May 5, 2011

Blogging Elsewhere: Early May 2011

Posted by deirdrereid under Associations & Nonprofits | Tags: , , , , , , |
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Next week I plan to go offline for an at-home retreat. I envision lots of reading, thinking, planning and creativity exercises. That means I’m finally digging into Patti Digh’s Creative is a Verb and some writing books that have been wooing me. I’m starting the week with a massage on Monday. Isn’t that how all retreats start? Life and work may get in the way, and if so, I’ll roll with it. But if I’m extra quiet, now you know why.

Betting can begin on whether I can abstain from Twitter. I’m dubious myself. For those who can’t get enough of me, that means you, mum, here are some of my recent posts for other blogs.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

Despite all the mentions on TV by hosts and anchors trying to sound hip, only 8% of online Americans use Twitter, according to The Pew Research Center. Only 53% of that group check Twitter once a week or more for updates. How do your members compare? Have you asked them lately where they go online to find news, information and conversation?  Read more at Avectra…

It’s Time to Award Innovation in Associations

Most association awards programs are pretty ho-hum, unless, of course, you’re a nominee. ASAE and state SAE award criteria are predictable. The recipients are usually active long-time members who have ‘paid their dues.’ Don’t get me wrong, the ASAE and SAE award recipients do deserve the recognition. But are awards like these sufficient? Why not use awards programs to inspire new ideas and practices in addition to recognizing the good work of others?  Read more at Avectra…

A New Association Position: Director of Member Engagement

Did you know last week was National Volunteer Week? It didn’t get much play in the association world. The lack of celebration might be the symptom of a larger issue: many associations don’t practice good volunteer management.  Read more at Avectra…

writer blogger copywriter raleigh association associations blogging

Image by Mike Licht, Notions Capital

How to Make Time for a “Small Bite” of Community

Social media pioneer Chris Brogan wrote earlier this year about online communities and “platform fatigue.” “We want to connect on maybe two or three networks tops. One or two of these will remain the “commons” services like Facebook or Twitter. The rest of people’s interactions are going to fall into smaller communities, often private or self-selected in some way.” Our time, attention span and dedication are limited. How much can we spare for a new online community if we’re already spending time on Facebook, Twitter and other sites? What about your members?  Read more at SmartBlog Insights…

Association Exercise: What If We Have a Shutdown?

A big sigh of relief was heard in Washington DC and beyond Friday night when Congress finally took action to avoid a government shutdown. But the whole debacle got me thinking, “what if?” What if your association shut down at the end of the week? What if it shut down not only inessential services, but everything? And taking this scenario one step further, what if it shut down not just temporarily, but forever?  Read more at Avectra…

“Ubercoolz” Member Testimonials

Member testimonials can be awfully predictable — a flattering repetition of membership brochure features. Yawn. Imagine instead that your association is the main event and your members are reviewers giving one-word testimonials as in this New Museum exhibition advertisement.  Read more at Avectra…

 

April 21, 2011

Fear of Being Stupid and Missing Out

Posted by deirdrereid under Life | Tags: , |
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Have you noticed a lot of talk lately about the fear of missing out or the fear of missing, well, everything?

Linda Holmes at NPR’s Monkeysee blog wrote about “the sad, beautiful fact that we’re all going to miss almost everything.” We won’t be as well-read as we wish. We won’t read every blog post in our Reader. We won’t see all the major critics’ top ten films of the year. We won’t get to every art museum or art-filled church on our bucket list. It just won’t happen. Can we cope?

I once had that acquisitive consuming desire to read all the classics. It was an ever expanding list fueled by books about reading that each had their own list. Even though I had a great education, I thought I had too many gaping holes in the classical period, so I embarked on my own education program. Yes, if it’s a Greek or Roman classic, I’ve likely read it. But I petered out on that plan after extending it into the medieval age. Looking back I’m glad I did it but it might explain why I was single for so long.

And then there was my presidential biography period. Inspired by C-SPAN2’s Book TV series (oh be quiet, I hear your snickering), I started with George and made it all the way to Millard before losing interest. Honestly, I’d do that one again, but in a more leisurely random manner. And, since I know you’re dying to ask me, George (#1) is my favorite president.

