My Twexperience on Twitter
Print by Angela Hogan; you can purchase it here.
If Luke didn’t find me, he might have married his iPhone. If I didn’t find Luke, I might have married Twitter.
But, if you’re like Luke, you’re bound to be asking right now, “Twitter is stupid!” OK, that’s not a question, but I can see that you’re confused. You might want to better communicate by saying, “What’s so special about Twitter?” You can keep the whininess in your voice if you’d like. I get it.
Well, I’ll tell you what’s so special about Twitter, besides the fact that Punky Brewster, MC Hammer, & Wil Wheaton are on it. Forget them. This is about you. You posting links that you want to share with others, and getting links that would be of value to you. You connecting with not only your friends and “people you don’t know” (that’s what your friend The Whiner would say), but your friends, potential clients, experts in your field (or other fields), your peers, etc. You taking 140 characters and making them mean something, forming a connection to both others as well as creating a more well-rounded picture of yourself.
My Coach (@intandem) said it best: “Use it to get others to know, like & trust you; you get to know, like & trust others. I tweet on a mixture of personal, business and marketing topics so ppl can get a 360 view of me. Also offer answers to be helpful.” Wil Wheaton also sums it up by saying:
Twitter didn’t have to be about What are you doing? but could be about What’s on your mind right now? It was, as the saying goes, a light bulb moment for me, and I started using Twitter for off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts that didn’t warrant their own post here on my blog.
In order to both give & receive some value out of this weird thing, I make sure to tweet about:
- my personal stuff (“Feeling really overwhelmed by all the things I “have” to do. Seems like a big, fat, juicy, oily, cheesy, crunchy list is in order”)
- links that I find personally interesting (“Anyone have over $100 to hear Carol Brady sing?: http://tinyurl.com/57nmtn“)
- links that I find professionally interesting (“My word for 2009 is FOCUS. What’s yours? http://is.gd/f0r6“)
- responding to other’s tweets (“@sweetblogomine What’s sriracha? Sounds like someone that wears fancy pants would eat that.”)
- promoting my blog (“My 30th Year, reflected upon on my 31st birthday: http://is.gd/fRzX One of my most personal posts, for sure”)
- promoting my business (“Updated my site! You can now find packages & pricing (Services), an updated landing & FAQ page, & a new Testimonials page! http://is.gd/becg“)
- retweeting other’s tweets that I find interesting (“RT @problogger Post by @Jimconnolly about affects of highly photoshopping avatars: http://tinyurl.com/97xhxv – via @LyricalVenus“)
Here are some Twitter Basics & Tips that I got from my friend who got me to join:
- If you want to put a short link in your post, you can make it small through is.gd. I have it on my toolbar, so I just click it when I’m on a page, and it makes a very short link to that page.
- To search for types of people you might want to follow, you can use:
- Twellow
- Mr Tweet
- Twitter Grader (enter your own name & it’ll bring up people like you on the bottom of the page. You can also use the Twitter Elite in the site to find The Big Guys)
- Twitter Search (you can also use this to check your own name & see if you’ve missed any @s as well as using it to find specific search terms)
- I also found these posts to be helpful:
- Twitter Tips – Tools for your Tweets
- Twitter Tips for 35 Twitter Users
- Ten Top Twitter Tips
- Twictionary – a dictionary for Twitter (although in all honesty, you just have to know what “@”, “RT”, “#”, “tweet”, & “follow” mean/do)
Just know this: Whatever you do, do not answer the question, “What are you doing?”, which is what Twitter asks above the box that you post your tweet in (yes, your 140-character Twitter post is called a “tweet”). Nobody cares unless you’re someplace, or doing something, awesome. There is nothing worse that a profile whose tweets consist of “Eating a turkey sandwich”, “Watching Baywatch” and “Going to bed. Night twiends!” The only thing that’s worse is a profile of an obvious spammer, who only tweets links to www.makemoneyquickyoulazyschmuck.com. Twitter is really there to connect with other people, & if I don’t see any @s or any links or any questions I would think you’re just there to promote yourself (=spam) or hear yourself “talk”.
