#militarymon

If you're not on Twitter, I'll fill you in. #militarymon is a hashtag. Hashtags are used to group topics in Twitter searches. Its heaviest use is seen on Mondays, as it is short for Military Monday.

Military Monday is a chance for everyone on Twitter to shout out to former and current active duty, retired, dependents, spouses - anyone associated with the armed forces.

It's a chance to express your gratitude to the people who have fought for your freedom, to thank and remember those who have died for that freedom.

To cheer on those currently serving, and to peek inside the lives of the husbands, wives, and families who stay behind on the home front while their loved ones serve.

It's also a chance to connect with other military supporters and swap stories, share inspirational quotes and songs. Link to blog posts and photos that we've all dug up.

Military Monday is such a beautiful thing. And yes, the gratitude and the spirit of the day is what matters most. I connected with some amazing new people over the past day or so while tweeting about Military Monday.

But can you blame me for being a little more than miffed when #nothingpersonal and the freakin' Bachelorette are trending higher than #militarymon? Come on, now.

So here's my challenge to you and to all my Twitter followers. Next Monday, July 13th, I challenge you to tweet something military related with the hashtag #militarymon at least once. If everyone could get every one of their followers to do it just once, maybe people will pay more attention to the topic.

Because on Twitter, more attention means more awareness. Awareness means support. And those two things - awareness and support - mean everything.