How to Use Twitter well

We've had a healthy debate at the Newfangled lunch table for several months now about the value of Twitter. I've been an advocate for Twitter while Mark and Chris (like many people) are not big fans. I signed up for Twitter several years ago and felt similarly.  At that time, there wasn't a critical mass and I had no clue about the ins and outs of how to communicate with other members.

In the past few months I've increased my Twitter usage and I'm getting a lot out of it both personally and professionally. Here are a couple of reasons why I'm firmly rooted in the Pro-Twitter camp at our lunch table.

It's sort of like Blogging, but Faster and Easier

As you can tell by my voluminous number of blog posts, it's tough finding the hours (or stamina) to craft the perfect post after 8+ hours of project management. Think of how many blog posts have you read that start with 'Sorry, it's been ages since I posted last.' What's with the guilt? If you can't post that often, then maybe you just need to add another venue? Enter Twitter, where 140 characters is all you need.

Standard Twitter Interface

Status isn't Everything

A classic reason people don't 'get' Twitter is because they think it's all boring updates like 'Drinking coffee, checking email.' While I think the mundane details have their place (I'll expound on this later) Twitter's strongest suit is its conversational nature. If you don't use it, you're missing out. You can direct/reply to another Twitter user by simply writing their user ID with the '@' symbol your response. Say, for example, I'm directing an update at my coworkers Chris and Mark, I'll tweet:

Anyone following me can read this and click on either Chris or Mark's ID and then read their updates. Half the fun of Twitter is unraveling this 'who-follows-whom' web.

Word Travels Fast (for better or worse)

You can also 'retweet' someone else's update if you think it's interesting. This is where Twitter's viral nature really gets going. I learned the power of the 'Retweet' a couple months back after I posted an update about a parade of cop cars tearing through downtown Chapel Hill. A Twitter user who posts news about Chapel Hill retweeted my post, broadcasting to hundreds more people. Within an hour, 20 more people were following me to stay posted on the situation. In this case, I wasn't nuts about it because I didn't want to increase hysteria, but it taught me the right retweet can expand your audience exponentially.

To 'Retweet' someone else's post, just write 'RT' + '@theirusername' before reposting their update:

Perfecting your Follow Lists

You won't get anything out of Twitter until you've put some work into building the right follow list. Last week I went to local tech meetup called Refresh the Triangle. I went out for drinks with about 8 people after, most of whom I didn't know. By the time I came home nearly every person I met was following me on Twitter. Through their updates, I could see that their connections to other people I knew. With those last few connections, my Twitter stream hit a tipping point. A hive mind of interconnected conversations about design, development, project management, and marketing formed before my eyes. It was a beautiful thing.

I also recommend regularly weeding out bad follows/followers.  If you're following someone who spams you with 60 updates a day they need to get the message that's overkill, so unfollow them. If you have tons of followers you don't know, you're going to feel overexposed and not post updates that truly reflect your life. There's a delicate balance with both of these, but you'll know it when you reach it.

Personality Seeps In

The thing I love most about Twitter is that people aren't afraid to let their personality seep through. Blogging began as a very personal endeavor (think the LiveJournal community, or bloggers like Heather Armstrong), but now with every company under the sun having a blog, it's tough discerning the PR from the person. In my experience, Twitter strikes this balance in a more graceful way. You can follow the top industry leader who posts brilliant industry insights, then shares a great album discovery or vents about not being able to housebreak their dog. These details are endearing and remind me that the internet is not just a sea of inanimate content, but the myriad of lives behind it.

Flickr Community Mgr. Heather Champ shares a sage industry insight:

Oh yeah, it's fun

Having a network of friends, coworkers, and professional gurus at your fingertips is pretty fun. Twitter has a really playful quality and never lose sight of that! Now go, crawl out from under your rock and give it a try.  If you don't know where to start, I'd suggest following Shaq (he's a Twitter phenomenon).