Recently, I was thrilled to find some of my non-work friends had started to use Twitter. For the longest time I had been singing the praises of twittering and trying to explain the horror of the Fail Whale. Finally, my proselytizing had paid off and my converts began trickling in, one by one.
Up until this point, most of my interaction on Twitter was with industry professionals, celebrity personas or news sources, not my twenty-something group of friends. Sure, they used Facebook religiously, but I was hard pressed to expose the wonders of twitter-dom to my posse.
But, with my silvery tongue and gift of gab (true story, I did actually kiss the Blarney Stone) I was able to lure them into the twitter-verse.
But, lo! My new recruits quickly put me to shame! For what did I find in my Tweet Deck feed?
“OMG, just had a killer pop tart for breakfast!”
*Gasp*
I quickly berated them, trying to explain that Twitter is NOT Facebook status.
(Insert blank, uncomprehending stare here) “Then what is it?”
*Gasp!*
I tried to explain that it’s not a place to report your daily menu, but a place to connect, network, share links, share thoughts, CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL! My worst fears were being realized…I had become so used to the responsible twitter-usage from my co-workers and fellow twitterites that I couldn’t bear to see the twitter-sphere turn into the mindless sludge of Facebookian status posts. With the increased popularity of Twitter, it was only a matter of time before the Facebook crowd decided to partake of the twitter-pie. A monstrous hybrid had been born; half tweet, half status update…the stweetus!
Dejected, I was forced to recognize my failure…when all of a sudden, a figurative light bulb twitter-peared above my head. Who wrote the Twitter Rule Book anyway? Just because someone tweets about their breakfast or the arduous task of toe nail clipping doesn’t mean they’re wrong…it just means that I won’t follow them! Everyone has their niche and every niche has a following. I’m sure some of my twitter-newbs are super excited to read every insignificant detail of their friends’ lives. And they are entitled to that. To each his own, huzzah!
I’ve learned a valuable lesson, folks. Although Twitter may seem simple, it has an infinite number of uses, none more “right” than the other. If it works for you (and people don’t unfollow you) then you’re using it right!
What do you think? Is there a “right way” to use Twitter? What ways do you use Twitter “unconventionally”? Share away fellow twitterites!
This article is from Dustin Diehl
I love content, I love writing, I love reading, I love movies, I love cats, but most of all, I love a little space opera called Star Wars...
Dustin has written 28 posts.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Funny stuff Dustin. I do love my pop tarts in the morning and telling the world about it!
I was just thinking about this topic this morning and came to a similar conclusion. I have people ask me why they should use Twitter and I think a more appropriate question is, “What would you like to learn from Twitter?”
Do you want to learn about people in your industry?
Do you want to connect with customers?
Do you want to build brand awareness or promote events?
Or do you just want to find another way to stay in touch with family & friends and make some new ones along the way.
Once a person is clear on that, then Twitter can become a great tool for moving a person in that direction ~ without judgment from others about how a person decides to ‘partake of the Twitter pie’. You may use a fork while I prefer to use my hands!
“Up until this point, most of my interaction on Twitter was with industry professionals, celebrity personas or news sources, AND insightful Tweet-ers such as @r2d2.”
Awesome – it’s funny cause it’s true. I’ve experienced the same thing with my friends. I’m with you though, if they have followers then they’ve found their niche and they’re welcome to do what they want, that’s the beauty of it.
This video on Twitter was passed around the office a few days ago – it’s kinda along the same lines…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5Ff2X_3P_4
I have an inordinate number of friends on Twitter. That statement alone makes me seem like I have a lot of friends – so let me restate – I am quite shocked at the quantity of “non-work” “non-industry” friends I have on Twitter … but that’s ALL they are. “ON” Twitter, not using Twitter. It’s like they signed up to do what all the cool kids do, but they do not use it, not one update – nothing.
I think it would be a vast improvement if they used it like their Facebook update, then at least they’d be engaged and learning.
A lot of people don’t get it – like this dude who said “Twitter might be good for advertisers but I am not convinced it is good for people trying to be fully developed human beings.”
I agree. I’m not one to twitter much, and when i do, it’s often an elaborate status update. Does that make me a bad person? If i’m doing it every five minutes, maybe, but I figure the ones that follow me probably aren’t doing it because of my incredible insight and experience. So they can deal with my update about my crazy morning or the weird lady i ran into on the street
But they are the same. A LOT of my friends have their tweets integrated with their facebook account, thus making their Tweets no different than a status update. I guess I’m not seeing much of a difference.
Don’t get me wrong, I do see more tweets that relate to business. But I’m also seeing a lot of people connecting their Twitter and Facebook accounts.
-Jeff in Chicago
I’m embarrassed how I felt when I found that I had a “follower” – felt like I was being stalked… but as I got involved in Twitter, I’ve found it a great way to cast the conversation further than other channels. The key is getting involved. Watch what you respond to and then tweet those nuggets out. I tend to like more of the wisdom and links to resources myself but then I think a lot about how people are, what makes them tick, how they react and why. Guess I’m “strange” no matter what venue I’m conversing in.
You may have defined something here. I seem to remember bubble gum as a tag for people that weren’t of much substance, sweet and full of hot air. Now, you’ve classified the “pop tarts” as no substance with a sugary coating.
Thanks for the clarifying article. I’m passing it on!
It’s pretty funny how people in similar situations have the same experiences. Based on my discussions with non-work friends, Twitter has fallen into the “early, late, and never” category – some people get it early, some people get it late, and some people never get it. I <3 Twitter because of its power to aid in establishing and building relationships so I guess if you don’t “get” how important relationships are to your life then you will probably never “get” Twitter.
Follow me @dejon97. I offer tweeting you can believe in.
@Jeff in Chicago – Yeah, the new Twitter/Facebook integration (further encouraged with the new TweetDeck features) definitely blurs the lines between a Tweet and a Facebook status, and to new Twitter users used to Facebook, they ARE the same. But I’m from the “old school,” before this type of crossover was available. So, like I said, if it works for you, go for it! Thanks for the comments!
@Norma Strange – I’m glad you found the article useful and thanks for passing it on! I too love useful links and insightful pearls of wisdom and try to offer something worthwhile and informative in my tweets. And great idea on the “pop tart” term! In fact, I just created a hashtag for it! #pop_tart (don’t forget the underscore, #poptart was already taken, lol). Now, whenever you or a friend tweets some fluff you can #pop_tart it! Spread it around and maybe it will catch on
Here’s some info on hashtags if you want to know more http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Hashtags
Thanks for the comments @dejon97! Totally agree about the importance of relationship building. We’ll definitely follow you! Follow us @SitewireAgency!