Stupid is such a loaded word: you never know how someone else will react if they hear the word
So let’s begin TWITTER WEEK 101 with an agreement that 10 million+ users can’t be All Wrong. They’ve learned it’s all about How You Choose To Use The Power of Twitter. [BTW, as of Dec 2009, the total Tweeple is now at 68 million!!]
Start by acknowledging that as “simple” as Twitter is to use, to really understand its power will take time and participation. I recently read a post on the Four Stages of the Average Twitter User:
(1) Confusion — and the feelings that it is “stupid” to read about someone going to get a pizza;
(2) The first “AHA moment” when you realize there’s more to this than first meets the eye, e.g., for me, it was when I thought about using the technology to have my English students write something of substance to me in 140 characters AND THEN when I found out how easy it was to gather tons of information on the future of marketing;
(3) Remembering to Tweet was listed as a stage when users simply keep reading and reading without adding their own content. Actually this didn’t happen to me exactly. Rather, I was so excited about the things I was reading, that I immediately “RETWEETED” — in other words, copied the link and broadcast it to my followers.
. . . which reminds me that these “Stages” did not include the All Important Terms: Update, Followers, and Following:
UPDATE: Your Home page begins with the question: “What are you doing?” When new [and old] users simply answer that question, you do find out personal info that may or most probably won’t be the “Best of Twitter.” However, most people do NOT answer that question; they simply disregard it and write about an interesting discovery online, in the news, OR BEST . . . to my mind . . . is a personal insight they want to share.
FOLLOWING: These are the Tweeple [i.e. people who use Twitter] you will choose to follow because you either know them, know of them, or have found out that they like to talk about things of interest to you. More about Who To Follow in next post.
FOLLOWERS: This is “cute.” Either you can invite people you know to receive your Tweets [that was how I first got on Twitter] or people will simply find you in cyberspace, and that can be Really Cool — when absolute strangers all of a sudden start following you, it’s a real charge! You’ll learn that there are myriads of ways to collect 1000’s of followers — but the jury is out on whether that is a good or bad thing.
4) Final of Four Stages: You’re hooked. And I was — to the point that I could barely pull myself away from my Twitter Page, to the point where my husband called me Tweetie Bird.
. . . two more points in Stage Four:
Tweetdeck – an application that you can download to help you categorize your actions on Twitter [more about this only after you’ve had some initial experience.[ See my Tweetdeck post]
The power of search.twitter.com – where you can look up just about anything whether it is “future of advertising” or “Adam Lambert” or “dog grooming” and find out what people are saying about that subject Right Now — it’s also a good way to find people to follow who like the subjects you like.
5) My Stage Five: I learned that I can still get a lot out of Twitter even if I happen to miss an “important” Tweet. Most of the good ones are Re-Tweeted. And I, personally, am ready to find out how to Use Twitter for Business.
So, if you are a budding Social Media Marketer like me, stay tuned for reports on Hints, Tips, Tools, and Strategies for using Twitter for Business.
In the meantime, you can check out Novice Primer for getting started in Twitter and Top Ten Twitter Tips
The REAL SECRET is Just DO it! And if you have any questions and/or good tips for beginners and/or your own great Beginner’s Stories, please add them to this post.
Next post: Whom to Follow