So I spent the weekend learning about Twitter. I've heard it all: "It's a time waster." "It is social media a writer must be a part of." "Don't be annoying." "It isn't all about you, promote your followers." ... Anyway, when there is something I don't understand, or even worse feel like I'm being left out because of my own ignorance, I kick into overdrive to figure it out. After boiling down the essentials, these are some basic things I've learned.
1) Just like blogging it is about building a community. In other words, it's not just about you.
2) While you might think everyone that follows you may be interested in what you had for breakfast, most of us are not.
3) Don't clog the twitter feed with personal conversations. That's what DM (direct messaging) is for.
4) If you can't say it in less than 140 characters, blog or Facebook. Following an ongoing conversation on the twitter feed is too much work.
5)Tweetdeck is an awesome way to see it all at once and participate effectively.
Here are some great resources:
Twitter Basics Part 1 [Stephanie's first part of a 3 part series.]
Just for laughs!
What bugs you about twitter? What's the worst tweet you've seen lately?
I think Twitter can be a great tool, but I agree, no one wants to hear about what you ate for breakfast, or getting-dressed-mishaps, or boring details of your day. I go there to find interesting info that I may not find on blogs or facebook. I get quick links and find out news of other authors I'm interested in.
ReplyDeleteI love Twitter for the idea that you can connect with people that you haven't talked to in a while, people in your area of business and interest and people that you never thought you could before. What I don't like is the spammy profiles that seem legit and are anything but!
ReplyDeleteAva
I'm still learning Twitter and find some advice very confusing. For example, I recently learned that some people get bent out of shape with direct messaging because they have the DM go straight to their phone. This makes no sense to me but now I am leery of DM'ing anybody. Thank you for the list of resources! I find Twitter very foreign and difficult to really understand.
ReplyDelete