave received an email about the Grill Cheese Invitational, a contest making grilled cheese sandwiches. As a chef, Dave began to think about the mac and cheese he made in the past in a barbecue restaurant, and developed the cheesy mac and rib sandwich was born. A massive crowd appeared at the event which blew Dave's mind. Dave discovered a fanatical following for the grilled cheese sandwich. On a fishing trip with other chef friends, the idea grew in Dave's mind. Suddenly there were investors in his vision of a grilled cheese truck. Twitter became the vehicle to advertise his business. He sent out three tweets to the prominent blogs. Immediately Dave had 70 followers. Two nights later he had 600 followers. He ended up on the MSNBC homepage which gets about 4 million hits a day. All this occurred before he even had a business. Twitter helped him create the personality of the truck. Twitter users helped him decide to feature tater tots over French fries. By the time they had keys for the truck they had 2500 loyal followers. Dave concluded that Twitter was the best way to get into people's brains. Twitter users are asked what celebrities they follow. Answers were varied including Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah, Jessica Alba, the President, the Pope, Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber. One follower said it makes the celebrity more reachable and their antics are immediately known. One user remarks that though he may follow a celebrity, they do not follow him. Alexandria Terry was a Twitter user and a huge fan of Justin Bieber. Learning on YouTube that Bieber had a Twitter account, she and a friend started following Bieber and developed their Twitter accounts with Bieber in mind. They attended all of his concerts and eventually got to meet Bieber. Alexandria gives Twitter credit as a way to meet people they do not know personally. Through Twitter, Alexandria connected with him. Prior to meeting Bieber, Alexandria was working on a Nickelodeon commercial when she got a phone call with the opportunity to be in a Justin Bieber music video. Alexandria describes it as a moment almost too good to be true. Alexandria's mother, Marianne Jordan-Terry recalls how she asked Alexandria to do her math homework while they waited to learn whether Alexandria had been accepted for the video. At 11:07 pm, Alexandria finally got a return call which asked to talk to her mom. A short time later, Alexandria learned she got to play the lead's best friend. She was excited. She was also told she could not tell anyone about the project. Alexandria said the opportunity only arose because she heard about Justin Bieber and followed him on Twitter. The video "You Smile" is about Bieber fans that get to meet Justin Bieber and he falls in love with a girl named Anistasia. Alexandria said she had to stay in the mode of a professional when the video was made. People are asked whether they believe it may be possible to find love on Twitter. Most users interviewed thoughtfully believed it was possible. Kristen Blue started using Twitter sporadically. She met Dave Rivera, another use, because of a similar interest in music. She and Dave followed each other but were not that conversational until Kristen was searching for a rare music album that Dave had. Dave sent it to her and Kristen was so happy she direct messaged Dave that she could kiss him. She found Dave's Twitter personality to be both clever and mean. One day she had a quick question and invited Dave to call her. They ended up talking for a very long time. Eventually, they agreed to go on a date when Dave when going to visit California. When the day arrived, Dave was stressed as his flight was delayed. Kristen greeted his with a Southern Beau sign at the airport. Eventually they went out to lunch at Swingers and walked on Melrose Avenue and visited a vintage store. Technology has enhanced their relationship and they fall asleep on Skype to feel together. People are asked how their charity uses Twitter. Users comment that they fund raise, learn about events and target followers who are more interested in the charity's efforts. Twitter allows for two way conversation, so the charity can have a conversation with hundreds of people at a time. Heather Spohr was a blogger who learned about Twitter and discovered that people who would read her blog would follow her on Twitter. Heather became pregnant in May, 2007, but she had problems immediately. She had blood clots and her water broke at 19 weeks. Mattie was born at 28 weeks, 12 weeks premature. She lived for several weeks in an ICU but was brought home when her body weight was 6 lbs. Maddie was fine physically and mentally ahead of the game. Maddie had overcome much. On April 5, the family went for a play date in the park. Maddie was wheezy and clingy. That night it was clear she needed a doctor's appointment the next day. Maddie was admitted to the hospital with respiratory issues. Her conditioned worsened after she was put on a respirator. She passed away three hours later. She was 16 months and 27 days old. Family and friends could not visit Maddie in the hospital. Heather would tweet out her updates of Maddie's condition. In the weeks that followed Maddie's death, Heather and her husband would sit and watch the tweets on #Maddie. People changed their avatars to purple which was Maddie's color of her room. Heather preferred seeing sympathetic messages online rather than see the hurt in people's faces in person. Thousands of people tweeted about Maddie and showed the Spohr family that people really did care about Maddie. It made the whole experience less lonely. In fact, a couple of Heather's friends from Twitter got together with some of Heather's real life friends and handled all aspects of Maddie's life celebration. They rallied the internet to donate tens of thousands of dollars to Heather's family. The overwhelming response allowed the Spohr's to start a foundation in Maddie's name that supports families who have children in neonatal intensive care units. The foundation first started funding support bags for families with basic supplies to help them with the long hospital stays. The foundation is moving on to another phase where grants will be provided to people to pay bills if they cannot work, hotel rooms and other related expenses. On Twitter, Mike Spohr is featured leading a team in an annual March of Dimes walk. Tracy Blue is back speaking on how Twitter can nurture your relationships. With her boyfriend 2000 miles away Tracy tweets what she calls obnoxious PDA (public displays of affection) of how she misses her man. Dave Danhi continues to use Twitter to promote his business. The day before his truck appears Dave will tweet out the location getting people thinking about coming. The next day he will promote his "special" sandwich with photos and watch for retweets. Tweets often appear about his exact location, business hours and requests for delivery. Dave gets 200-500 mentions about the food truck on Twitter daily. Alexandria Terry now uses Twitter to promote her career in a positive way. If Alexandria gets an audition or books a job, she lets her followers know so they can experience the journey with her. Alexandria provides an example as she auditions for a role in the web series, "The Grass is Greener." In the show Alexandria hopes to be Olivia who is a big fan of the pop star Chrissy. Heather Spohr uses Twitter to spread the word about the "Friends of Maddie" and has become one of the most important way the charity makes money. They did a promotion at the holidays as a gift of support to provide for the person who has everything. Twitter has also proven to be a good way for the foundation to connect with families who need support. They send off support packages through followers who may be nearby, Dave tells a story about how Nicky Hilton tried to get into the grilled cheese line but was turned away. Immediately his business got mention in People magazine, Us magazine and the Weekly Star talking about how even Nicky Hilton could not get a grilled cheese because of the popularity of the business. After making the music video with Justin Bieber, Alexandria discovered that others had made fan pages for her. She calls it a surreal experience. Dave finds great satisfaction in making people happy with his food. He loves watching those who have waited 45 minutes to finally tear into their sandwich and their expressions of joy. Alexandria like sharing her success with others. Tracy attests that new opportunities open up with Twitter. Heather suggests that through the power of Twitter, friends of Maddie may one day become a huge organization. More and more people declare they are on Twitter. Kristen Blue moved to Charleston, South Carolina to work, live with Dave and adopt a cat. Dave Danhi reports that the Grill Cheese Truck was named the 4th best place for Mac and Cheese in the LA area and is listed by Zagat's as the best place to eat a sandwich. Heather tweeted that Friend of Maddie has made over $100,000 and she now spends her time taking care of Maddie's younger sister, Annie. Alexandria continues to audition for parts in Los Angeles and recently appeared in ABC's "Body of Proof". 6*