Now that you’re a twexpert (see how this affects you? It’s a disease) please make sure that you follow me, and leave me a comment below (or @ me if you got the hang of things) so that I can make sure that I follow ya back!
May the tweet be with you!*
*That was for Luke. I figured a Star Wars quote would stop him from making fun of Twitter again. It’s also a dis back to him because Star Wars is for nerds. Thankfully, he likes when I make fun of him.
February 7th, 2009 at 7:38 am
First to comment! Hurray for me!
Thanks, Michelle, for reminding me what I said. I've been less than pleased with my twitter experience lately. I tweet, but then feel ignored because no one replies (or maybe I will get one reply). However, reading your post I also realize I have been guilty of non-interesting tweeting (good night twitterverse), and as a typical introvert, I like to "listen" (ie read tweets) more than I like to "talk" (post tweets). How can I expect anyone to reply when they really don't know me or what I think? So once again I find myself needing to walk my talk and basically "show up" on twitter. One thing I have found twitter really good for is that it helps me identify when I am not walking my talk and being authentic. I've been caught out several times now (in a good way).
So I take it all back: my twitter experience so far has been just what I needed for it to be!
BTW it's really really flattering to see my own words in your blog post. Yup, I think you are my biggest fan. That means a lot to me.
February 7th, 2009 at 10:50 am
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February 7th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Hehe. @LyricalVenus of your RT example here! My husband thinks Twitter is stupid too, but I've been telling him about enough cool connections I've made, and also that several of his favorite Star Trek actors are on there, and I think he's starting to crack!
February 8th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Joanne – I'm your biggest fan?! Well that must be because not enough people know about you yet. You're a fantastic coach & I know that there are many fans in your future!
I loved how insightful your comment was – thanks for sharing so much of yourself! What you told me about Twitter was really what started me off and running, and showed me how to not only use the site but enjoy using it as well. Keep @ing & I know you'll start feeling more included in the twuniverse!
Heather – Thanks for commenting & for making me feel like I'm not the only one whose nerdy husband makes fun of her for using Twitter! If you live near Manhattan and want to get out of seeing the new Star Trek movie, we should hook our hubbies up….
February 8th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Ah, sadly I am all the way out in Iowa, but you are definitely not the only one!
You blog is really neat!
February 8th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Oh boo! I told Luke's best friend that it was his responsibility to see Star Trek with him, and he didn't take the bait. I don't remember writing that in my vows though…..:)
Thanks, Heather! Please keep reading & commenting – it means so much to me. Love that we've connected on Twitter too!
February 10th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Great post Michelle – very helpful (oh and fantastic illustration too lol!)
I will definitely be checking those links out – Twitter seems to have so much associated "stuff" that I really have no idea about yet! I'd like to add something to your list of Twitter posts too – I love the random inspirational quotes!
February 10th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Great suggestion, Angie! I actually got a huge amount of followers because I posted a quote that was RTed by everyone & their Mom. I think quotes are the most universal tweets.
And duh – the illustration on this post is better than the post itself!
February 18th, 2009 at 1:39 am
Hey! Star Wars is not for nerds! It's for geeks.
Love the post. Great information to use and apply
So you really don't want to know what I'm having for lunch.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:37 am
Thanks Celina!
I only want to know what you're having for lunch if you'll make some for me, too!
I think Star Wars is for both nerds AND geeks. Probably dweebs and dorks too. Not that there's anything wrong with that….
August 31st, 2009 at 9:12 am
The reason I feel led to comment on this (very old) post on your blog (that I have just today happily discovered via twitter-induced websurfing) is because STAR WARS Episode I is currently playing on my television, as requested by my 4-year-old. Are you calling my kid a geek?
You've got a lovely blog, anyway.
@TerriFischer
August 31st, 2009 at 9:37 am
No, I'm not calling your kid a geek, Terri, but I am calling your kid a nerd. A nerd is, for some reason in my head, way better than a geek. A geek, in my head, is someone that's really book smart & has no social skills. A nerd is intelligent but also has the possibility to be cute & funny & socially acceptable. I married a nerd & don't regret it for a second. He's adorable when he talks about Batman! I'm sure that your 4 yr old is also adorable talking about Death Stars & the like. Go nerds!
September 1st, 2009 at 4:55 am
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