Thoughts About Twitter
I have not been able to figure out Twitter. Here's the description from Wikipedia:
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. The service is free to use over the Internet, but using SMS may incur phone service provider fees.
As you can see, individual messages are known as "tweets." Cute. But I still can't see how this helps me be a better lawyer or develop new business.
My own lack of imagination, however, should not be read as an indictment of Twitter-ing or Twitter-world. It is, instead, a confession that I need to spend some time pondering the value of this social-networking phenomenon. In the meantime, I bring you Matt Homann's 100 Tweets: Thinking About Law Practice In 140 Characters Or Less. My friend Anne Reed from Milwaukee now has 606 people following her tweets. Anne writes the highly regarded Deliberations blog. And I often see people linking to this blog from Twitter. So there clearly are discussions of interest going on in Twitter-world. Time to start thinking.
Perhaps the biggest challenge here is figuring out whether I could ever say anything worthwhile in 140 characters or less.
ADDENDUM: After posting this, I ran across a Fast Company FC Expert Blog post titled Why Guy Kawasaki Is Wrong About Twitter, which links to Guy's post, How to Use Twitter as a Twool. Both are good reading if you share my ambivalent feelings about Twitter.
Patrick,
I have found this post from Zappos CEO Tony Hseih to have been most helpful in beginning my twitter journey --> http://twitter.zappos.com/start
Of course, feel free to follow me @edkless.
Ed
Quantifying the ROI (I = both time and/or actual dollars) is a challenge.
In my nascent Twitter experience, I have:
1. Met folks who are referral sources;
2. Attempted to expand my personal and professional brand;
3. Found quick answers to questions that mix the best aspects of google searches and zagat user-experience comments;
4. Been exposed to new ideas;
5. Wasted a lot of time, but less time wasted than watching TV.
Hi Pat, I know what you mean. I actually have a love/hate thing going with twitter. I detest the spamming (duh, don't we all) and the pseudo-obligation to follow all those who follow me. BUT, I can tell you that anytime I spend 5 minutes looking through a screen or two of recent tweets, I unfailingly find an article or two which make me feel my time was well-spent. Also, I find it invaluable for news. I first experienced the value of twitter when the Orange County (CA) fires were near to my mom's house (my childhood home) and I couldn't get real-time, on-the-ground news anywhere else. Even the Orange County Register was piping in all the #ocfires tweets to their own website.
You'll note I did not say that twitter has increased my business, made me rich, etc. I don't do any social media for gain, I do it to learn and share. And I think it is that spirit that generates leads and links. It is the same with networking in person. If we walk into a room with the intent of pitching all those we meet, we'll be "that guy" or "that lady" but if we walk in genuinely interested in learning about others, and with our heart set on helpfulness rather than gain, it works. Same with a referral source, etc. Gotta give to get.
PS - thanks for your RTs! :)
