It's ironic. The most common criticism from the Twitter-adverse is their dislike for one of its best features: "Why should I tell people what I'm doing? Why should I care what other people are doing? That's creepy."
And at first glance, they're right. Being able to track what a large group of people are doing, reading, thinking, wishing or complaining at any given time is creepy ... in real life.
But Twitter isn't real life. The Twitterverse isn't the universe. And before you can truly reap the benefits of Twitter, you must understand that it has its own unique culture and social customs. Meeting on Twitter is a totally different ballgame.
Question: Would you tell your friend what you're doing? Would you let your roommate know that you had the BEST soy latte today or you read an amazing blog post about global warming? Sure you would. That's not unusual information to share. You just wouldn't offer that information to a random person you just met.
On Twitter, it's normal for users to share simple, random information with strangers. People are welcoming; you're friends before you're friends. With this open and friendly culture, people comment and react to each other's random statements. Eventually, you get to know the people in your Twitter community pretty well.
"So now what?" you're thinking. "Sure, I'm having fun. But what good does it do me?"
By meeting people in such a casual, open atmosphere where people speak freely about everyday things, complain unanimously and argue openly, Twitter becomes a platform that promotes hyper-speed relationship development simply because people are sharing information that they normally wouldn't disclose right away.
On Twitter, that powerful executive who generally would be impossible to contact is letting you know that her baby is celebrating its 4th birthday. That future business lead is telling you that his favorite color is blue.
At this personal, get-to-know-you level, the best professional relationships develop those that lead to your next career move, business deal or whatever else you might be looking for.
So what do you think? Did you dislike Twitter at first? Have you made connections on Twitter with people who you thought were completely unavailable to you professionally?
Photo by FelipeArte
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
Swim University 11:32 AM on October 30, 2008
When I was reading all these SEO blogs they all kept talking about how I should be on Twitter, I was confused by it at first but now I'm addicted. The best way I heard Twitter described is "Micro Blogging" and now I have connected with people who share common interest and have also gained a lot of traffic from it. I even created a Twitterfeed so every time I post something new on my blog or website it automatically gets posted to Twitter.
Andrew Brown 2:19 PM on October 30, 2008
Just in any social community on the Internet I won't follow them back unless they've made the effort to message me or I'll message them asking what was there reason for following me?
If I add someone I tell them where I came from, and why I'm following them
Pamela Seiple 4:06 PM on October 30, 2008
Rebecca,
I completely agree with your comment about how Twitter "promotes hyper-speed relationship development."
Interacting on Twitter makes it easy to bypass all that "first date" small talk when you do finally meet a Twitter friend in person. When you finally meet that seemingly out of reach professional, there's already some familiar ground, making the interaction a lot less awkward and daunting and the person way more approachable.
Pamela
Shelley Greenberg 4:30 PM on October 30, 2008
Very true, Rebecca, and well put.
Though so many of our interactions online mimic real life, Twitter breaks down walls by putting everyone on the same level while adding that extra bit of security because it's NOT real life.
It's so much easier to @ your idol/potential client/powerful contact on Twitter and say, "Hi! I'm Shelley and I'm a big fan of your work," than to stride up to them in real life and do that.
-Shelley
@thespottedduck
p.s. Rebecca - Hi! I'm Shelley and I'm a big fan of your work.
Rebecca Corliss 5:03 PM on October 30, 2008
Great feedback, everyone. I think everyone has a slightly different style of how they meet-n-greet on Twitter. As long as you're curious enough to investigate the space, you'll be fine!
Dikri 5:55 PM on October 30, 2008
If I add someone I tell them where I came from, and why I'm following them..
My site is...http://linuxandmicrocontrollertips.blogspot.com/
Colleen T. 10:52 PM on October 30, 2008
I guess I'm still at that awkward beginning stage at Twitter because I'm still trying to figure out whom to follow and how it gets "personal". I know I should give it some time, though!
Cynthia 8:35 AM on October 31, 2008
I am also a Twitter beginner and although pretty savy with most programs I find the Twitter curve different. Is there a Twitter help blog?
Deb 8:37 AM on October 31, 2008
I'm with Colleen on being at the awkward stage. I did sign up but now can't figure out the site!
Cyndi Masters 7:36 PM on October 31, 2008
great article! As the CEO of DBS I have found Twitter extremely useful for locating freelancers as well as a great learning tool! I am addicted.
Randy 7:36 PM on October 31, 2008
For the beginners, the best advise is to follow the twitter stream 'Everyone' for a while and find some conversations that sound interesting to you. Also, you should try posting interesting tweets that offer a benefit to the reader, including a link to an article or web site you found interesting. You'll build followers that way. (I'm @randelaw)
Cynthia 12:45 AM on November 01, 2008
OK, I cannot find the answer to this and I am REALLY new. I know if is very simple but I don´t know.... If you are @randelaw how do I follow you? where do I insert that...
Where do I add you or how?
Thanks
Leila 9:35 AM on November 01, 2008
Nice post Rebecca, thanks.
Cynthia, an easy way to do that is to go to the bottom of your twitter page, click on Search then type in then type the name into the search box. Click on the link next to their picture to go to the profile, there is a button underneath their picture that says Follow, just click on that. Make sure its the right person you are looking fro though!
Hope that helps.
Cynthia 5:02 PM on November 01, 2008
Got it Lelia, thanks!
Justin Levy 7:06 PM on November 01, 2008
For the first year or so I avoided joining Twitter because I thought it was basically a stream of away messages. I thought it would be a time-suck and would drain productivity. Eventually I decided to join and became hooked after seeing the huge benefits available.
What I like the most about Twitter is the ability to connect 1:1 with people from a range of different positions, interests, and areas of the world. I have had a lot of success with Twitter in developing both personal and professional relationships, business opportunities, interviews and several other things. I like that Twitter allows the user to get to know people on a different level. At a normal networking event you may meet a CEO, founder, expect, [fill in the blank], but you only get to know about them based on the info which they normally will tell others at networking events. On Twitter, if they choose to share, you get know about their sports team preferences, what they're up to on a Saturday, more about the day-to-day happenings within their company, and much much more.
There are plenty of other examples of why Twitter is beneficial and fun...just too many to list here.
Bernie Borges 10:10 PM on November 02, 2008
The thing about Twitter I like most is the ease of connecting with people with common interests. What I dislike most is how some Tweeple seem to have nothing else to do all day but Tweet. Those people need a real job. Inform me, educate me or entertain me and I'll follow you. I'll try to do the same for you.
@berniebay
Noah Carter 10:04 AM on December 11, 2008
Ouch! I wanted to read this article but banged my head coming through the door on a major typo:
"..Twitter-adverse..."
You mean Twitter-averse.
Thanks!
krissy knox 10:31 PM on December 29, 2008
To me, it is real life! Online life is real life. However, different culture, yes. It is awesome to know we can tweet to someone who we normally would not have been able to meet outside of Twitter. It is almost unthinkable, yet true, and thoroughly astounding, that we can become friends with people from all walks of life, both those who may be in a higher and lower socioeconomic group than we are, and those who are in different fields than we're in! However, it nonetheless is real life, as it happens in real time, and in actual reality. The rules are definitely different than in most of the rest of the society we belong to, but it's real.
I don't know. I guess I'm stressing that b/c I've heard others say, "I've got my online friends, and I've got my real friends." As if online friends weren't real people, LOL.
krissy knox
Sometimes I Think
visit me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/iamkrissy