Posts Tagged ‘twitter’

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Learning about your parents – Y2K style

February 6, 2011

At the time of this writing, I am 34 years old while my son is 4. The last five years of my life have been fairly well documented via social media.

I have been actively maintaining this blog since 2008 and have somewhere between 70-80 posts capturing the thoughts and stories circling around my mind. I have also had and been updating my Facebook and Twitter handles for the same or more amount of time.

This presents a unique generational event – when my son and kids of other Gen-X’rs are grown, they will have a window through which to view and learn about their parents. Assuming WordPress, Twitter and Facebook don’t shut down, all of the gripes, joys, thoughts and interesting share-worthy articles over the years will be showcased in a chronology that tells my/your story over years.

Pretty cool to think about. I wish our parents would have had a similar opportunity to document their lives and thinking – but I’m glad my son will have that available to him when he wants to learn more about his Dad.

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Why I don’t want 10K+ Twitter followers

July 18, 2009

The constant barrage of Twitter spam promising tens of thousands of quick and easy followers as a sure fire way to make money online is becoming a little much.  Couple of thoughts on this:

First, since when did Twitter become a quick and easy marketing tactic to build a business?  If you are using Twitter beyond tracking your movements you know there is nothing really quick or easy about Twitter.  Providing value to others in the form of interesting links and thoughts takes effort.  So does providing customer service or tactfully constructed promotional content.  And I think we all know that once someone agrees to follow you, that you simply have their permission to share your thoughts with them in the future, for as long as THEY decide to hear your thoughts (permission revocable at any time).  To me, the idea that a follower = immediate money in the bank is a bit delusional because of this, and my second point. Read the rest of this entry ?

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Finding your Twitter Voice

July 16, 2009

While I have been on Twitter since Dec 2007, I have only been active on Twitter since March 2009, averaging between 3-4 tweets per day.  However, in just the last 2.5 months, my daily tweet average has increased +262%!  from 1.3 avg. tweets/day in March & April 2009  to 4.7 avg. tweets/day in May,  June & half of July 2009.  I believe this rapid increase in activity stems from “finding my twitter voice”.

What exactly does that mean?  Well, I think it boils down to having confidence that your tweets are actually of interest/benefit to people.  After all, if you simply answer Twitter’s famous question “what are you doing?” you wind up talking about yourself all day long, and unless you are a big celebrity, there’s a very good chance no one will really care.  Read the rest of this entry ?

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A value added approach to Twitter Re-Tweeting

July 12, 2009

Sometimes a tweet is straightforward enough or says it all and you can just drop a basic ‘RT’ (re-tweet) in front of it, share with your followers and move on. I do this semi-frequently for re-tweets. But, I think a better way to send a re-tweet (and something I am trying to get more disciplined about) is to add value with your own line or two of commentary/analysis to the original link/tweet.  Twitter is an incredible information sharing service, but mindlessly RT’ing headlines or other peoples content doesn’t give me what I signed up for when I chose to follow you. You are the interesting one in my eyes and I’d like to know what you thought about the article, aside from it just being an interesting read.  Most of us already follow news sources on Twitter like Mashable, TechCrunch, Fast Company and many others.  So go ahead and add your value to a re-tweet,  your followers will thank you for it.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine

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Social Media How To: Twitter via Mashable’s Twitter Guide Book

July 3, 2009

Mashable recently released an organized compilation of many of their Twitter articles that provide background, answer questions and give advice on how to get the most out of Twitter.  Mashable’s Twitter Guide Book is an incredibly valuable resource that can keep you busy reading and learning for hours.   Articles from their top-notch staff of writers are organized as follows:

  • Twitter 101 – The Basics
  • Building your Twitter Community
  • Twitter for Business
  • Top Twitter Follows
  • Sharing on Twitter
  • Managing your Twitter Stream

Click here to check it out.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine

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Twitter vs Facebook; a user critique and POV

June 3, 2009

Which is better?  MY short answer is Twitter.

The longer answer, and more objectively, I’d say it depends on your goals and maybe even your life stage.  If you want to share the intimate details of your personal life with your network of friends in a multi–media fashion, go with Facebook.  If you want to briefly share what you are thinking, or reading, or doing, and no more, then Twitter is the way to go. 

I’ve been on Twitter about 6 months now and was pleasantly surprised to discover that’s it’s not simply a place where users share that they’re now on a coffee break or on their way to the restroom.   No.  While some of that still happens, more advanced and community minded members are using the Twitter for information sharing.  It turns out when people you follow shared links, Read the rest of this entry ?

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Twitter # Hashtags 101 – from Mr. Tweet

May 26, 2009

Once you get past the “Ok, I’m on twitter, now what do I do/say” phase you’ll probably find one of the interesting tangents of tweeting is the hashtag “#” .  There are varying opinions in the twitterverse on how to use them , but they essentially exist to categorize tweet topics.  Check out the blog of Mr. Tweet for a great 101 tutorial on hashtags.  Check out hashtags.org to see what’s # conversations are trending up.  

Thanks to @flytip for surfacing this one in my twitter stream this morning.

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Tweet Tweet everywhere

March 27, 2009

The most fun I have had with my new iphone by far is using it to tweet updates to my twitter page from the road.   What defines the road? Really it could be anywhere except a where one uses a computer.   I’ve tried a few deskbound tweets and have to say the feeling is just not the same as it is when I am tweeting from traffic, in line at Dunkin Donuts, at the bank, cruising around town with Ryan in a stoller.  Men were not meant to tweet from a desk or laptop.   Men were meant to tweet from everywhere!!!

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