Twitter is simply answering the question, "What are you doing?" Think of it like this, it is a macro (very, very small) blog post right in the moment about what is going on. It is a way to communicate with people. These people that you 'communicating' with are your followers, they are the ones who get to see your Tweets.
There is a whole video tutorial that you can watch that is explains it much better if you go to the site, Twitter.com.
There are a lot of people, some pretty famous people, on Twitter. Everyone from the local new paper writer to President Obama is on Twitter. I think it is save to say that Twitter is pretty darn popular.
So I have been Tweeting on Twitter for a while. I signed-up because some very funny bloggers were on Twitter and I wanted more and more of their funny. It was fun. I made a tweet here and there and then more people started to follow me and then more and now, I have almost 120 followers.
But this is where my confusion begins. Most of the people that follow me are bloggers who, I am assuming found out that I was on Twitter because of a visit to the blog. I 'know' who they are. But then there are some that I have no idea where they came from or why they are following me. I mean why does a person who has hundreds or thousands, that's right there are some people who have thousands of followers, want to follow me? I am flattered really I am but seriously?
How do these people know that they like me? I mean, you only get about 2 sentences worth of stuff to say and I know for a fact that mine stuff is not that great. And since you only get people for that short of time the pressure to make really good tweets is intense. In a blog post, I can draw you in, get you interested and make you want to stay. But that just can't be done in 140 characters.
Now once you have hundreds or thousands of followers what do you do? If you have hundreds or thousands of people following you and you are following that many people, how in the world do you keep up with them?
I follow most of the people that follow me but I can't even begin to read all the tweets that they make. I tried to send them all to my phone, which was really cool, until I got my cell phone bill. Lets just say that there is a lot of tweeting going on and I am really paying the price.
So what is a person to do? I think that there are sites out there to help but they just confuse me. What the heck is TweetDeck, twhirl, TweetGrid twitterfeed,TwitterFon, TwitterRide? I have Googled and read about it but still have no idea what they are.
Another thing that I am confused about is that people say Twitter is social. It doesn't seem very social to me. It is not really an instant message system it seems too delayed. But there are people getting together on forums. How and where do you find these forums? And what in the world is #________ after each tweet?
I like Twitter I really, really do and please don't stop following me, I like the attention but I am just confused and a bit lost. So please, won't you help me? Share what you know. All this Twitter stuff is kind of making me Twitter Terrified and giving me Twitter-angst.
I am thinking a Twitter Tutor is in order. Anyone willing? The pay will suck but you will make one blogger/Twitterer very happy.
So How Do You Twitter?
42 comments:
I have a Twitter account but haven't used it. I have followers who are probably bored to tears!
I just can't find the time! lol!
WoW!!! I can't even begin to imagine trying to follow that many people. I don't even know how to find someone to follow them....I have one friend that I follow and that happened because they were registered with Twitter when I did the email search! I am not so sure what really to do with twitter....I have unlimited texts, so I do get mine on my phone and update mine (when I remember to) from my phone... I am on facebook updating my status all the time do it's hard to keep up with Twitter!
Hmmmmmm......
I have ignored twitter for a while. Not for any particular reason. Well...maybe partly due to a hospital stay. But anyway. I too keep getting followers. I think I added 5 more this week. When it's been months since I tweeted last. I have no idea who most of those people are!
And the # in the tweets is for people who are tweeting at the same time about a particular subject. You can go to the search part and only get updates that have #______ in them...and then you don't have to follow everyone who is in on the conversation. Does that make sense?
Amen sister! I need a lesson too. I dont really understand the hype.....
I have an account, but have yet to get into it. Just not enough time in the day, and I enjoy sleeping way too much.
I'm interested to see how people feel about this. I'm not getting the hype as well, but I'm kind of "behind" most trends.
And seriously, Pres. Obama is on Twitter?
I use tweet deck, you can put your followers into a group so you can sort out all of this people you are following who's tweets you don't want to read.
I have been tempted to join twitter...I think you just helped me change my mind.
