Zero-G Creative

I’m HUGE on Twitter… + 5 other revelations to help you get started with an addictive social media pastime

Jan 08 2009

I just couldn’t resist writing this, especially since so many people have been asking me about being on “the Twitter” and how it works, how I use it and what I hope to gain by being there. So I’ve compiled the top six lessons I’ve learned over six months of sharing my thoughts in 140 characters or less.

1. I’m HUGE on Twitter

OK, well… Not really. As of this writing I have posted to Twitter about 1,000 times, averaging out to about 6.2 tweets a day (though considerably more over the past couple of months as my addiction has deepened). And in that time, I have amassed 540 “followers” or readers. Twitter Grader gives me a score of 98.2 out of 100 and, among all Twitter users, ranks me in the top 15… thousand.

So no, I’m not an Internet celebrity but Twitter does increase my influence and gives me direct access to brilliant people and subject matter experts who teach me a lot. And the same goes for the people who follow me. With the exception of the REAL celebrities on Twitter like Shaquille O’Neal and MC Hammer, your “fame” is directly correlated with the quality of your content.

2. It’s not about what you’re “doing”

When you open up Twitter, the caption famously asks “What are you doing?” So without exception, every Twitter skeptic that I encounter in my travels asks “So why do people care what I’m doing right now?”

They don’t.

They care about what you’re INTERESTED in right now. They want to know what you’ve discovered today… What you’re reading, what you might have learned in a conversation over lunch, what you’re working on, what’s making you laugh, the epiphanies that you have throughout the day.

Sure, everyone posts mundane tidbits too, the “what are you doing?” stuff, but that’s not what makes Twitter great. Focusing your 140 characters on something that has captured your attention makes you instantly relevant and gives you a unique opportunity to not only share but also contribute positively to someone else’s day.

3. Everyone has time for Twitter

Seriously. We’re talking 140 characters at a time here. I tend to tweet between tasks or when my brain needs a quick reset. Sorta like a coffee break.

By the way, that teeny paragraph above is too long to be a Twitter update. You can do this, really. Consider this: we make time to have coffee with strangers that we meet at networking functions. Including drive time, you’re probably looking at a two hour investment give or take. And that’s just to exchange pleasantries with ONE person. Two hours spent on Twitter can expose you to THOUSANDS of people.

Now I didn’t just say to abandon traditional networking. Don’t do that; networking with real, non-digital people is still very important. But you should view Twitter as a networking opportunity and give it the same attention you’d give an offline networking venue.

4. You’ve got to give in order to receive

Yes, much like traditional networking, you can’t walk into a room full of people, shove a business card into every hand in the room and then walk out expecting to get business even though you didn’t stop to listen to what anyone else had to say. Likewise, you cant toss a handful of pithy remarks up on Twitter and expect to have 3,000 followers overnight.

If you want people to follow you and read your updates, you need to read other people’s stuff. It shouldn’t be surprising that if you show an interest in someone else, they are more likely to show an interest in you. Yes, “digital” people are EXACTLY like their flesh-and-bone counterparts! The more you treat your online friends and associates like your offline ones, the better you will do.

And be fair… Don’t expect scores of followers until you’ve accumulated enough content to pique their interest. I usually read a page of updates or so before following someone. Makes it easier to weed out people who are basically Twitter spammers (trying to earn referral $ by pulling traffic onto a web site).

Which brings me to another point: if someone follows you, ALWAYS follow them back unless they fall into the spammer category. I even follow people back if they have views — whether political, religious or even baseball related — that are different than my own. By the way, if anyone is following me and I am NOT following them back, please send me a direct message and I’ll take care of that.

5. Get a Twitter client

So it turns out that the best places to tweet aren’t at Twitter.com. As nice as the site is, it’s just not capable of unlocking the highly addictive, constantly communicating goodness that Twitter has deep inside. The site is fine if you’re dabbling, but as you follow more, write more and get followed more it becomes harder and harder to keep track of everything on the Twitter web site. Managing tweets, replies, direct messages and keeping up with what others are saying is MUCH easier using a Twitter client. I’ve tried a bunch and my favorite is TweetDeck. It’s simple and intuitive and since it was built in Adobe Air, it works on Macs and PCs.

Honestly, I think a big part of why I’ve been tweeting more recently isn’t because I’m more into it, but because it’s so much EASIER with TweetDeck.

Additionally, if you have a smart phone, get a Twitter client for your phone too. I’ve got one called TwitterBerry for my Blackberry. It isn’t great for reading tweets (it’s a little slow, which I’d probably blame on my slow mobile web connection) but it makes writing on the go super easy.

6. Participate!

This goes without saying, but just as in any networking setting, you actually have to engage with people if you want them to remember you. If someone says something interesting, reply to it. If someone replies to you, reply back.

And if someone follows you, it is courteous to thank them with a direct message. Many people sign up for services that automatically send a “canned” direct message for you the second that someone follows. Don’t do that. It’s annoying and it wastes people’s time. And Chris Brogan will be mad. None of us want to see him mad.

Similarly, if someone follows you, don’t thank them in a public tweet, this also wastes people’s time. I’ve made a resolution to do this right going forward and send a personal direct message to everyone who follows. It’s too nice of an opportunity to connect with someone and maybe make yourself a little more memorable. Don’t be a Twitter wallflower!

So what does it all mean?

I don’t believe I’ve been very subtle in saying that I believe Twitter has tremendous utility as a business networking tool. But you need to treat it like a networking tool and show respect and courtesy to the the people you meet. Of all the social media tools I’ve used, Twitter has definitely been the most interesting and the most rewarding for me. Oh, and if you’re reading this, don’t forget to follow me

Published by Erik Wolf under Networking,Strategy,Web/Interactive