I’m sure I had other reading binges, but I’ve blocked them from my short-term memory, thankfully. I no longer have manias like these, even though I still have that itch to learn, I’m just not as obsessive about it.

Another aspect of this syndrome was described last month by Caterina Fake. She wrote about the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) she saw in the tweets of those at SXSW: what if I’m in the wrong place and missing a good party, session or cool person? “Social media has made us even more aware of the things we are missing out on.” How true that is! Yes, we can read the hashtag archive, but that only makes us hungrier to go next year, and what if we can’t? Oh, cursed fates.

Caterina added this fascinating bit, fascinating to me because I practice yoga and we think about these kind of woowoo things: “To be always filled with craving and desire (also called defilement, affliction) is one of the Three Poisons of Buddhism, called kilesa, and it makes you a slave.” Ouch. I read this and thought about Julie of the Julie/Julia project who cooked her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. When I read Julie’s book, Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, (how freaking obsessive is that?) I kept thinking, is that really (still) enjoyable?

People who are new to Twitter are often overwhelmed and turned off by its fire hose of information. I say, dip into the stream for a bit, float around, chat, share some stories and get out. Come back later in the day if you want another dip. Yeah, treasures and trash floated down the river while you were elsewhere. Relax, or as we say in yoga, chillax, there’s plenty more of it upstream. Enjoy your float.

well-read fear of missing out social media twitter reading

Photo by Alan Vernon

 

January 4, 2011

You’ve Got to Read This: January 4, 2011

Posted by deirdrereid under Good Reads | Tags: , , , , |
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I took a break during the holidays to enjoy time with my family and friends. I didn’t read much online but caught a few outstanding blog posts and conversations, particularly Joe Flower’s post and resulting comments about his decision to not renew his ASAE membership and a follow-up post by Maddie Grant. I’ll go into this topic further in my post this week at SmartBlog Insights.

The Blizzard of 2010 hit Massachusetts last week while I was visiting my family. My hometown got a foot and a half of snow so I spent several hours shoveling. Newark NJ mayor Cory Booker also spent many hours with his shovel and mobile Twitter application. Amanda Hite wrote about his tweets to constituents throughout the storm — a “new standard for politicians.”

blogging writing twitter association membership

flickr photo by Kenna Takahashi

I didn’t make official resolutions this year (yet) but I’m thinking about changes I want to make in my life: make my health a bigger daily priority instead of taking it for granted; and make more time to think, read books and nurture my creative side. I discovered some of Virginia Woolf’s resolutions, thanks to a tweet from Ayse. I especially like, “to fill my brain with remote books & habits.” What a cool glimpse into her head.

The Virginia Woolf tweet trail led me to Tracy Seeley sharing the LA Times’ list of the literary resolutions of 37 writers and readers. Here’s one I’ll steal for myself, “To converse more with my books. To write in the margins.” There are even more entertaining resolutions in the list. Do you know of any other historical or literary icon’s resolutions? I’m sure I could google this but rather hear about your favorites.

I bet many of you have at least thought about fitness or wellness in the last few days. “This year I’ll exercise at least 30 minutes a day,” or “This year I’ll get out into nature more.” If this sounds familiar, and if you live in North Carolina, you’ll love Joe Miller’s blog, Get Going NC. He writes about hiking, running, cycling and other fitness and wellness topics.

This is the best thing I’ve read lately on writing blog posts. Carol Tice gives 40 simple writing tweaks for better blog posts. Bookmark it and keep going back to it; I just did.

Ali Luke shares several good ideas on ProBlogger on how to improve your writing by getting outside the blogging bubble. Perhaps you’ll find some fodder there for New Year’s resolutions?

 

October 21, 2010

My Favorite Twitter Chats

Posted by deirdrereid under Web and Social Media | Tags: , , , |
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Did you know there’s an easy way to get together once a week with other professionals to talk shop for an hour without leaving your office? If you’re shy or tired, you can sit back and listen. No one will mind, in fact, they won’t even know. And if you can’t be there, you can read a full transcript later.

