Discovering Twitter

Talking with Dr. Burton last week helped me understand how Twitter is a great social media resource to help me get connected with a potential audience for my eBook.  It is also a great way to find out what kinds of discussions are out there so that I can stay in the loop.  Here is a link to my profile.

Until last week I have always been a little resistant to get a Twitter account.  Isn't it just a great big Facebook status update rave?  I’m no Pynchon, but I do appreciate a little anonymity.  No one needs to hear what I ate for breakfast this morning…

But that was the same argument that I originally had against blogging, only to find that academic blogging offers a whole range of possibilities that I had not considered.  So it is with Twitter.

While being real on Twitter and having a personality is important when Tweeting, Dr. Burton helped me realize that there are ways to ensure that I am posting valuable material that others would be interested in.  I just have to think of it from their perspective and try to Tweet valuable information.  There needs to be a healthy blend between personality and focus.  Reposting blog entries, links, videos, and retweets are a great way to start.   It is also nice to attend events and comment on them while you are there.  Photos, which are something which is pretty applicable to my interests, are also easily shared on Twitter.  This means I’m probably going to visit the gravesite of my old Flickr account and update, update, update.

My latest project, in an attempt to wade the Twitter white water river, was making lists.  Lists are a feature on Twitter that allows me to organize the people I am following according to their comment interests.  So far I have taken my first stab with five categories:  wanderers, travel resources, writers, digital gurus, and photographers.  I’m considering creating a few others lists for editors, writer’s resources, and probably education, but this is what I am starting with.  I’m trying not to over think it and find what works for me.

Also, another helpful resource I found to help me organize my Tweets and lists was by downloading TweetDeck for my laptop.  Now I can track my lists, people who mention me, and other keywords of interest.  It has been very useful as I've tried to figure out this Twitter game.

I have run into a few limitations so far.  I do not have a smart phone, and Twitter seems to just work better with one.  Because I don’t have access to the internet wherever I go I cannot narrate events as they are happening.  For example, over Thanksgiving I went to the mosque for the first time, was interviewed on the Chanel 4 News for being one of the crazies at Best Buy, and had an awesome Relief Society lesson on personal revelation.  By the time I get home it was so far past it felt strange to post about these events.  By not having a smart phone I am losing a lot of the immediacy that Twitter offers.  

Something to think about as I consider making the change from my ghetto phone…