To Tweet, or not to Tweet

 

So since I’ve engaged myself into twitter on Oct 17th, 2008, 432 updates ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Now 272 follows and 200 followers later, I am part of something bigger than I could have ever imagined. Has it changed my life, has it made me smarter? Probably not, but it has given me an inside to, not one, but several communities where I don’t have to look far for information. This is an avant garde community of social media whiz’s, computer geeks, marketeers and genuinly nice people who like to pay-it-forward. The Internet has grown too large for anyone person or company to conceivably understand or get a grip on, not even Google, well maybe Google. Tools like Twitter help us to have a much larger grasp. Now it’s not just me watching for new trends and informative sites but I have a community of 200 sets of eyes watching and sharing – for FREE!!!

In the Beginning

First ever tweet

Look at me so young, so impressionable yet already trying to spread myself on the vast social network. The idea is to spread yourself, get your name and/or brand all the exposure you can, and become part of the network. With combined Social Media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blip and WordPress.com I have indeed become part of many social networks. 

Local Tweeps Only

@solop the local hero

 

Originally I decided I only needed to find local twitter users to grow my network within my hometown community. Here is an example twituation where I was particularly upset that my furnace had gone out in the middle of winter. (I later erased the Tweet because of the language I was using at the time.) In response to my fowl tweet, @Solop a local college professor, media political consultant and all around good guy came to my rescue with the above bit of advice. It wasn’t a long term solution but the response to my cry was far beyond what I expected at 10:00 at night. Wow, immediate response to a problem! For me it was networking at its best. I could go on about the theater tickets I was able to get at a sold out show, or the news I learned before the morning paper came out, but you get the idea. It brings you closer to the goings on in your community.

World at Large

So it wasn’t long before I realized the power of Twitter and all the followers I had been passing up, I was now slowly adding to my twippertoire. Basically I developed rules for followers. 

1. Must have bio info and place of origin filled.
2. Must have avater picture – not default Twitter icon.
3. Must have something in common.
4. Must not be trying to directly sell me something.

I’m sure I’ve already broken some of these rules and will eventually decide that 200 is not enough, just like I did when I got 100.

The World just Got Smaller

Hi, mikerdzign.
The_Best_Job is now following your updates on Twitter.
http://twitter.com/The_Best_Job

The Best Job follow

Upon hearing about the Best Job ever Queensland Island contest on the radio I quickly went to tweet about it as something cool worth tweeting about. Later that day I was followed by the promoters of the contest. Three steps to direct contact:

1. Heard about it on traditional media.
2. Tweeted it to my, mostly, local community 
3. Searched by, found and followed by the campaign. 

It is clear the power of this application to get closer to your audience if used correctly and, in addition to, (not replacing) traditional forms of advertising. 

So in closing I would say yes, if you want to participate, learn, grow and engage with a growing audience of participants world-wide then undoubtedly Yes! Get involved. If you want to just get on and promote your product, or not tweet and just listen in, I would say no, it’s not for you. It’s about transparency, being real and paying-it-forward, and yes it’s about what you ate this morning too.