I’m talking about Twitter chats. There are 210 regularly scheduled chats, according to the Google table created by Robert Swanwick. Each Twitter chat has its own identifying hashtag, like #assnchat. Yes, I realize that hashtag may be considered “not safe for work,” but those of us in the association community have come to love it.

It’s easy to participate in a Twitter chat. I use my regular Twitter application (Hootsuite or Tweetdeck) to create a search column for the hashtag. You could also use TweetChat, Twebevent or Tweetgrid – applications specifically made for Twitter chats. Or you can follow chats using the search function in your mobile Twitter application.

Everyone who participates adds the chat hashtag to the end of their tweets. The search function in your application will only display tweets that include that hashtag.

If you miss a chat, transcripts can be found on What the Hashtag if you log in Tweetdoc (What the Hashtag no longer exists). Some chats are also archived on Twapper Keeper.

In a Twitter chat you will meet others who share your profession or interests, pick up new ideas and perspectives, share a laugh and sometimes find answers to problems. Here are some of my favorite chats. All times are for the Eastern Time zone.

Twitter chats as seen on Hootsuite

#blogchat – Sundays at 9:00 p.m.

This wildly popular chat, hosted by Mack Collier, can be overwhelming as several thousand tweets fly by in an hour. However, it’s worth dipping into as it covers all facets of blogging. Don’t expect to read all the tweets, just read what you can. The October schedule is posted on Mack’s blog.

#assnchat – Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m.

Started in the spring of 2009 by Jeff De Cagna for the association management community, #assnchat is moderated by Kiki L’Italien. Recent topics were online communities, HR and social media and diversity. Many ideas and friendships have blossomed from #assnchat. The hashtag is also used to mark blog posts of interest to the association community.

#fnichat – Mondays at 4:00 p.m.

I sat down for a recent Foodies’ Night In chat with a growling stomach only to learn the chat was about cheese.  Oh the humanity, talk about cravings! It’s a well-organized and friendly chat.

#wclw – Last Wednesday of the month at 11:30 a.m.

WordCount Last Wednesday is for independent journalists, bloggers and freelancers. Guest speakers discuss tech tools for writers, writing and freelance business issues. The last chat was about Facebook pages for writers which was a little too basic for me, but helpful for others participating.

#cmgrchat – Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m.

If you want to learn more about managing online communities, this new chat for community managers provides tips and advice. There are summaries of past chats, including topics like time management and handling negativity, on their blog.

#u30pro – Thursdays at 8:00 p.m.

Ok, you got me, I don’t participate in this one, I’m too old, but I’m all for spreading the love. If you’re under 30, join their community and receive a weekly update at David Spinks’ blog.

#eventprofs – Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. and Thursdays at 12:00 p.m.

I don’t participate in this chat for event professionals, but I know many who do. Recent discussions include overcoming barriers to conference participant engagement and making social an integral part of event strategy. The schedule is posted on their chat wiki.

If I’m lucky, I participate in one or two chats a week. I’d like to check out these chats someday:

  • #bakechat – Mondays at 9:00 p.m. – covers the professional and lay-person world of baking, pastry and desserts.
  • #writechat – Sundays at 3:00 p.m. – discusses writing and the writing life.
  • #foodchat – 3rd Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. – brings consumers together with agriculture to bridge the farm gate to the consumer plate.

Which Twitter chats do you enjoy?

 

October 9, 2010

Grumpy Gladwell: Why the Fuss?

Posted by deirdrereid under Web and Social Media | Tags: , |
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Malcolm Gladwell’s recent New Yorker piece, Small Change: Why the Revolution Won’t Be Tweeted, has inspired a lot of kvetching. Why do I need to add my thoughts? Especially when this post is more of a brain dump than a well thought out response? Because many people already have misperceptions about social media and those who use it. I guess I take it a bit personally. I cherish my Twitter communities. I don’t have grand expectations about Twitter — it is what it is, a place to chat, to give and receive. Yes, it can be a catalyst for change — personal, cultural or organizational. I get the sense that Gladwell assigns it roles that it is still growing into, like a teenager.

