mother shaffer,  you're absolutely right—we each have our own rules, and we have a right to make them! I could certainly adopt most of your rules as my own, especially the "make me laugh or inspire me" one. I'm just not so sure about the "You don't have a blog" red flag. I think Twitter can be a great substitute for people who just don't have time to commit to a "real" blog, but have a lot of interesting things to say and share. (It can also be a great tool to supplement your blog, but I don't think the two have to go hand-in-hand.)