Connected Well

Overhearing a few conversations yesterday drove home the point to me that Twitter (or identi.ca or pownce, plurk or even email) is really simply a way to have conversations.

Kumbaya, and all that

This screenshot from my twitter feed shows @cachedout bumming about his speeding ticket (bottom image). Seconds later, @littleidea replies in-kind (see top image). Misery loves company. Speeding ticket recipients are not immune from this most-basic human desire.

What you say is irrelevant.

Who you say it to is highly relevant.

And, the network will pwn you if you say things too far out of context, or without consideration of who you are talking to.

Yet, the network will <3 you if you show up real, human, and relevant. Using twitter for business? That’s a lot different than just using it to catch up with friends on Friday night, or to keep tabs on your family.

Crossover posts? No problem sometimes, but beware the implications. Sharing a great insight from a book to your friends isn’t dangerous. But, joking with your friends about how out of control Friday night got, and your co-workers are listening in… might come back to get you.

Rahhb Networking, Social Networking, Tools communicating, communication, conversation, funny, human, identi.ca, listening, plurk, pownce, pwn, sharing, talking, twitter

Yeah, twitter is addictive. It’s fun. It’s compelling.  Here’s a few tips to help newbies to twitter get the feel of it a little faster:

• SheGeeks’ Twitter 101 post gives pretty good clarification on following other people. In short, give people a reason to follow you before following them. The difference between a friend and a stalker is that you know who your friends are
  “When you first start Twitter, you should build up your stream first. Send out about 20 messages that actually mean something. Talk about your interest, something cool that you like, or something you found out about today. This way, people can get a better feel for how beneficial you’d be to them if they followed you in return.”
• Sarah Hurd points to Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang). as a great example of twittering “right”:
  “He uses a great mixture of providing helpful and relevant content, championing others, networking, asking questions to generate conversations, providing rundowns of events he’s attending, and laughing about life.”
• Charlotte-Ann Lucas, a journalist, says it this way:

  “Twitter is community.It can be like sitting with your friends on a coast-to-coast couch, eavesdropping on a national conversation.”

Rahhb Networking, Social Networking, human being social, communication, friends, listening, networks, social, talking, twitter