I love me some twitter. My next step is to use tweetdeck to organize the tweets. Sometimes my twitter feed just starts moving way too quickly and is hard to read.
I don't Twitter, Tweet, or Follow....
I really like Twitter but I'm new to it. I'm just figuring it out. I like the quickfire stuff. But, I never "follow back" the people with 30,000 followers. I'm thinking that they are following new twitterers and hope to get you to follow back so they can sell their services via twits--life coachs, financial planners, computer stuff, etc.
I like the sound of tweetdeck, but I haven't checked it out for myself, yet. I just figured out how to reTweet yesterday. lol
I haven't gotten sucked into this one yet...
I don't twitter, tweet or follow either... Honestly, I have a hard time keeping up with my blog, checking out all the other great blogs, goofing off on FB, and (occasionally) acting like an adult/parent/wife. If I add one more thing to the list I'm going to be permanently attached to the computer!
Quality over quantity.
I don't Twitter....I hardly ever post on my blog due to time constraints (and a lack of imagination)
Would rather NOT have a zillion insincere followers, prefer following and being followed by those that are an enjoyable read or have something to say.
Rocky Twittered over the weekend when he was covering the high school basketball games. He used it for work to update the scores. The sports editor really liked it as he could keep up with the score while at work and could keep the website updated. I have not yet twittered. I don't have enough witty things to say on Facebook.
The confusion. And the time suck =). It's why I don't twitter.
ok, i'm with you on why all these weird people start following me...real estate in hawaii? seriously? why would i seem like the person to investigate on twitter? anyway, i love ur tweets and that's all that matters!
I use twhirl at work. It's just a different interface, that is more user friendly then going to twitter.com. (Same with TweetDeck)
If you are trying to follow a topic that's when you use #___. You may have heard of twitter parties...everybody will use the same tagline #___so that it's easily tracked. I prefer TweetGrid for the parties - it's much easier to pinpoint the people in the "party".
It's a good place to "advertise" an interesting post or get information from your fav bloggers.
But really I just tweet about nothing and sometimes I get a reply, or I reply to someone else. It's just in the background of my window all the time in case I see something interesting, but I don't feel the need to parcipate all the time.
Oh and anyone that seems to be on here strictly for spam reasons, or to advertise their busines I just block.
Twitter is fun, but I became a lil on the obsessed side. I had to pull myself away from it.
I like to blog because I like to write. Meeting new people is a plus. All of this social networking on the internet cannot end well. It gets more and more involved and demanding every day. I just don't get it.
I was already confused about Twitter...but now I think I'll just stay away! lol. I hope you figure it out!
Oh, Twitter...
I twit about once a day, maybe 2 or 3 times. Dude, I'm too busy to stay on there all day. I've got kids to care for. Blogs to read. Jason Statham to lust over. Come on, PRIORITIES!
I read all your tweets. Just so you know.
T-what???? I actually I have heard of it. Infact I have an account, I think. I have never used it. When you figure it out....come back and tell the rest of us who don't know.
Oh Jen - I feel ya - in a way. I only use Twitter on my iPhone - I only like checking in on what's up when I'm cruising around, waiting in line at the grocery store etc. People will follow me if I tweet something that they are interested in or if they live near me. People can search for common words, places etc and then just follow all of those people. The people with thousands of followers? They're just using you. Really. For numbers so they can say they have this much influence on Twitter. They want you to follow them back, That's it. It's all about racking up the numbers.
I think Twitter would be more fun for me if it was ONLY a small circle of people I really knew in blogland. It all seems so damn random but I do like checking in, seeing who is on, and saying hello. Just for the hell of it.
On my iPhone, I use Twitterific and I heard Tweet Deck is great for your computer but I NEVER tweet from my computer - I am way too crazy for that.
Enough rambling - see you around.
:-)
I only follow a small number of people and most of them are people I actually know. (via in real life or through blogging) The only people I follow that I don't actually KNOW are a couple of news sources to keep posted on what's going on in the world.
I do not follow everybody who follows me, and I actually block a lot of them if they look weird or scary.
