Social Media 101: Tactics and Tips to DevelopYour Business Online

Chapter 24. Twitter Revisited

Twitter is the stupidest thing anyone could ever imagine inventing. If I said to you, "I've got an application that I want you to install that is addictive, time-consuming, cross-platform accessible, and otherwise as sprawling as kudzu," would you say yes? No. Of course not.

And yet, Twitter single-handedly changed my 2007. It added tons more connectivity to my universe. It's given me experiences I didn't have the year before. It's brought me new relationships of value with people who matter to my business life as well as personally.

There are tons of folks who have mixed opinions of Twitter and how to use it, why to use it, and so forth. Here's my take on how I use Twitter and/or how you might find some use in it, as well as some simple Twitter etiquette.

TWITTER IS A BUILD-IT-YOURSELF COMMUNITY

You show up with no friends, and the first thing you have to do is look around and see who you should add. Or you can dump your in-box into Twitter's machine and see if you know anyone. I often recommend this (adding your in-box), but not necessarily inviting everyone in your box to join if they haven't already. (Folks are starting to frown on that experience.)

However, there are some considerations before you jump in and add everyone. Here's something to consider from a guy with 103,000 or so people in my stream (circa October 2009):

• Adding everyone to your Twitter stream means there's more energy, more breadth of interest, but also less ability to focus on a smaller ...