I have tweeted over 2500 times.
That is a lot of tweets over the last year. A lot.
And after a year or twittering, or tweeting, or twitting…I thought I’d share a few tips I’ve learned along the way that helps Twitter work a little better for me.
1. Web – I almost always only check Twitter from the web.
2. Relationships – I only follow people I have a relationship with. It doesn’t have to be an in person relationship, but in some way or another, these people have say into my daily life. Some people have called me a “Twitter Diva” (which means that I have a lot of followers, but only follow a few) and to those people I say “…and?” I can’t keep up with everyone all the time. My brain is just not wired like that. Sorry!
3. Phone – Of the small group of people I follow, an even smaller group of people’s updates come directly to my phone (my boss, my coworkers and a couple of good friends). Most of the time, I have it turned off though.
4. Interact – To kill the Twitter Diva, I realize there is still a need to interact with lots of amazing people. I check the reply tab to see who all has replied to something I?ve said and if needed, I reply to them. Even if I’m not following someone, it doesn’t really limit the interaction. It just helps focus it.
5. Track – Tracking is a cool feature (when it works). If you twitter “track Nashville,” anytime someone has “Nashville” in their tweet, it will ping you.
6. Give Love – Giving twitter love is easy, but so many people miss it! If you want to give some twitter love, DON’T phrase your twitter like “@whoever has a great blog post!” Because the only people who will see that are the people who follow you AND whoever, and whoever himself. To show some real twitter love, phrase your tweet like “So, @whoever has a great blog post!” That will allow ALL your followers to see and link over.
I know that sounds really complicated but I know for me, it?s the best way for me to interact and allow Twitter to be completely functional…any Twitter tips you’ve learned along the way?
Comments
37 responses to “twitter tips”
I didn’t know about the Twitter track feature. Cool tip!
Thank you Twitter Diva. Your 3 bottles of sparkling water are in your dressing room like you asked.
That is great advice! I am not always sure the best way to use Twitter.
the last one was new to me! thanks for the tweet educational!
Great tips! Very helpful. I commented here from my phone by the way. I am pathetic!
Here is a twitter question Twitter Queen.
How does Twitter decide the order of my followers on my Twitter page?
@BA – i *think* it is via chronological order of when someone signed up.
I have learned a lot of these things by simply Tweeting, except that you are a Twitter Diva, that’s new. I don’t follow everyone who follows me, but I’ve extended my list to people at least within the same field as me (Youth pastors/workers & Web/Graphic people) and other people that I interact with through blogs. I can do that however because my Technorati score is 13 and yours is 5000 :)
I thought the “replies” feature on Twitter keeps track of those who have put you in their tweet (@whoever)… is that wrong?
Anne, can you please explain #6 again? I don’t fully grasp what you are saying.
wow
A brilliant list as always, Anne. A couple of Twitter tips that I’ve learned in my Twitter life (as of this writing I only have 2,304 tweets…I’m behind you!)
*I turn off notifications that are sent to my phone during certain hours. This is family time, not Twitter time. So starting at 5:30pm every night my phone goes quiet, it starts again at 9am the next morning. This can be done in settings–>devices.
*I use 3rd party apps so I can keep a good eye on replies and direct messages. On my computer I use TweetDeck and on my iPhone I use Twitterific.
*If somebody is at a conference or is just being obnoxious and is tweeting every three minutes and it’s making my phone go crazy, I send “off username” via SMS to silence them until they are done with their Twitterhea. A complete list of commands can be found here: http://help.twitter.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=75
@Amy – that’s right, but only if they start the tweet with “@whoever”
@Jeff
If I were to tweet “@jeff has a great blog post today” the only people who would see it would be you (through the reply feature) and anyone that follows both you and me.
But if I were to tweet “Hey, @jeff has a great blog post” all of my followers would read it.
Basically, but starting your tweet with “@jeff” you limit the amount of people who see it.
Though this won’t be popular, I must say I believe twittering is unhealthy. No one should know what is going on in anyone’s life all the time. So much focus on “me” “me” “me” and what is going on in my life, as if anyone cares….what about that time spent twittering being spent on talking with God. He DOES care; He DOES want us talking with Him; and then the focus is off of us.
Deeda – I can agree with you to an extent. Twittering all the time (like anything) is unhealthy. Twittering occasionally is a great way to build community, help others, mass-contact people for prayer, and encourage each other as well.
