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Twitter from a Guy who Tried Not to like the Platform

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I was not an immediate fan of Twitter. But my job has a lot to do about social, so I grudgingly started to use the social media tool. I followed the notion of tweeting ten or more times a day to start with. Then I started linking my activities on Twitter to other platforms like LinkedIn.com. I also leaned heavily on the people I was following, re-tweeting with abandon those conversations that I thought might be interesting to my followers. I never campaigned to grow my follower list and was surprised that now, over a year later, I tweet more than I retweet. I also, somehow have managed to get quite a few followers which really surprised me.

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I don’t use automation or Twitter toolsets to track trending information… yet. But I am often called upon to come up with a few blog posts a day—I have really come to appreciate Twitter for indicating what is hot and what is not in any given day. So here are a few tips I pass to my co-workers, friends and family about growing your Twitter world.

1. When you join, complete your profile, by-line, and add a picture. Get the most from your experience by completing the basics. Anything less will tell your potential Twitter friends that you are not really playing.

2. If you are selecting a person to follow that you don’t know, the lack of a by-line on the profile and very few tweets, is not a good sign. People try things and then forget about them. These people are not value add to your Twitter stream.

3. Learn about #hashtags so that you are published on group sites. You will gain like-minded and power users that will make your explorations  more usable/valuable.

4. Write about what you are interested in but try not to be with throw-away posts like “It’s been a tough week.” Something like “Wondering if I ‘m going to have to get a 2nd job just to pay for my commute: https://linkTOmyBlog/aboutTheSubject." might get more readers.

Yes, these are very basic to the savvy users. But for the new users, this might be enough to get you interested. Here is an interesting walkthrough: Twitter 101: Tips and Tricks.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 25, 2011
    Great tips! I found it awkward at first... you're sending your random thoughts out there on the Internet, but once you start understanding it, following people and get going, then you get used to it. Thanks for the post!

  • Anonymous
    August 30, 2011
    Good post, glad you acclimated to the Twitter platform! I ridiculed Twitter initially, and am now quite fond of it. Your list has good advice. Item 1 is important but often neglected (on MSDN as well). Item 2 is wise. It has the benefit of preventing spam followers, or following accounts with links that could be be redirects to phishing sites. An add'l idea for Item 2. Make sure that the dates associated with the most recent tweets are not ancient e.g. all from 2009. And if you have any concern about the account being an advertising bot, click on the "favorites" tab. (I don't use a Twitter "client" either, just "native" new Twitter). It isn't intrusive to do so, and if there are no entries there, it might be a red flag. Have fun, and keep up the good work on the CRM blog.