Twitter must be reaching some kind of critical mass–or at least it seems that way to me. Perhaps that’s because I’ve jumped in with both feet. But I get the impression that a lot of bloggers are blogging about Twitter, lately. Some of them love it, and can’t live without it, and some folks aren’t getting any real value out of it that they can see.
Let’s face it: we’re all looking out for ourselves. However, one of the best ways to look out for yourself is to look out for others. And social media is nothing without people willing to give for the benefit of the community. So I don’t think it’s wrong to make a decision about whether or not to use Twitter based on what you’ll get out of it, as long as you understand one thing: you’ll get out of it what you put into it. So trite and cliché, I know, but it’s also true. I have received tremendous benefits from being on Twitter, but only because I entered into it prepared to give, and give I do.
The number of people following me grows every day, and I am constantly adding to my list of people that I follow as well. When I find great links, I tweet them to all my followers. In the true spirit of a microblogging platform, I post short thoughts, musings, and ponderings that would be out of place here on Remarkablogger. I reply to the tweets of others, and even though Twitter technically isn’t chat, conversation does take place. I am constantly looking for ways to contribute value to the lives of those who follow me on Twitter. I want people to be glad they followed me, to not ever want me to stop tweeting (hey, blogs are the same way–I take the same approach to my blogging).
So because of this, here is exactly what I get out of Twitter:
- I have received offers to guest post on blogs that I respect
- I have received offers for paid blogging on blogs that I respect
- I have raised others’ opinions of me by helping them without hesitation or expectation of reward
- I have strengthened my relationships with people in my network
- There are a lot of well-known “A-list” type people on Twitter, and i find it helpful to follow them
- I often find out about new posts from bloggers on Twitter faster than by RSS, which means I can often be first to comment
- I have met a lot of new, wonderful people
- Many people are discovering me through their friends on Twitter
- I have noticed a higher-than-average increase in RSS subscribers since I joined Twitter
- I have made contact with potential clients as well, and it is only a matter of time before I get work through Twitter
What will Twitter do for you? That depends on what you do for others. If you would care to follow me on Twitter, you’ll find me at http://twitter.com/remarkablogger.
Michael, That’s a fresh perspective on Twitter (which I agree is one of the most talked about thing.) And glad that it gives you all that value.
Somehow I have a feeling that twitter isn’t really capable of handling all that volume, and it isn’t fair to analyze it as to whether it gives you with value or not.
However as I said in my post, it isn’t passing any value to me at the moment.
I’m hoping that the guys at twitter put in some effort and make it all jazzed up, and make use of all that “attention” it’s getting these days.
Bottom line – I think it’s very likely for you to get bored of Twitter.
Again, I ma be wrong and my opinions skewed.
Thanks for the article.
Hi Michael,
Great twitter post, I love it
Wasn’t sure initially how it works,
if it works, why it works…
Only know that it does!
It’s fun, fast & informative
Thanks for this
Twitter – you really have to try it and “use” it for some time to get the benefit out of it. I was totally confused at first and staying in an empty room with no followers and noone to follow makes twitter pretty useless
But I just started to be more activ and if you contribute to it, you can easily get in contact with so many people, as long as you write in a non spammy and polite way.
And most important – you get such great news from celebraties like: “Mmmm… chicken salad bacon wrap! Yum.”
@ Mani – Thanks for commenting! I know how it feels to not be on the bandwagon with everyone else. I despise Facebook! I really didn’t get much out of it, and I found the constant applications notifications to be extremely annoying. I deactivated my Facebook account and haven’t been back since! I wasn’t sure if I would like Twitter, since I also did not have an enjoyable experience with Pownce, but somehow Twitter turned out different for me. I guess there’s something for everybody.
@ Calaelen – What moron said “chicken salad bacon wrap yum”?
Oh… wait…
I’ve recently gotten into twitter as well. I’m probably not using it to it’s full potential yet, but I have been able to have some great conversations with some of the bloggers that I follow. I’ve made some new friends on twitter, and have gotten to know some other people better than I could/would have otherwise.
I’ve also had a job inquiry or two – nothing much, but then again I don’t have a large group that I’m following / following me yet.
Funny timing on this post, because I’ve been thinking of writing one on social media, and including links to my accounts as well. If I have them – might as well make the most of it.
@ Selene – It’s easy to get a large following on Twitter. I’ll be writing about that soon! I can’t remember off the top of my head if I’m already following you or if you’re following me, but if you aren’t yet, if you do then I’ll follow you, too.
I hope that doesn’t sound absurdly confusing!
@Michael – LOL, I get what you mean, lol. I’m following you
Feel free to follow me too (@idesignstudios).
And I’m glad to hear you’ll be writing about how to get a large following… I’ll be looking forward to that post!
Too funny. You and Harry both posted about Twitter today from completely opposing views. Heh, and I get to write a rebuttal.
I haven’t had your experience – and my experience has been neither good nor bad so far. Then again, I’m one week new to Twitter. We’ll see how it goes.
*must…not…succumb…to…peer…pressure…*
Gah, Michael! I can feel my resistance wearing away slowly but surely. This is *so* not fair!
Seriously though, I do see both sides of it. I think I’ll stick to the sidelines a little bit longer and see what happens.
@ Harry – Fair enough. For what it’s worth, it was a while before I jumped in, as well. I could tell that people were making deals and getting opportunities somehow “behind the scenes” of their blogs. It was driving me mad. I knew it had to be Twitter, and I was right.
After reading your article I think I will try twitter myself.
… and I can get some as you said
I haven’t been attracted to it … but I think I want some subscribers to my website
I’m one of the Twitter skeptics. However, this is the only post defending twitter (I read at the very least once per week) that got me actually wanting to use it! It’s been on my list of things to try out for a while. You may have pushed it up on my list of things to do. Thanks!
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Here’s what I get out of Twitter:
Acknowledgments from the Twitteratis.
Without that, it’s just another useless instant messaging client.
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I just got into Twitter this last weekend – so I’m still finding my way.
The initial question (What are you doing?) sent my mind off in the wrong direction WRT how to use it.
Like others have said, starting off with no one to follow and no one following leaves you a bit stranded, but once I started following people I began to see the different ways you could use it.
I can now see that it could have a lot of potential – but as I’m only 2 days into it I have a lot more learning to do..!
Thanks for this article, though, because it reflects the kind of potential I think Twitter would have.
Cheers,
Martin.
That’s great Michael – the offers by way of Twitter. Pretty cool. I’m one of your followers, although not too vocal yet, kind of a time thing with me right now.
I loved Darren Rowse’s “ProBlogger Launches PayPerTweet” – http://tinyurl.com/2rbmcl. It’s funny. I could see the interview coming – “Six Figure Tweeter.”
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Ok… you’ve convinced me.
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Twitter is very useful for me