At the first of the year, there was a great piece written by David Carr in The New York Times that’s seriously word up on Twitter. This man tells it like it is on why Twitter has – and more importantly will continue to have – relevance.
I agree that “beyond the dippy lingo” there’s lots of substance to “listening to a wired collective voice.” No matter the time of day, I can give Twitter a minute – sometimes that’s all I have – and it gives me the world. The ability to learn, (I’ve often equated the value of tweets to continuing education units) connect, and have fun is right there whenever you want it.
My overriding advice to non-believers and new comers to the service: Twitter is all about what you make of it – or want to make of it. Enough with the love fest already! Yes, there are occasional irksome moments I have with the service. There certainly are personality types that crop up and behaviors that tend to bug. So what are my pet peeves? These are my biggies:
The Know It All: Is there really a “know it all” when it comes to social media? Well, here and there I have found some folks who do put out that vibe, calling themselves experts while tweeting out advice such as this to the masses: “You need to tweet 10 times a day.” I tend go right into my sarcastic mode when I see stuff like that: Oh no, I only tweeted eight times today – all is lost, including my followers!!! OK, so while I agree that if you want the full Twitter experience, sending tweets is an essential part of the package. Just not so sure that there are a quantifiable number of tweets you must send on a daily basis.
The Elitist: Then there’s the type who likes to share their “worldly” opinions on the use of Twitter: “I stop following anyone who doesn’t tweet every day.” Ug. When I read stuff like that, I immediately think of Lucy in A Charlie Brown Christmas when all the kids are trying to eat the falling snowflakes: It’s too early. I never eat December snowflakes. I always wait until January. Puh-leese, I personally don’t lock and load scheduled tweets round the clock (not that there’s anything wrong with that), and you’re just not going to find me on Twitter over the weekend, so I guess it’s see ya later Mr. Twitter Elitist!
The Overachiever: Remember that line above about 10 tweets a day being a must? Well, there are also some folks that like to send out 10 tweets all in a row, intermittently throughout the day. I can’t relate to the spam-o-nater approach to tweets. I also don’t enjoy it. It just junks up my Twitter feed and typically results in an unfollow sooner than later.
The Direct Message auto-responder: I love getting DMs from people. The ability to connect with someone in all likelihood that I wouldn’t have connected with otherwise and “talk shop” is really just the best. So when I see a DM that’s actually an auto-responder to a follow: “Thanks for the follow and be sure to read my blog…yada, yada, yada” it’s a little deflating. I know what you are trying to do. “A” for effort and all that, but when authenticity is really what makes social media rock, a canned response seems a little saccharine. (It also reminds me of lame auto-responders sent via Applicant Tracking Systems.)
No Thanks: When I retweet – more on my joy of the retweet here – I don’t necessarily expect a thank you, but it is nice to get one. Twitter can also be a good spot to crowd source an answer to a burning question. I have fun answering those posed in my Twitter feed. By responding, I’m also open to and welcoming of continued dialogue with that person. While that doesn’t always happen either, when it does it’s (here comes that word again) nice. Low expectations do nothing for me, it’s the engagement with others on Twitter that does.
So there you have it, my pet peeves. Far outweighing those is the essence of why I will continue to tweet and retweet, DM and thank those who have tweeted before me – Twitter has relevance. And no matter the time of day, or place, I’m instantly able to listen in on one of the most fascinating conversations happening at that moment.
