I get weekly, sometimes daily, emails from the Columbia Journalism Review. I don’t read every single article they send, because I would never get anything accomplished; however, I did read this article/post the other day and found it intriguing.
I don’t know much about Twitter and honestly don’t think I have time to “tweet” everyday. And quite frankly, I am not really sure I want to know what all my friends are doing at any given point during the day. But I find the “twit-phase” or whatever you want to call it fascinating.
After reading the above article/post, I came up with a list of “Twit-ceptable” things you might want to know, if you’re a “tweeter.”
1. Tweet as much as you like during the day. There’s no set limit on the number of tweets you should post.
2. Be creative with the 140 limit of characters you can post.
3. Don’t send out multiple “link only” tweets. Sure, it can be a great marketing base, but try to be more personable than just link after link.
4. Use twitter for simple communication, not lengthy conversations.
5. Keep in mind that not everyone is on Twitter nor do they want to be.
6. Don’t obsess about tweeting…Tweet if you can, but don’t stress if you can’t.
7. Don’t feel hurt if your friends don’t chirp back to your tweets. They probably aren’t mad at you…maybe they are actually partaking in face-to-face communication with someone.
8. Try to make your “tweets” worthy of your reader’s time. Do they really need to know that your dog has fleas?
Now, since I’m not an expert on Twitter…as I don’t even have a Twitter account, I know I am missing information and important facts about Twitter…so please enlighten me by sharing how you use Twitter and what your thoughts are regarding this new phenomenon of tweeting.
March 6th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Laura, your advice is so good, you had me fooled into thinking you used Twitter yourself! I resisted trying Twitter for some time, dismissing it as a toy or as a tiny subset of what Facebook does. But I finally decided that the only way to understand was to give it a try. Now I feel it’s opened an important new form of communication which churches must not ignore. I suppose I have become somewhat obsessed with it, as much of my blogging lately is about Twitter.
One fascinating aspect of Twitter is that it’s not necessarily about your friends and what they are doing. It is about anyone you are interested in learning from, and what they are thinking. This is because unlike Facebook in which all friendships are two-way, Twitter is composed of one-way connections. (Of course it can be two-way with two such connections.)
I encourage you to give it a try! There’s nothing like first-hand experience.
March 6th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Awww… I never really saw it as a way to learn something from someone. Good point! Maybe when I get a few spare minutes I will join the Twitter crowd and perhaps tweet a little (and learn something)!
Yesterday on CnnMoney.com, I read that Facebook is launching real time web capabilities, much like Twitter. I suppose they are trying to keep up with this new phase.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/gigaom/big-tech/2009_03_04_twitter_vs_facebook_real_time_web.html
March 6th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I use Facebook and look forward to the new features. It sound like you’ll probably be able to read status updates of celebrities, which people like doing on Twitter. But what about ordinary folk like you or me? Since Facebook relationships are reciprocal, I can post updates there knowing exactly who my audience is, which offers a certain amount of safety (probably illusory, but commonly assumed). Whereas with Twitter’s asymmetric relationships, I could learn from what you have to say without any obligation on your part to relate to me.
Anyway Laura, I’m happy my first comment helped you!
I am posting a series on how to get started on Twitter, sharing some things I’ve learned: http://jonreid.blogs.com/oneanother/2009/03/getting-started-on-twitter.html
March 9th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
I now have a Twitter account: LauraBurrus (took your advice on creating a name.)
I am following 7.
I had 3 followers. One flew away…so now I have 2.
We'll see where this goes.
March 13th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Great post and comments. My personal pet peeve is when people use twitter as email. Important information that needs to be handled is not best sent through twitter. Yes it’s a social platform. But businesses are incorporating twitter as a part of their functionality. And important details are best sent through email, not twitter. Great post.
March 13th, 2009 at 11:49 am
So…I’ve been hearing about this twitter thing off and on. I wasn’t really sure what it was so after doing a little reading on this blog I decided to check it out. I don’t have a phone with a data plan, so I’m glad that I can update and receive updates via text messages.
I also really like the ability to filter who’s updates I receive to my phone and block off certain times to not receive messages. I like being able to be connected, but having choice in the matter is also really important as well.
Thanks for sharing this Laura.
April 27th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
I don't know what you think of Rick Warren, but I heard him talk last week and he said very humbly, "I can learn something from everyone if I take the time." I think that is so true and if we have the intent to try to learn who God is through others we will grow immensly in our walks…
April 22nd, 2010 at 3:20 am
Jon, I really like what you say about Twitter –that one of its strengths is about learning about and from others. One of the dangers of social media is while it encourages and promotes connection it also encourages "tribalism"– just connecting and talking with people who think like me. I think it is very important to "listen" to what others who differ from me in their beliefs etc. are saying in our world, if we are to learn to live together. Twitter can be a great tool to promote understanding between people and cultures but only if we "listen in" at least as much as we tweet.