Anne – great twitter tips. Everyday i debate giving up on twitter, but somehow i’m fascinated by it and i do like the occasional links that people tweet. Also, you just changed my life with the Replies tab. I’m usually in and out of twitter so fast that i’ve never noticed that tab and i wonder why people get upset when i don’t reply to them. Twitter will be whole new world now that i can see who does the @Biscuet thing.
I have a question….Twice my twitter account has crashed and I lose everyone I’m following and all those who are following me. Have you had this happen? I so tired of resetting it!!
Anne – my only divergence would be that relationships can come from twitter. I have made new friends through twitter. I started following someone whose blog I liked, they followed me – now we talk. It’s a cool way of expanding your borders, relating with others day and experiences. In fact, a twitter friend and his wife are passing through town in a couple of weeks and we are going to grab coffee. It’s really exciting.
So you can consider this your official invitation to follow me, @thirdplace and be my new twitter friend. That was shameless ? wasn?t it!
#6—didn’t know that. Thanks
it really has helped develop the sense of community.
i’ve written about it several times, but here are two of my posts on it:
How Not To Be a Twitter NitWit:
http://karlascrazylife.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-not-to-be-twitter-nit-wit.html
&
The Internet is the Biggest Little Small Town:
http://karlascrazylife.blogspot.com/2008/07/internet-is-biggest-little-small-town.html
blessings,
karla
i have to agree with kevin davis (above).
i follow people whose blogs i don’t read, and i’ve gotten to know them and enjoy our chats. it makes the whole twitter experience so much more enjoyable when you are interacting and meeting new people.
xo~K
Well, shoot. I can’t figure out how to get my Twitter to appear in wordpress. Which widget do I use?
Anne…thanks for the Twitter tips. I’ve learned so much about Twitter since I started last November. Here’s one of my first Blog Posts back in January called “Twitter Snobs.” Maybe Twitter Diva’s would have been a better title. :)
http://retread.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/twitter-snobs/
@ Matt Singley “Twitterhea?” I think I had that today.
Ha! Anne you’re too kind! :)
I’m about a couple steps behind when it comes to technology (and I’m FINE with that).
I’m not a fan of twitter..just not my cup of tea, I’m not a fan of facebook either, but the superwall does function as an alternative of twitter.
As far as email goes, I could easily lead a Emailaholic Anonymous group.
Great tips for strengthening your relationships on twitter. I’ve written a related post when I hit my own twitter milestones, http://twittermaven.blogspot.com/2008/07/social-web-milestones.html
totally unrelated. did you see your blog is listed on Guy Kawasaki’s latest venture Alltop.com? Specifically your blog is listed at http://church.alltop.com/ (on the right, down the page a bit).
thanks daniel! i knew i was in life.alltop.com but not church. very cool!
Anne,
So how do you feel about using Twitter to update your FaceBook status? I do this … and have lots of interaction w/ people who see my “FaceBook status” change on FB, then again, I’ve had a complaints and “friends dropped” from people who seem overwhelmed by the more frequent status updates … especially the ones that are more “IM” in context (ie. an @reply to someone) that have nothing much to do w/ me.
As a result, I’ve limited my @replies two-way conversations and use direct message instead. If I use an @reply, it’s because I think everyone else that follows me needs to see it.
Fred
@Deeda, what? Do you facebook? Do you update your status? Do you send mass emails? Do you watch tv? Do you scrapbook? Do you go on vacation? Do you read books?
Anything in life can be “noise” that distracts us from fellowship with God. Twitter, like everything else, needs to be handled in a balanced way. Don’t be a “twitter hater”. :)
Fred… So how do you update your facebook status using Twitter?
@Fred – I don’t really think about it. :) I hardly log into facebook…so if someone “defriends” me, my feelings aren’t hurt. :)
hmmmm…..I accepted your friend request for nothing then…..
@bob … there is a facebook “twitter” application at http://apps.new.facebook.com/twitter/
@anne … i hear ya, I don’t really even “know” if someone “befriends” me … but since every tweet updates my FaceBook status, I try to be mindful of that thought when doing a bunch of @replies that could just as well be dm’s. (which don’t update on FaceBook). It’s all in preference, of course.
@yonas ..awww, u can be my friend. :-)
Aw Fred :)
I won’t get on a soapbox on people with 2,033,550 friends at this time :)
FINALLY found the @replies tab. Good grief, it was staring me right in the face!
The other thing I can’t figure out is how to do a tinyurl from within twitter (web). I always end up using twirl.