Gladwell writes, “Where activists were once defined by their causes, they are now defined by their tools.” Really? Who’s defining them that way? Oh, you are, so it must be true. No, activists are still defined by their causes. Tools are tools, nothing more. Tools can help enhance conversation, community, and, yes, causes, but they are still merely tools, used ineptly by some and to great effect by others.

Campaigns have always used the best tools available – theses nailed to doors, letters to the editor, handbills on street corners, flyers stapled to bulletin boards, neighborhood canvassing, phone trees, advertisements, and now Twitter and Facebook pages. There’s always been those who profited by the choice of tools, be it a printer or publisher, or now social media companies.

flickr photo by TouchTheStars09

Gladwell writes about the use of Twitter in Iran or Moldova when they were experiencing political unrest. No matter Twitter’s use or effect there, the buzz resulted in more people outside of those countries paying attention to their troubles. If you were on Twitter during the Iranian demonstrations, you saw an outbreak of green avatars (profile photos), and might have wondered why. If you didn’t read or listen to mainstream media, at least you’d have an inkling of what was happening in Iran if you were curious enough to learn more.

He noted that those involved in “high-risk activism” like the civil rights movement, were more likely to be personally connected to others in the movement. He says, “The kind of activism associated with social media isn’t like this at all. The platforms of social media are built around weak ties…weak ties seldom lead to high-risk activism.”

I agree that weak ties do not usually lead to getting involved in high-risk activism. But weak ties will lead to buzz, familiarity, forming opinions, or donations. I may not commit to real activism, but now I’m aware and may even do something low-risk.

Weak ties can grow into true friendships over time, if people make the effort to develop relationships whether by phone or meeting face-to-face. If not for Twitter, I never would have met the friends I have now in Raleigh. We met and broke the ice on Twitter; hanging out in real life cemented our friendships. I would have lost touch (because I am lousy at phone calls) with my friends in DC and California if not for Facebook. Social media enhances my world of relationships. Yes, I have more shallow friends than deep friends on those networks, but shallow can turn into deep if some effort is put into the relationship.

Gladwell does understand this, “There is strength in weak ties, …. Our acquaintances—not our friends—are our greatest source of new ideas and information.” That’s an important observation. Our Twitter friends bring us diverse perspectives and different resources than what we have around us. That’s one of the reasons Twitter is my most valuable professional development tool.

tweetup photo by flickr:BrentDPayne

However then he blows it by saying, “The evangelists of social media don’t understand this distinction; they seem to believe that a Facebook friend is the same as a real friend and that signing up for a donor registry in Silicon Valley today is activism in the same sense as sitting at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro in 1960.” Really? We don’t get that distinction? Who is he talking about? Does he really think that we don’t understand the difference between our types of relationships?

He then points out a critical factor about social media, its lateral network structure as opposed to the traditional vertical hierarchical structure of most organizations. But he adds, “Because networks don’t have a centralized leadership structure and clear lines of authority, they have real difficulty reaching consensus and setting goals. They can’t think strategically; they are chronically prone to conflict and error. How do you make difficult choices about tactics or strategy or philosophical direction when everyone has an equal say?”

Is this true? Or is this a Boomer way of looking at how new groups work? I don’t know yet. But I can imagine social networks that gather momentum, and spin off leadership groups who strategize off-line via web conferencing, and then leverage their network for action, some low-risk, some high-risk activism. Networks can be a feeder system, recruiting ground and publicity machine. There are more benefits than detriments to this type of organization. By working together, weak online ties can develop into strong personal ties; I’ve seen this happen countless time between association members.

His article, despite my issues with some of his points, is worth reading. It’ll make you think about social media in our society. In making comparisons, he brings us back to one of our history’s shining and troubling times – the civil rights movement. Why does he assume such grand ambitions for social media? It’s changing weekly; it’s barely in puberty. We’re all part of it and we’re still trying to figure it out. You can have expectations and compare it to older ways of community and communication, but if you do that, you’re bound to find ways to be let down. Focus on the good that it can bring to people’s lives. Why be so grumpy, Malcolm?

