Wednesday, March 9, 2011

To Tweet Or Not To Tweet...


... that is the question.

When Twitter came out, I thought it was dumb.  I couldn't see any use for it.  Thus, I stayed away.

Recently I noticed many of my blogger-friends are on Twitter so, like a lemming, I headed to the cliff.  I joined last month just to see what it is like.  @Shybiker1234

One of my prime guidelines in life is to actually try things before judging them.  Many times things are different from what you expect.  You don't want to miss out on something grand (like motorcycling) just because society leads you to form inaccurate assumptions about it.

In my brief time on Twitter, I've learned it has some valuable uses.  For example, I like being alerted to new posts by my favorite bloggers and hearing their recommendations of online things to check out.  I enjoy the "mini-conversations" you can have with people when they post a tidbit of their life and you have the opportunity to "reply" to it.  I like connecting with new people I haven't met before.

Are you on Twitter?  Do you like it?  What uses does it have for you?
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23 comments:

  1. TanviMarch 9, 2011 at 12:41 PM

    I am on twitter (you know that) ... I love it ... helps to stay connected with the bloggers beyond the blog ... learn new things ... stay up to date ... I even get my head lines and news from the tweets :P

    Tanvi
    from © tanvii.com

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  2. nyngaMarch 9, 2011 at 12:42 PM

    I started Twitter way before it became this huge deal & to be honest, it was soooo lame. I didn't understand it & kept off of it for a good while. Then I decided to come back only to document itsy bitsy parts of my life as if someone cared. I know no one was actually reading my tweets, but it felt nice to post stupid stuff & I could easily do it from my phone. Now, I use it for, well, the same reasons but it's totally different. It's nice to know what's going on the instant it happens or whatever. I've had lots of good luck with Twitter. Lots. So, yes, I do like it.

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  3. BonnieMarch 9, 2011 at 12:51 PM

    Ahhhh, Twitter. I tried to resist it for so long.
    Honestly, Twitter has done a lot for me. Twitter is what led me to being discovered by the Grammys to blog for them during their broadcast. It also led me to being recognized by some of the top current fashion bloggers.
    It has helped raise the popularity and notoriety of my blog. I don't know if anything "professional" will ever stem from my blog or Twitter, but there is the hope. If anything, it's good experience.
    And it's fun. :)

    http://glamkittenslitterbox.blogspot.com/
    Twitter: @GlamKitten88

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  4. Jenarcissist @ the closet narcissistMarch 9, 2011 at 1:02 PM

    We're on it, and I admit, sometimes I fall into the trap of only tweeting when we have a new blog post up, but I do try to talk about other stuff as well; I don't want it to be impersonal, but I also don't want to talk about what I had for lunch today. :) I'm on the computer all day long for work, and then trying to keep up with email, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. on top of that can get a bit technologically overwhelming! I started using HootSuite a few weeks ago, which has at least helped me streamline my Twitter and Facebook accounts because I organized various Twitter streams by topics of my choosing and can post on Twitter and FB simultaneously.

    the narcissists' diary / the closet narcissist

    @narcissisters

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  5. EmmaMarch 9, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    I haven't tried the twitter thing yet. The first I heard of twitter is in an article saying our President uses it. I may give it a try.

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  6. The Closet ShopperMarch 9, 2011 at 1:56 PM

    I like twitter. I don't love it. I'm pretty new to it as well. So, I think I'm on a bit of a learning curve. I use it to alert peeps to blog updates. I say random shit that no one cares about. Stuff like that.

    My husband is a twittering freak! He's tweets like a million times a day.

    xoxo,
    Tracy

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  7. ToadMamaMarch 9, 2011 at 2:04 PM

    Still undecided. If I do, the focus will be the AT site.

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  8. ShybikerMarch 9, 2011 at 2:17 PM

    As I said, you don't really know if something will fit into your life until you try it. Give it a whirl, Emma.

    Like many of you, I'm still unsure of its role in my online life and am watching it evolve.

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  9. JodiMarch 9, 2011 at 2:36 PM

    I started on twitter and facebook as a way to connect in another way. right now my twitter account is linked to my blog so when I post on the blog it directly feeds to twitter. I also add other updates but sometimes wonders who really cares what I am tweeting about.. LOL. Do people really care if I am putting on black tights or something like that?? hah hah

    http://twitter.com/day2daywear#
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Day2daywear/182419255136309

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  10. Dear Girl WallflowerMarch 9, 2011 at 2:56 PM

    yeh i am, i think i found it more of advertising or letting out of what i think just for fun, I have different sets of friends on twitter than facebook and I don't share in facebook what I share on twitter, twitter is more on my useful and productive conversation and a lil of networking...i keep the people that would motivate me in my passion and career in twitter even if some, i don't know them....I am surprised sometimes that scrapbooking and artists connects me through twitter just by my tweets...

