8 Twitter tips from a n00b

Those of you wondering about whether to start using Twitter might want to read friend David Murray's new article "How to use Twitter & whether to bother" on Ragan.com.

Murray, who is a technology skeptic, approaches Twitter as a gonzo reporter. While I'm sure this seemed like a good way to go, theMurr ended up getting a mash-note from the überbitch cartoon character of social media and flamed by one of the nicest people around. All in his first day. Probably not an auspicious start.

I'm quoted here and there in the article. Accurately and completely, of course. But reading the article makes me want to offer a few (entirely personal) tips based on my n00bish experience of a year or so on Twitter.

1. Twitter is not a social network. Twitter is micro-blogging.
2. Twitter becomes a social network.
3. "What are you doing?" is not a question you should answer.
4. "What are you doing?" becomes a question you are allowed to answer.
5. The shelf life of any "tweet" is about 20 minutes. But tweets are carved in stone.
6. Replies to your "tweets" are far more important than comments to your blog.
7. Twitter is a river you live beside. You don't have to see every passing boat or catch every fish to live beside it.
8. If your peer group is on Twitter, you miss a lot if you are not there, too.

More to come on each tip in the next few days!

Posted by Allan Jenkins on March 24, 2008 at 11:09 PM in Social Media | Permalink

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Comments

Love the near-paradoxical points! Very true, especially the one about Twitter being like a river. Wonderful observations. :)

Posted by: Michael Martine, Blog Consultant | Mar 25, 2008 4:43:29 AM

Excellent post - love the river analogy.

Posted by: jared | Mar 25, 2008 4:44:03 AM

Yeah, it's funny how many folks get all caught up in #3. They seem to use it as an excuse to relegate Twitter to the waste of time pile. They did the same with blogging earlier on when they were compared to online journals written by angst-ridden teens.

Posted by: Kevin Dugan | Mar 25, 2008 11:16:10 AM

Intrigued to see you justify your rating of the realtive importance of replies on Twtiter and blogs. This was my take on the two some time ago http://makemarketinghistory.blogspot.com/2007/10/to-twitter-or-to-blog.html

Posted by: John Dodds | Mar 25, 2008 6:36:32 PM

And your tweets can be searched for keywords- we do it as a part of our social media monitoring service tracking brand mentions, sentiment, etc.

Posted by: Martin Edic | May 20, 2008 8:38:19 PM

I find twitter a little odd, its rhythm is all odd to me but perhaps its a matter of getting used to it

Posted by: Trevor Cook | Jun 3, 2008 9:45:39 AM

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