 

September 21, 2010

Twitter Basics: Part 7 – Managing Your Tweets and Tweeps

Posted by deirdrereid under Web and Social Media | Tags: , , , |
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The longer you’re on Twitter, the more interesting people you find to follow. Following hundreds (or thousands) of people can be either a positive or negative experience depending on how you handle it. Having many voices in your stream brings you valuable resources and good conversation. But how do you manage it so you’re not overwhelmed with tweets? How do you make sure you see the really good tweets?

Keep in mind that you will never read all the tweets of those you follow and that’s okay. I once heard someone say that Twitter is like a river you dip in and out of. If there’s a really good post, you might miss the first reference to it, but you’ll probably see a subsequent retweet. Just like in real life, you are not going to be part of every good conversation; take advantage of the ones you do come upon.

Lists

Applications like Tweetdeck and Hootsuite allow you to create columns of lists (or groups) of people. Arrange your columns so that the priority ones (the people whose tweets you don’t want to miss) are the first ones you see on the left when you log on. I’ve created private lists categorized by my professional and personal interests, including lists of local tweeps categorized either by my relationship with them or by our common interest. If I have limited time on Twitter, this arrangement allows me to check my priority lists and temporarily ignore the rest.

I don’t completely ignore the rest; I usually make time to scan my All Friends column at least 15 minutes a day. I aim to interact with or retweet folks in that column so I can keep expanding my circle of Twitter friends.

You can also create columns for keywords or hashtag searches. Use these columns to follow conference or Twitter chat hashtags or to ‘listen’ to any mention of a keyword that relates to your business, profession or industry.

 

flickr photo by Rosaura_Ochoa

 

Follow Management

I showed in my post on Settings how you can have emails sent to you when someone follows you. I created a filter in my email client so that all ‘new follow’ emails go to a specific folder preventing clutter in my inbox. Every few days I go through the new follows and make decisions on whether to follow back.

Although it’s time-consuming, I analyze my Twitter follows every few months. My favorite tool is Twitcleaner. Besides telling me who’s not following me back, it also tells me who hasn’t tweeted in a long time and who broadcasts instead of chatting. Another service, Friendorfollow, shows who’s not following you back and which of your followers you’re not following, but it doesn’t have any other features like Twitcleaner.

Time management

It’s easy to lose track of time while tweeting, and easy to rationalize that time since you’re learning and developing relationships. However, as I discussed in my post about engaging on Twitter, stick to a pre-determined schedule. When your time on Twitter is up, close down the application or website. Remove temptation.

How often you get on Twitter (or any other social media platform) will depend on your social media goals and how important it is for you to be interactive and present. I try to get on at least twice a day, although I don’t always do that on weekends. I aim to be responsive, even when I’m not on; therefore my mobile application is set so that I’m alerted if I get a mention or direct message.

Mobile applications are a great help in managing Twitter time. If I’m standing in line at the supermarket, I can quickly check UberTwitter to see what’s happening. If I get an alert (chime or LED flash) that I’ve received a direct message or mention, I will often pick up my phone and reply to those tweets right away. But I don’t linger on Twitter unless it’s my scheduled Twitter time.

Automation

If you have a new blog post or other valuable tweets to share and your schedule doesn’t allow you to get on Twitter as usual, you can use your Twitter applications to schedule tweets. Hootsuite is my preferred tool to do this. I only schedule tweets when absolutely necessary because I want to be present when I’m tweeting so I can be there for conversation.

Think carefully about automatically feeding your tweets to your Facebook page or LinkedIn profile.

  • Do your Facebook friends understand what RT, @ and # symbols mean? Do they care  about or understand the professional content of those tweets?
  • How often are you tweeting? Will your tweets overwhelm your connections on those platforms?
  • Are your tweets appropriate topics for your connections on those platforms? Are your tweets sometimes personal? Is that appropriate for your professional LinkedIn connections?

Be considerate of others, just like in real life. You can always send specific tweets to Facebook and LinkedIn by using applications and hashtags like #fb and #in for those platforms. Automation may be a time-saver, but you must find out if there is a cost to that.

If you use Foursquare or other location-based services, consider whether every check-in needs to go to Twitter and/or Facebook. I only send my check-ins to those platforms if I’m feeling social and willing to meet up with or say hello to other tweeps in the area, otherwise, to me, it seems like too much noise.

