Help me get my Twitter on

I've noticed that a significant amount of my peeps' blogging has been relegated to Twitter, and I can see why. Tweets are a lot shorter, and in many ways more accepting, than posts. We Tweet the most random stuff, and people are still interested, or not. Doesn't matter. The point is, you are engaging folks; you are trying.

So I'm *trying* and feel like the old farts I try to get to blog who insist that real content must come via print or a "traditional" media source. These are the people, who when they tried blogging, wrote articles instead of posts, and wrote with formality. I still edit for Tweet-worthiness. And God forbid I ask for feedback, like I did when I was in Spain. By the time I remembered to check back for suggested restaurants in Barcelona, I was back in New York.

It takes a huge paradigm shift to get into the mindset of sharing in Tweets. I'm just not feeling my Twitter mojo yet, that sensation similar to what I had when I became addicted to blogging. When that happened, every experience would immediately become translated into a post. I would immediately begin thinking through how it would read on the blog. I have yet to have an experience that I can whittle down a thought or experience into 140 characters.

Nor do I have a rhythm. I notice that some people Twitter in Tweet clusters: I'm near my computer or mobile phone and have 5 mins to kill, hence I will throw out three or four Tweets. I'm a cluster Twitterer, though even my clusters are few and far between. Others are more dutiful. They keep a feed going in some fashion at all times. You could get a decent picture of their life just by reading their daily dispatches.

Then there are those from whom we get the goods. They've taken to Twitter like flies to a rumproast and get and give the goods on people. They pick fights, throw out statements they know will get picked apart and responded to. I was really good at sifting through my RSS feeds for the jewels. I'm less good at sifting through Twitter feeds.

I'll take some tips and hints.

Comments

[Average Jane]

Most of the time I treat Twitter like a mini version of my blog, although it also comes in handy when I'm bored and looking for someone to have lunch or drinks with. I'm sure it will be invaluable at the BlogHer Conference for finding people.

[Christien]

I was the same. All I can say is start following a few people you like that actively use it. Start reading the articles they post and the comments people leave. Follow the people that leave good comments. Also, use the reply and DM feature. Viola! You'll be hooked before you know it. Be careful! ;->

[Tre~]

hey jor....i'm goin with this: define and design the purpose as you're nudged..as you find it productive and helpful....twitter is --to me--a mirror on thought..a glimpse of a moment...it can be a pause (your blog:) literally...i've twittered 'i am seeing an image of a bichon frise in the clouds right now.' or updates on agenda...as you've done. i'm of late thinking it can be a cool way to share something uplifting or healing....not connected to anything or anyone...b/c all who read ours should already know we care about their tooings and froings...but none of us need, really?, to keep up with our calendars...i think the possibilities are huge...esp. for getting the word out on something...however you define. but for now i'm enjoying inspiring myself to look up, gaze, make a picture w/ the clouds and twitter what i'm seeing :)
oh, btw, welcome home from spain :)
hugs....

[Myrna]

You speak about Twitter. There is lots to learn and many interesting people to meet. Plurk is another new social platform that is more informal and conversational than Twitter.

Come by and have a look :) http://plurk.com/user/myrnaslist

If you need help feel free to ask

Good thoughts here. I've found that Twitter, which I'd resisted for ages, is a great way to get a sense of mood. I read about the J&J Babycamp dustup long before it hit elsewhere; same with the Disney Passover flap. To say nothing of the BLOGHER OBAMA INTERVIEW since Erin kept us up to date. It's great for a life-long news junkie because it's so (as we used to say in broadcasting) "real-time" but it does NOT replace the great writing and soulfulness of blogs. I see it as additional, not instead.
See you in two weeks! Yay.

[dorothy]

I am a bad cluster tweeter. I'm so relieved I now have a name for it. I can't get with checking it regularly, so I save it for the car (when someone else is driving), hence my freaky inconsistency. But I do love the gossip, and baby, it's on Twitter.

[iwilker]

As said above, twitter's all about tuning in to the state of the vibe. Who needs techmeme? A constant stream of twhirl notifications shuffles quietly past at bottom right corner of my screen (nice ux, twhirl guys!), and these tell me, as if by osmosis, what's on people's minds.

But actually, it's not all about that. Perhaps my fave thing about twitter (and even with all its outages, I'm a total fanboy) is that people make it into whatever they want. So many different, and very wonderful, uses.

You probably know most or all of these folks, but if you're looking for mojo, here's a bunch of peeps who've got it. They're doing it in very different ways, and there are a bazillion others that I'm equally grateful for.

@nostrich
@acarvin
@zeldman
@hoyboy
@jowyang
@chrisbrogan
@digidave
@kanter
@jayrosen_nyu

-- @iwilker

[kdgriffin]

I too and trying to figure out this Twitter thing so I don't I can be of much help. I'm just trying to authentic and use it for personal things as well. I'm also trying to use Twitter Feed which is like and RSS for Twitter.

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