Most the time followers that you don't actually know are selling a product. Case in point just yesterday I tweeted that I had joined a quilt class. By the end of the day I had 7 new followers-all companies trying to sell quilt fabric!
I haven't tried any of the twitter applications, since I only follow 30 people or so it's really not too hard to keep up. I even actually unfollowed a few people last week because they weren't following me and, frankly, their tweets got boring and too numerous.
Honestly the only tweets I see are the ones that are flying past me on the rare occasions I'm on there. I used to spend hours on there but it was so all-consuming that I had to wean myself off of it. I wasn't getting a thing done.
I do love Tweet Grid for the tweet-ups with the # that you mentioned.
I feel exactly the same way. I Twittered once and it was weird to me. I just don't get the hype. At all.
Yeah, I'm a new twitter-er, and the angst of having to say something really gripping in just 140 letters is scary to me. Yes, that little blue bird scares me.
I don't twitter much. I don't really get it. I get annoyed when people follow my tweets that don't follow my blog. I have no idea who they are!! No one I know outside of "blogland" does it, so I'm not all that into it. I see it's becoming majorly popular though...just saw stuff about it on Entertainment Tonight!
I'm a half-assed twitterer at best. I have a hard time keeping up with it all and I only follow like 100 people. I have wondered, too, where some of my "followers" have found me.
When you figure all this stuff out, can you tell me, too?
I could have written this post. I don't know! I've learned a few things from your comments, like on tweetdeck and such. but I think it's just another thing I probably won't get that into. And that's OK! I tweet a little here and there and that's about all I'm going to do. TOO TIRING :)
No idea. I am really out of the loop on this one. And, I think I am going to remain that way since I don't have a cell phone.
I was interested to read all the comments though!
Twitter makes me anxious. I'm not sure I can handle it. And I'm 21, supposedly of the generation that can handle all of this nonsense.
But also the one spending my spring break helping out at an elementary school and playing with my nanny kids. So who knows.
I haven't joined yet but I am Tweet-Curious:-)
I was really enjoying Twitter...until I had to start working full time. Now I can't keep up, damnit.
Oh, THANK GOD I am not the only turd out there who doesn't know what the #___ thing is either. I even tweeted "What does it mean?" but no one tweeted back.
And, i kinda like it but it is truly just another time suck.
And, no way can you follow all your followers. Just follow the people who have fun tweets. Even follow people who aren't your followers. And, by all means, FOLLOW ME! (JK I think you already do.)
And, yes, get it off your cell phone. That will make your bill go sky high.
BTW, you said your stuff isn't good enough to be followed by some people... beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think your posts are great, every time. YOU may not think so but some of us stalkers, I mean big fans, do.
One more thing: Twitter is a social thing. Some of the bloggers on there are VERY big names but they will respond directly to you on twitter, whereas on a blog they probably would not (maybe privately on email). And it is another way to get your name out there, if you're interested in that. And, sometimes people will post cool things "early" before they find their way into your reader. Like, "I need a recipe for Corned Beef & Cabbage. Any ideas, peeps?" Sometimes people tweet while watching TV like the Bachelor or American Idol. It CAN be social, but you kinda have to know who you're tweeting with.
Sounds like I use it but truthfully it is just one more thing to keep me from doing the laundry. Speaking of which...
I have no Twitter account and it sounds like I don't need the stress.
I'm helpful, aren't I?
I have a twitter account and post occasionally . . . but I can't keep up with everything . . . blogging takes most of my free time . . then the facebook thing really took off - and now twitter. This summer I am thinking I will NOT twitter AT ALL - possibly blog either.
I like Twitter... I don't "tweet" every day. But there might be a day where I post several tweets.
I like to use twhirl... it's easier to have it up than to keep going to twitter.com, and I like how it notifies you of replies.
No Twittering for me. I just can't get into it or Facebook!!!
I'd love to Tweet in Twitter, but I can barely handle Babbling on my Blog. I am tetsing out this Social Networking stuff in baby steps!
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