Dipping your Toes into the @Twitter Stream
A Guide to Social Media for the Rest of Us
If I hear one more person say, “I just don’t get Twitter” I’m going to… scream, jump off a cliff, blow up their Facebook page…I don’t know what. As a web designer, early adopter and probable Twitter addict, I’ve heard this sentiment from clients, friends, family for years now.
I get it. Twitter is not immediately intuitive. When you first join, it is either bewildering or seems like a vast echo chamber where not much is going on. Before I give you another set of How-To instructions, let me tell you why — with some patience and some practice — Twitter will become your favorite social network.
But, but — I’m just a regular person…
You’ve heard the buzz around Twitter and you may be convinced of its usefulness for brands or entrepreneurs, but you — just a regular person with “a real life” — don’t get what all the buzz is about.
You don’t need to “Build your Personal Brand,” “Reach Influencers,” or “Amplify your Message.” You are the technology equivalent of what my teenagers call a NARP — non-athletic regular person.
You’re just a regular person with no burning message or need to be a social media guru. Why should you Twitter?
Short answer: Twitter is fun!
Longer answer: Keep Reading!
- Are you a news or political junkie? Do you wish you had more time to read the newspaper? Do you like being “in the know” — knowing what’s going on in the world, or just your neighborhood?
- Are you a “blue-state” person living in a “red state”? Do you sometimes wonder what actually IS wrong with Kansas?
- Maybe you’re a pop culture aficionado? Do you watch Entertainment Tonight or read People magazine regularly or just at the hair dresser?
- What would you do if you had the chance to communicate with your superstar idol?
- Maybe you’re a Mom who sometimes wonders if you’re out of touch or doing it wrong? You can’t be the only one whose kid won’t eat anything other than white foods, can you?
- Do you scream and curse at the TV while watching sports? Are you just bursting to talk with someone about last night’s Grey’s Anatomy?
- Do you want/need to track trends so you can be personable on dates? make better stock picks? be fashionably up to date?
These are all great reasons to be on Twitter. I’ve been on Twitter since 2009 and have used it for pretty much all of these reasons (ok, not the People magazine one or the stock tips). As a political junkie, I love using Twitter during election season to live-blog the debates with other like-minded geeks. On Sundays during #Saints games, and pretty much nightly during #Nats games, my Twitter stream blows up with folks cheering, cursing, and all manner in-between.
The real power of Twitter lies in Connection.
Through Twitter, I have met and connected with people both local and far-flung whom I never would have met otherwise. Two of my favorite people (on Twitter and in real life) — Melanie @Sisarina and Lauree @SimplyLeap — I met through TweetUps organized by Melanie in DC. These women are positive, energetic, great friends and role models and give amazing hugs!
A highlight of my Twitter life was having Terri Troncale of the New Orleans Times-Picayune send me Gold Brick Eggs at Easter time. Somehow I managed to reach 40-something years old and not realize these were only available in South Louisiana. I sent out a Tweet about missing them and she answered. And acted. Southern hospitality, Twitter style.
Twitter was how I found out that Michael Jackson had died. I was in an airport on my way overseas when speculation came on the TV news. But, I had already learned about it on Twitter. Less fun, given, but informative. And also, a place to share in the news and the collective grief with other 80s-babies.
Good for you, you might be saying to yourself. But I’m on Facebook and that is plenty for me.
Here’s another secret: Twitter is way more interesting than Facebook!
I admit it. I have a lot more fun on Twitter than I do on Facebook. I will keep my Facebook because I have many friends and family on it and I enjoy seeing their photos and keeping up with their lives. But I am less engaged. And less — interested?
This may seem counter-intuitive. You would think that knowing people and having established personal (or even online) relationships with them would make Facebook more interesting and compelling. User numbers suggest this may be true.
But for me, my Twitter stream is much more engaging, stronger, and yes, more interesting.
I have wondered whether it is because of the asymmetrical nature of Twitter (i.e., you don’t have to follow back to be polite), the anonymous or virtual nature (you can follow strangers and/or celebrities), or the nature of the stream itself.
Correct Answer: All of the above. No doubt.
The Power of Context
What makes Twitter interesting and also likely befuddles new users is the complexity of context.
Because Tweets go by in a a stream, they require context. Context is built by both the stream itself and your own context. Each discrete tweet reflects back on the reader. You find it interesting, useful, entertaining or otherwise based on your experience.
Twitter doesn’t require you to have the full context — to know anything about the Tweeter. Instead the writer must craft the tweet to be understood without a great deal of context or relationship. A well-crafted or frequently-retweeted Tweet makes it easy for the reader to place it in his/her own context.
