Twitter Strategy

in Me with 11 Comments written by

Over the weekend I was greeted by a new twitter friend. His name is Ryan Arthur Post, but you might find him in the twitter world as @ryanmpost. I was excited to see him on the twitterwideweb. Why? Because I have a man crush on him? Because I make money for every person that I refer to twitter? Because I want more friends? All those answers could be true, but there is one that stands out to me the most, I like to keep up with what my friends are doing.

“Tell me how to use this thing” seems like the common response to new users of new technology.
I can remember many times people asking me to teach them how to use photoshop, final cut, blogging, facebook, etc…My common response is “figure it out.” But I like to help other people learn how to do things and give them as much info that I know as I can. But, that was the way I had to learn, I had to figure it out and that is the best way for you to learn. But with twitter becoming very very popular, more and more non-technologically advanced people are joining its ranks. Now you do not have to understand CSS or java script to be a twitter user. In all honesty you parents could use twitter. But it seems that many people are either overwhelmed by twitter or they just do not get what it is all about. What is encouraging is I am hearing less about people criticizing twitter by saying “I do not want to hear about you sitting on your coach” to “I do not have anything to say.” It use to be that it was a very narcissistic application (and it still can be) but people are starting to see that twitter is less about what you are eating for dinner, and more about what you have to say.

Do you have a twitter strategy? Usually when I talk to people about twitter, I usually ask how they use it or how would they use twitter? It took me a couple of months to even figure out how it works and what I would say. One big advancement for me was the third party applications like tweetie and seesmic desktop. This changed the way I tweet. If you do not have a twitter strategy or methodology you will not be much of a twitter user. I see it all the time, people who do not really have a rhyme or reason do not stick around very long. And why would they? Twitter can be very pointless if you do not have any reason for using it. I like to use twitter to share things. Whether that is links to blog post or different questions, I like to engage in conversation and thoughts. As well, I like to follow others that can teach me more. This is my strategy that works for me, or at least the way that I use twitter.

What is your twitter strategy?
Or how/why do you tweet?

*Kyle

About Kyle Reed: I create websites, conversations, and ideas. Advocate for the 20 somethings. Looking to connect everyone to a mentor. I like my coffee black and my dog Jack. I currently live in Nashville and find whatever excuse I can to travel to St. Louis

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  • http://zackmoody.com zack

    I agree with what you have to say. For me, I am giving up twitter for a few weeks cause I easily find myself tweeting something stupid that should not have been tweeted. I am trying to figure out my "twitter strategy" because I don't want to tweet whats for dinner… So I am still looking for my strategy…

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/klreed189 Kyle Reed

    Sounds like you need a filter on your strategy. This is something that I struggle with as well. What is appropriate to say and what is not.
    You are right in taking some time away and re-evaluating what you have to say.

  • http://twitter.com/rynewiley @rynewiley

    i'm new to this whole twitter realm. not sure how i feel about it. but i will say i'm a selfish twitter user. i want to follow people that are smarter than me to hear their words and i want references to cool sites and free things. i do not care to say much. but i'm honest about this…so it is okay right?

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/BrettBarner Brett Barner

    Maybe I'm just an exception, but most of the people I know personally are on Facebook, and they do not see a reason to use the same type of service twice. Most of the people I interact with on Twitter are not people that I see regularly or have met in person. Most of the people that I am involved with outside of just online, are on Facebook. So my Twitter strategy of updates is more geared towards people who may not be as familiar with me or my family as they would on Facebook. Twitter has great potential that is not seen when you first look at it.

    Another strategy that I just started on my personal account (I have a personal @brettbarner and my blog's twitter account @godlysheep) is following everyone who follows me (just started the beginning of last week). My follower list has started to grow more steadily (up 50% in one week. But that's pretty easy when you're starting out with just 60 followers). With a greater following, it helps develop overall web presence.

    There's my 2 cents which is probably the actual face value.

  • http://www.twitter.com/joeslavich Joe Slavich

    First of all, as a person who can make decisions, I deserve the right to tweet what I would like to tweet. Many times you see complaints on twitter about other peoples tweets being annoying or the reciever not caring what the tweeter said ..(yes I said tweeter). A simple solution to this problem would be not to follow those whom you think are tweeting invaluable tweets. Not following=No complains. Its harsh but true. Now that Im done being a mean person, here is my strategy.

    IIf the tweet doesnt relate to 2/3rds of my followers than I probably shouldnt bother.

    I I know what youre thinking now. This rule is hard to apply when you want to tweet your activities or daily routine, in which case I would refer back to my first shpeal on tweeting what I want. But when it comes to sharing information, thoughts, discussion-I like to use that rule.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/klreed189 Kyle Reed

    Ya, It kind of sounds like an AA meeting for twitter. I am a selfish tweeter but I am honest and so it is ok.

    Just kidding, it is cool. Like I said, twitter means something different for everyone, including me. You use it to learn from others and get great links, nothing wrong with that.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/klreed189 Kyle Reed

    Good stuff. For me it use to be that facebook was more of a place that I connected, but i have really switched over mainly to twitter. It use to be facebook, but most of my friends are now on twitter as well and it seems easier to keep up with them that way.

    I like what you have to say about following others that follow you. I think that is very healthy because the tool of twitter is to create community and conversation and this can only be done if we are following each other. I think the question then is what happens when you hit 500 followers, how can you interact with all of them?

    But I do like the opportunity to meet people that I would never get to talk to or have conversation with. Kind of like what is happening here. We met and talk through twitter and blogs and I love that we are able to do that.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/klreed189 Kyle Reed

    Good point Joe. You are right, it is funny to here people complain about something and yet they keep following or coming back to a blog for more discussion.

    I do like also what you have to say about relating to your followers. It can be very easy to be more concerned about yourself and making yourself look good and not about having a conversation with your friends.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/BrettBarner Brett Barner

    I agree, I think twitter is easier to connect and keep up. I just wish more of my friends did so. (I guess I just need more geek friends like me. lol)

    Another thing that I've noticed myself doing is using Twitter (groups on tweetdeck & now Twitter lists) as a was of RSS feeds. Bloggers typically tweet their latest post soon after they posted it on their site, so I just follow the tweet to their site. (Which RTs, links, blog links, and connecting is starting to become more of my tweet strategy as opposed to just tweeting random stuff going on in my life.)

    You're also right that we are given the opportunity to meet and interact with people we never would have on Facebook. Good point!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/klreed189 Kyle Reed

    What is interesting about having twitter be an RSS reader is that it really is used that way. I have wanted to start to do that for others, the hard part is not letting it get bias towards someone else post, not being swayed by advertisement and payment to tweet about their post, and getting people to trust your opinion.
    I have started to do this a little bit with the twitter handle @communityninja but we just do not have the followers on that to make it worth while going out and reading post and then referring people to them.
    I do think it would be really cool to have a twitter user you followed that would just update you on blog post and why you should go and read them.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/BrettBarner Brett Barner

    That would be an awesome to have someone that wanders the internet in search of great posts to share. Good idea!