A Twitter Primer
What I love about blog-arguments over some web tool’s value (on the enthusiast side, which I am usually on, I fully admit it, I love shiny new toys), or lack thereof (on the detractor side) is that the argument itself usually gets a lot more people interested in whatever it is we have been arguing about.
To that end, if you want to give it a try and see what all the fuss is about…
Sign up for Twitter here.
Follow me here.
Check out the people I follow - you’ll see a bunch of association bloggers and a bunch of social media people, and some news sites like CNN Breaking News. Click on profiles for a brief description and website for each person that catches your eye (or all of them, if you are one of those really thorough people). If you find some you recognize, or otherwise find interesting, click to follow them. You can just as easily stop following them later if you decide you find them boring.
Later on, spread your wings by looking through the lists of those you follow and see who THEY follow. That’s the serendipity part.
If you want to see tweets on your phone, turn “Device Updates” to “on”. I would recommend you not do this at first, though, except for your nearest and dearest, unless you want to annoy everyone in your office by having your phone beep continuously all day long. Instead, get your Twitter updates online - see this post for suggestions, but the easiest way is just to bookmark the Twitter home page.
Then you’re ready to do some tweeting!
Like for all social media, there’s an unwritten code of ethics. Her are some good tips from B.L. Ochman:
1. Don’t be pedantic. We don’t care what you’re eating for lunch, or that you just woke up.
2. Don’t use Twitter just to pimp your blog posts.
3. Don’t rant (unless you are Vaspers.)
4. Don’t pimp your clients all day
5. Don’t over-tweet. If you need half a dozen tweets to make your point, do one that points to a blog post.
6. Don’t share breaking news that you can’t confirm.
7. Do link to interesting articles, sites, blog posts.
8. Do continue your conversation with another tweetie offline after a couple of @someone tweets
9. Do include links in as many of your posts as possible.
10. Don’t be dull.
11. Do pick up the phone and call tweeties with whom you interact often.
12. Answer and ask questions.
13. Be polite
14. Don’t be boring.
15. Don’t be overly critical of other people’s points of view.
16. Don’t be promiscuous with the “Follow” button. There are only so many hours in a day.
17. Don’t feel bad about blocking people. You don’t have to let everyone and his dog follow you. Twitter is a network, the benefit should be two-way.
OK then, go on, you’re still reading this? What are you waiting for? There’s a whole world out there ready and waiting for you to join in.