To take a sports example, say you are Tweeting about your disappointment in the Philadelphia Eagles’ off-season moves. I don’t care whatsoever about the Eagles (one of my least favorite teams, sorry!) BUT I get what you’re saying about the Eagles because it relates to my experience as a Saints fan. So your tweet has to make sense in my context as well as in some universal context.
A typical Facebook post might say, “Congrats to Matt for winning the national championship game.” The comments will all be “Congrats, Matt... great job, etc.” In order to care about this, I have to know Matt, know his role and appreciate the championship team. I need a narrow context rather than a universal one.
That may seem narcissistic. Or callous. But the beauty of Twitter is that it goes by fast enough that you don’t have to ask yourself for every single post, “Why do I care about this?” Care or don’t care, no matter. You get to choose what piques your interest or strikes your fancy. And if nothing does, keep moving. Ah, the refreshing stream.
But, I still don’t get it…
But, but… you say, “I have a @Twitter and I just don’t have anything to say and my feed is just NOT that interesting.” Or instead, “Ok, I’ve joined Twitter and I still don’t get it.”
Take the time to get to Critical Mass
It’s not that the learning curve on Twitter is difficult. It’s more that the interest curve or utility curve is more gradual than other forms of Social Media. In other words, it takes some time and a little bit of work before Twitter becomes interesting or useful. I call it Critical Mass.
What nobody tells you is: Twitter only becomes interesting after you have followed some number of people, have a minimum number of followers AND have engaged in some meaningful way. Do I have a metric for what that number is? No. Does this mean you need to have 10,000 followers? No.
Intuition and experience tell me this number — critical mass for Twitter — is somewhere between 250–500 accounts to follow.
Following fewer than 100 accounts means your Twitter stream is not very active and is probably dominated by a few loud (frequent & repetitive) voices. Having few followers means you aren’t connecting, no one is listening and your reach and engagement level is pretty low. No one is having any fun!
What to Do?
Well, duh…go out & follow more people. And subsequently, get more followers. Make it a goal to follow a few new people every day or every few days. Engage, connect. I planned to write a list of tips & strategies for new users, but these folks have already covered it —
These are great lists and tips. My tips are less “List of Top Ten Things” and more qualitative, and perhaps subjective, advice:
- Follow a variety of people — individuals & companies — across disciplines and interests. Do not get locked into a single point of view or subject — whether politics, branding strategy or cause — or your Twitter feed will get repetitive and boring quickly. For example, my personal feed @lpsrocks is a broad & eclectic mix of sports (Saints, Nats, whatever else), politics, branding & web design, cancer, NOLA, food, whatever. It is diverse and lively. On the other hand, my feed for my web design business @lpsweb focuses on web and graphic design, IT, and branding. While it provides some great content and information, it tends to be more “social media experts” and companies tweeting scheduled links and marketing jargon, and fewer real people engaging. As such, it has a certain sameness and vanilla quality. I am working to change this.
- Engage. Participate in both personal and subject matter discussions. Retweet (RT), reply, participate in Twitter discussions/chats. For example, I used to play #TweetthatTune with a group every night just for fun. I’ve participated in scheduled Tweet chats with other cancer survivors, bloggers, and web designers. I regularly liveTweet #Saints and #Nats games, meet other fans online and pickup followers along the way.
- Add a Twitter Photo & Bio. This is mentioned in the above links, but it is worth repeating. Nobody likes to follow an egg. Find a photo or graphic to use even if only as a placeholder until you can get a better one. Write a sentence or two that describes you in your bio.
- Find interesting people to Follow. Sounds straightforward, but often this is the most perplexing step for new Twitter users. Search Twitter for common interests, your location, or a cause you care about. Once you find some interesting people, look at who they are following or who follows them. Look at their Twitter Lists (an underused and not-well-known feature of Twitter).
- Use Twitter Lists. While Lists may seem like an advanced feature out of place in an article directed towards newbies & NARP(s), they are actually a particularly useful tool for new people. Twitter Lists are simply a curated list of Twitter accounts that you can create (e.g., Saints players & fans). You can also subscribe to/follow Lists created by another user (@ninatypewriter has curated >500 Lists of journalists & people to follow for various topics). A little known tidbit is that you can add someone (a Twitter account) to a List without actually following them. This is useful if you are trying to follow a lot of people at one time and run into Twitter limits (based on follower/following ratios).
Now Go Forth & Tweet
Give me a shout @lpsrocks if you have questions, want to say hi or need recommendations for folks to follow! Relax, pour yourself a thimble of your favorite beverage & get started! Remember, the point of social media is to Connect, but most importantly:
