Back on July 16th I wrote The Twitter Monologue. It started out as a joke, but eventually became a post on my serious disenchantment with Twitter. I had only been using Twitter for about two months when I engaged in The Twitter Monologue…so it only seems fair that almost five months into using Twitter I provide an update.
I was wrong about Twitter. There I said it. And it’s not hard to admit.
Originally I stated that Twitter “offered minimal value to me either on a personal level or as a Marketer (except to pimp my blog).” Wow, I was REALLY wrong there!
So what happened?
First, there was one person who insisted that there was indeed conversation on Twitter and set out to prove it to me. We had our spats (in jest, of course!), we antagonized each other (Twitter vs. Plurk), and she shared her friends with me (albeit to gang up and wear their protest berets). But after all that, I consider a Lisa Dilg (@pprlisa) a friend and I am thankful to her for digging in her heels to prove a point and a valuable one at that!
Second, the other interesting thing was that a lot of the folks who I met on Plurk would make their way over to Twitter (usually due to some technical issue) where we would commence our conversations (although not threaded and hard to keep up with). Part of me wonders if folks not on Plurk enjoyed seeing the conversation and banter back on Twitter.
Third, I started following more (and different) people and just starting asking simple questions like ‘how are you?’ and ‘what are you working on?’ Sometimes a simple question is all it takes.
Fourth, I started sharing parts of my life. I still haven’t ventured into ‘diary’ mode, but I started sharing more of myself and tried having a bit of fun from time-to-time (okay, maybe a bit too much fun on occasion).
And finally, I got to meet a lot of people on Twitter face-to-face. It’s simply amazing to watch Twitter come to life!
What’s the lesson to be learned here for marketers and companies who want to utilize Twitter as part of their social media strategy?
- Listen (not just for a day or week, but for months)
- Respect the time it takes to acclimate (patience is a virtue!)
- Share before you take
- Engage & add value to the conversation
- Be human
- Be transparent
- Be honest
- Embrace the community (on- and off-line)
- Respect the influencers
That’s just my list. Can you offer any other lessons or best practices for utilizing Twitter?
21 responses so far ↓
1 ethnicomm // Sep 15, 2008 at 8:54 am
I would add… have faith in the people that follow you and follow them back to expand your learning (and sharing) beyond your area of expertise.
2 Sonny Gill // Sep 15, 2008 at 9:13 am
Nice follow up, Beth.
It’s good to hear your openness to Twitter (saw it firsthand as you began to utilize it more).
With any ‘new’ service, there’s a learning curve and many fail to even understand that. You showed your willingness to take a bit of time to understand what Twitter is truly about & basically ran with it; even if it sometimes requires thought provoking debates to see that.
3 Rob Mills // Sep 15, 2008 at 10:12 am
Excellent points Beth.
Twitter can be a firehose of information. Fortunately with the search capability you can filter out the “noise” and find real gems in the tweets.
For example to find out what people are saying about you or your brand use http://search.twitter.com Search for your brand or niche keywords. Join in the conversations and follow any person who looks interesting.
4 mack collier // Sep 15, 2008 at 11:07 am
Beth this sounds very similar to my early days on Twitter. Started out following about 3 dozen people and mainly using the site to pimp my new blog posts. That led to almost no interaction and little traffic, so I assumed Twitter was crap, and left it.
Then in December of last year I completely changed how I use it, and went more into participating mode, and out of ‘broadcasting’ mode. It’s been a GREAT personal and professional resource since then. I still have to be careful about following too many people, because I like to be able to actually connect with people there, instead of being overwhelming by a rush of tweets.
Great update Beth!
5 Alan Wolk // Sep 15, 2008 at 11:15 am
If you haven’t read this article from the New York Times Sunday magazine yet, you definitely should. It’s a very interesting social science view of Twitter and the theory of “ambient intimacy” which says (in a nutshell) that like a pointillist painting, all our tweets, taken over time, add up to a picture of our lives.
NB: It’s a fairly lengthy article, but quite readable. http://is.gd/2glE
6 Marc Meyer // Sep 15, 2008 at 11:22 am
@Mack, I think I might have even challenged you on the value of Twitter way back when as well-He now says with boo-coo followers.
@Beth You used to be very “Pro Plurk” Are you still? and if you are, how do you balance between both, if you do?
7 pprlisa // Sep 15, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Awwwwww Beth - you’re the best
So happy we connected - it has been fun getting to know you and I really have appreciated your openness to listen and give Twitter another try. I know I have given you a tough time in jest and am happy you have such a great sense of humor about it.
I know “my” friends to whom you refer have loved getting to know you as well and think you are great!!
Now, can we fit you with a beret yet?
heehee
Thanks for this,
Lisa
8 Veronica Giggey // Sep 15, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Hey Beth,
I can’t remember who said this, but it’s very true “twitter is a place where you get as much out as you put in.” It really is the best way to explain to someone why it takes time to see the value.
9 Beth Harte // Sep 15, 2008 at 8:13 pm
@ethnicomm, Faith in experience beyond your own is a wonderful addition, thank you!
@SonnyGill, I kept calling it my ‘evil plot’ to bring conversation to Twitter…but I like the way you phrased it better!
@RobMills, Twitter Search is a powerful tool beyond just trying to see what tweets you may have missed. And the fact that you can create an RSS feed for brand or niche keywords makes it not only powerful but invaluable for brand monitoring and management.
@MackCollier, We connected on Twitter! You were one of the first people I actually had a ‘conversation’ with on Twitter (about my dog and her ‘accidental’ love). Since then, I’ve lost count of how many times we connected on Twitter.
But, you were right! I guess I just needed to experience it.
@AlanWolk, thanks for sharing the article, it’s great. I love this: “It’s like I can distantly read everyone’s mind,” Haley went on to say. “… I feel like I’m getting to something raw about my friends. It’s like I’ve got this heads-up display for them.” Can you imagine the power that could be to a company and it’s customers? And yet, they resist.
@MarcMeyer, Yes! I am still a Plurk Evangelist. I really like the threaded conversations and the community there. I try to use Plurk and Twitter the same amount in any given day…but it really depends on the day.
@pprlisa, it’s been great getting to know you! You’re sense of humor is amazing and I really do appreciate you showing me the ‘Twitter light.’
@VeronicaGiggey, well whoever said it was very smart indeed. It does take time…and like @ethnicomm said, faith in the people that follow you.
10 Don Thorp // Sep 15, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Beth, that was a great post and sums up a lot of what I feel about using Twitter. Until you’re there and participate, you can’t understand they why.
As a loyal @pprlisa beret wearer, I count myself lucky that you stayed with us.
11 Beth Harte // Sep 15, 2008 at 8:51 pm
@DonThorpe, thanks! It’s been a pleasure getting to know you and all the beret wearers!
[people have no clue what we are talking about and most likely think we are nuts!] Looking forward to much more tweeting.
12 DebInDenver // Sep 16, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Great follow-up Beth! I think the challenge for all of us- individuals and companies alike- is keeping up with so many different forums. Your advice on maximizing your time on Twitter really applies to any social network we are participating in- the more time you spend there and participate in the ways you outline help companies do more than customer service they can build a community.
I do have a question though, does this new found appreciation for Twitter influence how much time you spend on it, relative to other sites?
13 Beth Harte // Sep 17, 2008 at 1:28 pm
@DebinDenver, you are right the social media applications are indeed time suckers. But to your point companies will only get out of it what they put in into it. Having one-off emails, calls or in person meetings really helps because then the tools become a platform for quick conversations with folks. For people that you only know online, it takes a lot longer to build up that relationship.
To answer your question, I spend more time on Plurk than Twitter because I like the threaded conversations. But I spend most of my SM time on those two applications. Facebook and FriendFeed might get an hour of my time a week…if that.
14 annie // Sep 20, 2008 at 9:06 pm
ackkkkkkkkk!!! The sky is falling!!!!! Welcome to the twitterverse. You will never sleep again:)
15 Kim Wood // Sep 21, 2008 at 9:09 am
I’m happy I got to meet you IRL, now getting to know you via Twitter
My Twitter motto: I’m just ME !
I’m saying… Plurk? Why Plurk? lol
16 Beth Harte // Sep 21, 2008 at 11:42 pm
@Annie, I blame you too.
You are a bad influence…
@KimWood, it was great to meet you too! Have enjoyed our tweets and will see you at the next Tweet Up! (And I know you are on Plurk, don’t try to hide it!)
17 Rob Blatt // Sep 24, 2008 at 8:09 am
I’m late to the party, hard to catch up after Podcamps.
Twitter is a conversation, not a broadcast medium.
18 Beth Harte // Sep 24, 2008 at 2:01 pm
@RobBlatt, short & sweet…love it.
Looks like PodCamp Montreal was a great event. I enjoyed your videos and on-the-spot tweets.
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