Thoughts on Twitter

I prepared this originally for a gathering of the "The Village", a networking group in Houston. The conversations occurring among the members were far more interesting than these meager thoughts, so I kept my silence that day. Since a few kind souls asked about what I *would* have addressed in the talk that day, I'm posting it here.

"Twitter - How to use it and not alienate the very people you're trying to reach."

Definition

Twitter is defined in Wikipedia as "a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others' updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to other users - known as followers - who have subscribed to them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access."

Well, fine, but what is Twitter, really? I suspect that if you were able to dig down and get the true meaning of Twitter, it would be just a bit different for each Twitterer.

How can you use Twitter? Twitter is just a tool. Any benefit from it is due to the way it is used - and that is likely different for each Twitterer.

1) Some folks follow only real-life friends, perhaps 2-10 people. With those numbers, it's quite possible to read every tweet that comes by.

2) Some folks follow a few, but by virtue of being celebrities or tech leaders, they may have hundreds of thousands, even millions of followers. (See aplusk (Ashton Kutcher) for one example)

3) Others follow other twitterers with similar interests. Often this starts small, but can quickly grow into hundreds or even thousands as one discovers more folks with similar interest. Obviously reading every tweet every day would leave little time for things like sleep.

This is my mode of using Twitter. I think of the Twitter stream as a river flowing past. Once or twice a day, I'll dip a toe in to see what's happening right then. The conversation may lead me to look at what a few individual Twitterers have said. Time spent: 2-15 minutes.

Now that you have a sense of what Twitter is (in a broad sense, at least), I'd like to give you tips that may make your Twitter experience a bit more enjoyable and productive. These will take the forms of "Do's" and "Don'ts". I think you'll likely be able to tell which is which.

1) Imagine a cocktail party, where you are *not* the host and don't know any of the other guests. Would you arrive and immediately start taking over the conversation?

Of course not. (I hope not, anyway.) And yes, I know that I've just done exactly that here, but in this case, I'm the "host". ;)

More than likely you'd *listen* for a while, to determine the type of crowd and the sorts of conversation that were acceptable in that environment.

Only after learning a bit about the people would you offer anything more than idle chit-chat.

Twitter is like that cocktail party - a really *big* cocktail party.

2) In order to learn a bit about the people who use Twitter, start to follow a few folks to see how they are using it. These may be people you know or complete strangers. A mix of the two is a good way to begin. You'll find that some of the people you follow tweet things of value to you & some (possibly many) don't. Unfollow the ones who don't interest you. Then see who the others are following. It's a good way to discover others who may interest you.

3) There is no one *right* way to use Twitter, but there are *wrong* ways to use it. I know that you marketing folks know this, but sometimes the rest of us need a reminder: "Marketing is *not* advertising!" Try to provide some useful information in what you tweet - and mention whatever it is that you're trying to promote no more than once or twice a day. Twitter spam is no more appreciated than e-mail spam.

4) Unless you want your only follower to be your mother, try to tweet something other than "Driving to work now." and "Going to lunch now." Again, tweeting some useful information, especially if it's interesting to those of similar interests is the best way to get and keep followers.

Finally, many Twitter pundits suggest that Twitter etiquette dictates that you follow everyone who follows you. I think that's a fine way to begin, as you're likely to find some interesting folks that way. After a while, though, you'll find that many of those Twitterers don't share the same interests as you and that their tweets are... boring - at least to you. Periodically, I "unfollow" Twitterers who haven't engaged me (directly or indirectly) recently. So far, I haven't received any nasty comments from any of those folks.

In short, Twitter is an ongoing conversation among a widely (and wildly) diverse group. Just as in "real life", we can participate (or not) to degree that we choose. Choose wisely.