Why and How To Twitter. Part 2

This is part deux of my Why and How to Twitter. You can catch part one here.

One of the main reasons I twitter is that I realized that we live in a large world and there are so many ideas out there that we can learn from. I twitter because I am essentially first a learner and then a teacher. Twitter is one of the best ways to learn new ideas but also connect with the people behind the ideas. So let me give you 5 more ways to use twitter.

6. Use the Hashtag. What is a hashtag? A hashtag is a phrase preceeded by a “#” so #yankees or #redsoxsux or #unitedairlines. This is used so that in the multiple volumes of streams of tweets you can assign it a classification. Last week, there was conference that I was interested in. The hashtag was #cat09 so when I wanted to look up to see what is happening I would type in #cat09. Also I’m a huge Yankee fan so I want to interact with other Yankees fans while we are watching the game. I went to my twitter program Tweetie and did a search for #yankees. I could see what everyone was saying and interact with them. If I wanted to add something to the stream of conversation I could add my tweet followed by #yankees.

7. Remember social media is a symbiotic relationship. To really learn and connect you need to have a give and take. Take as much of the information and resources that are available on twitter but also give back by Retweeting (I’ll explain that later), replying to twittered thoughts, and finally commenting on blogs. Tell the twitterer that you appreciate their thoughts. If you can help them in some way then try to help them. I recently had the privilege of helping someone who I have never met other than through twitter by helping them with their airline problems. It was rewarding for me to help someone who I have learned from – to give back to them.

8. Twitter is not about the number of followers but about the interaction. One of the biggest problems of social media is that we have made it a contest instead about content. Twitter is not about how many followers but about how much you can connect with people that have the same interest as you. If you are interested in being a dog whisperer than on twitter you will find others that are interested in dog whispering and you will connect with them.

9. Twitter is not texting. I am guilty of this but remember twitter is not texting between friends. You should text instead of twitter. The point of twitter is not to hold conversations between friends as to what time they are getting off work but to learn or to teach someone.

10. Use the 3 Rs.
R- Retweet – this is putting a RT in front of the tweet of someone else you liked and then adding their name twitter name on it @twittername. For example my friend Steve Patton a youth pastor and rapper impresario from RI who I met once tweeted this morning,

“Make the distinction btwn what you CAN’T do and what you WON’T do. Change is not about can & can’t, its about will & won’t”.

I thought it was a great thought so I Retweet by doing this:

RT @StevenPatton Make the distinction btwn what you CAN’T do and what you WON’T do. Change is not about can & can’t, its about will & won’t

This makes this tweet available to my followers and introduces Steve Patton to my followers.

R- Reply. When you are interested in someone who is teaching you something. Reply back to them and thank them for their thought of ask a thoughtful question. You may get a reply back.

R- Resource. Every one has something to offer. Offer it up if you are good at something. If you make the best brownies in the world. Share your recipe. If you have something funny – share it and it might make someone chuckle. Be a resource to others. Learn and Teach – twitter.

If you have anything else please comment and add your thoughts.

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