That’s how I use Twitter. Do you have any time management suggestions for a new user?

—–

Twitter Basics series:

 

September 17, 2010

@unmarketing: Uncommon Sense About Social Media

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Scott Stratten aka @unmarketing is one of social media’s must-follows on Twitter for his common sense speak-the-truth advice on how to use social media tools. He’s just released his book, UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging, and it’s already a best-seller. The Triangle social media community was rewarded with a stop on his UnBook tour at the Triangle Chapter of the American Marketing Association’s lunch on Thursday due to Chris Moody’s persuasive efforts. If Scott comes to your town, you must go see him. He’s full of wisdom about social media, communication, business and people, and he’s hilarious.

He started off by telling us his UnRules. I know that all my event and association tweeps will like these.

  • Turn on your phones.
  • Turn the ringer on if you think I’ll like the song.
  • Tweet what he says and use the hashtag.

Scott loves Twitter. He once called it “the greatest mastermind group in the world, 24/7.” At first he didn’t get it, so he lived on Twitter for a month to figure it out. He discovered that Twitter is all about people. He says that if your market niche is human, Twitter might be for you. Heck, even cats are on Twitter (paging Mr. Scrubby). But, it’s not a business platform; it’s a communication platform that businesses can use – a big difference.

Be consistent, present and responsive on Twitter. Spend a half hour a day on Twitter. His Twitter stream is 75% @replies. Twitter is about talking with people, not to people. Focus on pull and stay, not push and pray. I’ve often seen this advice of his retweeted: “Reminder to take at least five minutes to reply/retweet others. Nothing about you. Interact, engage, give.” He advised us to check out our tweet cloud. The highlighted words will give you a clue about your Twitter behavior.

Conversations –> relationships –> trust –> business. The key to business relationships is trust; you do business with people you know, like and trust. Twitter doesn’t replace real life networking, but it enhances it. But remember, relationships take time.

Every time you ask for the ROI of Twitter a kitten dies.

Twitter is publicized customer service. We avoid confrontation so instead we whine on twitter to the world. Be present and responsive. All we want is validation.

Just because you say your video is viral doesn’t make it so. People spread awesome, not meh. Evoke emotion from people and they’ll spread the word.

If your product or customer service sucks, it sucks harder in social media. If you are a moron in real life, you’re a bigger one on social media.

Someone asked how to reach people who aren’t normally on social media. He said to write great content. That’s the best SEO.

There are a lot of tactics on his “stop it” list. Pay heed.

  • Don’t piss people off with slimy sales tactics like obnoxious buy-now pop up windows, fine print and cold calls.
  • Don’t automate tweets to Facebook. That’s confusing and obnoxious to those who don’t use Twitter.
  • Don’t automate Facebook updates to Twitter. They usually result in cut-off tweets with a link back to a lame Facebook status update.
  • Don’t schedule tweets to go out if you’re not going to be present to participate in the resulting conversation. The shelf life of a tweet is about five minutes. Be present or be an unresponsive jackass.
  • Don’t RT others’ compliments about you. That’s just you talking about you. Lame.
  • Ignore the trolls. They live in their mother’s basement and have bad moustaches. There are too many other good people on Twitter. “My job is not to be the jackass whisperer.”

If you couldn’t make it to the lunch, here are some resources to check out:

Photo credit: David Armano on Flickr

 

September 7, 2010

Twitter Basics – Part 6: How to Tweet Like a Real Tweep

Posted by deirdrereid under Web and Social Media | Tags: , , , , |
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If Twitter perplexes you, you’re probably not following the best people or you’re not sure what the heck to do on there. In my last post I explained how to find the best people to follow. Now it’s time to learn how to tweet.

Twitter is a social media platform. The same people skills that work well in real life will work well here too. Imagine you’re at a conference reception talking to a bunch of people. The guy next to you constantly talks about himself. He doesn’t try to engage in conversation with any of you. He doesn’t even reply when you ask him a question. Back at home you’re at a neighbor’s cook-out and there’s that same guy, saying exactly the same things in the same manner to another group of people. And he’s still not listening to anyone else or participating in any conversations around him.

