Twitter (Plurk, Friendfeed, etc.) is not about me, it's about you.
If you are following me on twitter, you have decided I am worth listening to and/or having a conversation with.
Twitter is a place of real conversations in real time.
I believe twitter reflects what the Internet is meant to be.
I believe twitter is a mashup of real life in the online space and many of the other social media apps are information placeholders there to support and feed conversations on twitter.
I'm passionate about this because I've just spent this past week looking back over the fiscal year and analyzing what I've been doing in the social media space. If you want to know all the spaces I've been working in, visit http://www.dooleyonline.net/ for a full list of the different online accounts -- both personal and organizational.
Twitter statistics
Here are some of the statistics I gather on those who follow me on twitter:
- Twitter account name
- Real name. Sometimes this is not provided directly but you might find it through a website. Also, many people reuse a handle (mine is lldoolj2) in several online applications. Google their handle and you may find their real name and links to additional online spaces -- youtube, linkedin, facebook, blogs, digg, delicious, etc.
- Location (city, state, country). Note that with the adoption of the iPhone, many twitterers are starting to identify themselves by iPhone geotags. I do not have an iPhone (yet) and so haven't translated these coordinates yet.
- Website URL. Visit the websites given. This is part of the conversation followers want to have with you. If the information is relevant, consider subscribing to their RSS feeds.
- Date and time of follow (from emails sent from twitter.com).
- Avatars. How many times have website teams been tool to create personas for their websites so they can remember who their target audience is. Twitter provides real personas who are interested in you and what you have to say.
All of this information can be used to provide a snapshot of the people you are engaged with on a daily basis. I've analyzed this information in a number of ways and each time I learn something new and interesting about this twitter community.
Twitter etiquette
- I manage two twitter accounts - a personal one and an organizational one. I post different things on each. That's okay. Just don't get them confused and post a very personal thing on the corporate twitter account.
- You are what you post. If your information is helpful and community-building, that is how you will be perceived. Remember who you are when you post and your personal branding will remain intact.
- Post information of interest to your twitter community. They need to know you are listening to them.
- Some run their RSS feeds through their twitter accounts. I actually follow a few organizations that do this. The problem is that often the tweet limit of 140 characters is not enough. While the general message comes through, it is sometimes frustrating that the thought is not completed in the tweet.
- Though not required, some people direct message new followers, thanking them for following and letting them know if they have chosen to follow back.
- You don't always have to tweet about stuff that's on your site. Not only is it not about you, it's not what you know it is what you share. Share good stuff -- and it doesn't always have to be your original material. Highlight useful information from others.
- If you retweet a message sent to you (or a link to someone else's content), give credit where it's due. This not only shows that you are an honest tweeter, it lets the person who provided the content in the first place know that you are listening.
- #hashtags are good to help organize information. But you can also get some good information by just using http://search.twitter.com.
- Track your statistics in a spreadsheet. Follows, followers, clickthroughs on links. My favorite tools - Twitter itself, http://twittercounter.com and http://tweetburner.com.
Building your twitter community
- As I visit other social media sites and connect with others, I look to see if they have twitter accounts.
- http://www.twellow.com is a yellow pages for twitter. Make sure you are listed as you search for others in your interest category.
- Occasionally someone posts a list of their favorite twitter accounts. Check out these lists for new follow opportunities. If you feel you should be on the list, ask to be added.
- When I connect with someone on twitter, I'll look at who they are following and who is following them.
What additional suggestions, or links, can you provide?
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