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  11. UnknownMarch 9, 2011 at 3:12 PM

    I signed up, but could not figure it out ... not sure if I just have a mental block, but could not get into twittering.

    Thank you for the sweet comment - I hope that one day in the not too distant future we will get to sit and drink tea together and share even more. There are so many questions I'd love to ask you and know and of course, I'd love to hear how you 'sound'.

    And ... lookie there, you have 70 followers!!! Congrats.

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  12. MiniMarch 9, 2011 at 3:49 PM

    I love Twitter(I'm hagelschaden on there)! I tweet in both: english and german. Always depend in what kind of mood I'm in. But I have protected my tweets because I don't want everybody to read it :)

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  13. dimiMarch 9, 2011 at 3:57 PM

    I think my brain is fried by all that technology!
    Last year I barely could read my mails and now I have a blog! I've learned a lot and tried many new things and Twitter was among them. I have a profile, but I have no idea how to use it or what for! And if I have to write all day, I'll probably stay off it!

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  14. ShybikerMarch 9, 2011 at 5:26 PM

    Thanks for your responses, guys. As I expected, they are all over the place.

    Twitter isn't intuitive and isn't easy to figure out. It also seems to have a unique culture; I haven't clued into that yet.

    Another interesting fact which I heard of -- and you are confirming -- is that people have different audiences for Twitter than for their blogs. I'm not sure why that is.

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  15. LoriMarch 9, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    I am on twitter but I don't understand how to use it. I feel kinda dumb saying that, but I just don't get what's going on. I tend to stick more with FB. I don't like having to write my thoughts or comments in a text-like format. I cannot be constrained by character limits :)

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  16. FuzzygaloreMarch 9, 2011 at 10:25 PM

    I love Twitter. It's small, non-committal doses of chit-chat. I have found some great info there.

    I found that there was a "learning curve" to it. It seems to me that your experience is only as good as the people you follow. So, its good to search for keywords that mean something to you and jump in to the conversation.

    I think the native Twitter interface really stinks. It limits your ability to do that robustly. I find 3rd party clients like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite (what i use) to help manage the conversations work best. This allows you to create several columns or conversation streams which you can follow.

    Say you like motorcycles. You can do a search for #motorcycles and save it as a stream and follow any post that uses that hashtag.

    I think a good place to start is to see if your fav. bloggers/celebs/magazines/websites have twitter icons listed on their profiles. I'm sure you will find many do. That gives you a good place to start for finding people to follow.

    Good Luck!

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  17. FrancyMarch 9, 2011 at 10:31 PM

    I love Twitter. It's really convenient and low-maintenance compared to other social networking sites. I really like exploring all the hashtags I follow. Not to mention, like you said, I feel like I am just sharing little snippets of my life, and not everything. It does take some time to figure out, and I'm still learning, but overall it's my favorite.

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  18. a woman's right to shoesMarch 10, 2011 at 3:11 AM

    I also think it is a good thing to try something before judging. I honestly have to admit that I have never tried twitter but I really want to. Atm it is just too much uniwork for me to even bother trying something new, so I can't wait until April is finished.

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  19. AngelaMarch 10, 2011 at 5:17 AM

    I'm on it, but I don't really know how to use it... Like using tags etc, and replying I have no clue :S

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  20. UnknownMarch 10, 2011 at 10:46 AM

    I'm on Twitter but I am hopeless- some of my friends give me mini tutorials in how to use it. Because I don't have a data plan on my cell phone, I have to be in front of a computer to tweet so I only do it about twice a day!

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  21. ComewhinewithmeMarch 10, 2011 at 4:05 PM

    My friend said that every good blogger has twitter to keep an eye on the celebs! Ha ha and so I got my own account. Haven't used it much though... I'm gonna give it a new try now. I'm @comewhinewith86, hope to see you there!

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  22. SaraMarch 10, 2011 at 6:12 PM

    I never liked the idea of twitter until I tried it. It's actually a great way to follow news as well, I follow NPR and the Detroit free press. The little tweets let me know what is going on outside of the world of my friends while I talk to them. :)

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  23. LorenaMarch 14, 2011 at 3:27 PM

    I have a twitter account... i last logged in, 2 months ago.
    That ought to say something.

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