What is up with him? Despite how anti-social and weird that sounds, there are a lot of people like him on Twitter. They don’t get that Twitter is a conversational interactive platform and they approach it the same way they use traditional broadcast media. Even some PR agencies are guilty of this.

In a social space like Twitter, whether you’re an individual or a business, your tweets should be a mix of sharing resources and conversation with only a bit of promotion, if you need it for professional or business reasons. There are many opinions about the ideal mix. Here’s something to start with: 60% of your tweets share resources, 30% are conversational (responding and chatting) and 10% are promotional.

Does that seem like a lot of content to share? It might if you only use Twitter for personal reasons. Take some time to think about your reasons for using Twitter, the value you want to bring to others and the type of relationships and reputation you seek. Maybe your witty banter will be enough, but you might decide to supplement that with retweets and links to good posts that you think others will find interesting too.

The secret to good sharing

How do you find those good retweets and posts? By following people who share good stuff and subscribing to good blogs. Always keep an eye out for good content to share. I keep a document going in Word called Tweets for Later and when I find something good, I jot down the post title, author’s Twitter username, link and a brief description. I try to keep those tweets under 120 characters so it will be easy for others to retweet it without editing. Always use a URL shortening service, like bit.ly or ow.ly, to shorten any links you wish to include in your tweets.

If I see a tweet sharing what looks like a good blog post, but I don’t have time to read it, I’ll mark that tweet as a Favorite and get back to it when I do have time. Between these two methods, when it’s Twitter time, I usually have enough to share with others.

flickr photo by Robert_Scoble

Twitter Time

How much time should you spend on Twitter? It’s best to have a regular dependable presence. If you only show up once every few weeks, no one will have a chance to get to know you. Twitter is made up of many communities. You’ll find that after a while you’ll feel like a part of many different ones. Commit to those communities and relationships by being there. I try to log on every weekday, usually for a bit of time in the morning and then again later in the day. When I have more free time, I may do more. And of course on some days, it’s a challenge to get on at all, but I try. On weekends, if I log on, I tend to tweet more about my personal interests. Experiment and find times that work for you, even if only for 10-15 minutes at a time.

I strongly suggest you find a way to limit your time – set a timer if you must. I often set my kitchen timer so I have to get out of my office and stretch my legs. It is very easy to get sucked in and find that an hour has elapsed and it’s far too easy to rationalize your time spent there – after all, you’re learning and nurturing relationships. Be mindful.

You also will have to decide how personal you want to get on Twitter. Some people keep things strictly professional and others, like me, allow our personality and interests to permeate our tweets. I find the latter approach to be more real and interesting and I prefer following people who do the same. If you do get personal, always imagine your mother is reading your tweets (mine does!) so you don’t embarrass anyone, including yourself. Even when you’re not at work, you still do represent your company in other people’s minds. All your tweets are indexed by Google and will live on Google search forever; keep that in mind.

A well respected tweep about town

Bringing your whole personality to Twitter will differentiate you from others. You become more than just a source of good content; you’re a real personality. If you tweet on behalf of a business, consider including your name and photo somewhere in the bio or background. People connect to people, not logos.

Set up listening tools that will alert you when people reply to you or mention you, so you can reply back or thank them. Due to Twitter wonkiness, some mentions slip through the cracks and don’t show up in Twitter applications. Instead of relying on Twitter, set up Google alerts on your username and any variations, for example, your username without the ‘@’ symbol and any common misspellings. If you tweet out links to your blog posts, create a bit.ly or ow.ly account to shorten and track mentions of those URLs. There are other services that will alert you if someone shares your blog links, for example, Backtweets.

Give the spotlight to others as often as you can. Share the good tweets of others by retweeting and giving credit to them. Thank others when they share your content. Be a good social media citizen by helping others when you can. Every now and then filter your All Friends column by “?” to see if you can answer questions. Connect tweeps who might be able to help each other or find each other interesting.

If you are a source of good content, and a good social media citizen, people will come to like and trust you and that can lead to deeper relationships. And, if you’re a business, those relationships can lead to referrals, leads and sales. That’s good social media karma.

In the next post, I’ll talk more about managing your Twitter use and time.

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Twitter Basics series

 

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