ASTDOC Social media series: Twitter recap

This is another in a series with those whom I've had some great conversations in workshops and meetings. Tonight, I'll be speaking to a group of friends at our local ASTD-OC Chapter. The topic: Twitter.

Related posts:

Launched in 2006, and later finding huge popularity in 2007, Twitter is a platform that allows its users to post updates (called tweets) that are 140 characters in length, or less. This character limit is a hold over from early SMS text messaging. That used to be the way it was for users who wanted to post updates on Twitter. That method of posting tweets has since changed, but the character limit stuck. It's one of the ingratiating elements of simplicity that users tend to like about Twitter.

To say that Twitter has quickly grown since its launch is somewhat of an understatement. In the last year alone, growth ballooned from just over 2 million visitors to just over 23 million.

Think about that for a moment. The kind of growth we’re talking about is similar to a $200,000 home selling for $2.5 million just one year later! (I didn't get that kind of growth for my house even during the real estate heydey.)

Twitter's unfortunate tag line.

As I talk to folks about Twitter, one of the challenges I can sense from the early experiences of first time users relates to the somewhat unfortunate choice of Twitter’s description of itself. From Twitter’s web site:

“Twitter is a service for friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”

Using the description above, it’s no wonder that the metaphor we often hear from new users as they try to wrap their heads around Twitter is, “it’s like a chat forum, right?”

While it could be said that Twitter is, in some ways as simple as chat, the comparison is unfortunate. The diagram below shows a simple relationship between one chat user and those in her chat network.

As you can see, as far as the relationship diagram above goes, it fits nicely with Twitter’s description. “…a service for friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected…” The unstated implication being, “with each other.”

But, that relationship isn’t accurate. A better representation would be like the one below showing how any Twitter user (a “tweep,” in the lingo of the land) has the potential to reach others in the network beyond her/his immediate connections.

As the diagram above shows, person A certainly has the ability, just as she has in chat, to send a message to any or all of the three people directly connected to her. But, unlike chat-type relationships, person A in Twitter-ville will also have the potential to reach the 1,000 people in person B’s Twitter network and the 500 people in person C’s network, as well as the 2,000 people in person D’s network, and so on. (It’s all about the “and.”)

The power is in the retweet.

One of Twitter’s direct benefits, then, for you as a Twitter user, will reside in your network influence. That is, your ability to encourage others with whom you are either directly or indirectly connected, to take some sort of action through their extended network. Typically, that action is in the form of what’s called a “retweet.”

Retweet refers to an action someone in your network takes when, upon receiving one of your posts (a “tweet”), decides to re-post (or, “retweet”) your message to her network. The bigger her network, the more potential there will be for other tweeps to see your message. And, if your message is sufficiently compelling and/or you or your contact enjoys relatively strong social credibility (social cred, as they say), then the more influence you’ll enjoy in getting others who are two- or more degrees removed from you to take action through their respective networks.

The source of this influence can be many things. But, no matter how varied those things are, it typically means you, yourself, must have cultivated sufficient social cred ahead of time. Your contacts have to feel some affinity with you. They have to like you. Or, at the very least, they have to respect the message itself enough to pass it along. After all, their endorsement of your message will reflect upon their social credibility in their varied networks. For this reason, I recommend you keep your messages clean and always respectful.

Notice, I didn't say non-controversial. If you have an opinion, share it. But always be respectful to the next guy/gal.

An interesting thing about social credibility in Twitter-ville is that it has almost as much to do with your activities outside of Twitter as it does in the activities and conversations you engage within Twitter. One common example is the practice of posting updates on Twitter that include links back to insightful and helpful articles. It's okay that some of these articles be of those you posted on your blog or web site. Just don't let your blog articles be the main thing you post on Twitter.

Be cautious, too, about making sure you’re not linking them back to a marketing slick on your web site. Rather, seriously consider publishing informative and free resources (e.g., how-to videos, informational e-books, PDFs, and so on).

As for activities within Twitter, perhaps the most consistently effective practice I could caution you against is to not be like this guy.

It’s not my intent to call attention to the negative practices of any single individual. So, in the snapshot above, I've decided to hide the identity of the profile owner. However, even in anonymity, it's informative as a model of key practices to guard against. Key among them:

no picture save for the default image,
no links to an external hub (personal web site or blog),
no profile information,
nor is there evidence of any history of having shared helpful posts either through original postings or retweets.

The Golden Rule is the key.

As it has been said, new economics have emerged that is built around social currency. To accumulate it, you need to demonstrate commitment to a practice of helping others online, reposting/retweeting beneficial messages from your contacts and occasionally helping to make someone else an online hero by talking them up.

Paradoxically, the more selfless your actions, the more attention you will draw to yourself. In that regard, the community will demand to have a way of learning more about who you are. Hence, it’s important to pay attention to having a complete profile that invites new outpost friends to a hub (like a blog) that reveals your values, interests and passions. This is the case not just in Twitter-ville, but in each of the social network outposts in which you stake a toe-hold.

In my next post, I'll share some Twitter tools I like to pass on to first timers. These tools will help you find other tweeps who are relevant to your interests, find discussions, organize better, and so on.

In the meantime, if you have any ideas you think I should include, please jot 'em down in the comments below.

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