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twitter is the "next big thing."

4K views 49 replies 24 participants last post by  fullofgrace 
#1 ·
Have you heard about this? Supposedly twitter is the "thing" for 2009 and it's suppose to attract and keep a lot of readers on your blog.

I personally don't think I'll have twitter. I don't really like it and I have no idea what I would even twitter about.

What are your thoughts on it?
 
#3 ·
Oh I love Twitter now that I use TweetDeck and can organize all the people I follow into groups. Currently I have columns for: direct messages, replies, friends/family, geek love (tech things, gaming), books/literary info (authors, agents, editors, publishers). I completely did not get the appeal until using it. It is perfect for those on desktops! It lives on my iMac.

TweetDeck allows the tweets to come through real time, so it is like Instant Messaging, just without the commitment. LOL

There are other Twitter applications that make Twitter more real time, too. http://twitter.com/downloads
 
#5 ·
My inner Luddite HATES it. Between Facebook status updates, blogs, etc. I think we (as a society) already talk about ourselves enough, kwim? Nobody needs to be *that* informed about what I'm doing every minute of every day.

My inner Geek is mad at my inner Luddite because she won't let her play.
 
#6 ·
ITA. I follow friends/family no matter what they share (even if TMI
). The other groups are those with either fabulous info or pure fun. The mundane 'brushing my teeth now' ? Nope. LOL

There is a hysterical video on Twitter. I must go find it and link it.
 
#9 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by hollyvangogh View Post
My inner Luddite HATES it. Between Facebook status updates, blogs, etc. I think we (as a society) already talk about ourselves enough, kwim? Nobody needs to be *that* informed about what I'm doing every minute of every day.

My inner Geek is mad at my inner Luddite because she won't let her play.

That's how I feel too
 
#13 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by ceilydhmama View Post
I'm so-so. I've gotten several story ideas though and connected with a few editors who have since assigned me work - so it does work. It is a bit fiddly and time consuming though.
how exactly does it work? Like, someone saw something that you tweeted that they thought was interesting/funny so they contacted you?
 
#15 ·
I'm on facebook, so twitter is kind of redundant to me. However, I think it would be a really cool way to keep your readers connected to you on a personal level - especially if you have a more informational/educational blog.

Does anyone know how to get your twitter updates to show up on your sidebar?
 
#16 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by dearmama22 View Post
how exactly does it work? Like, someone saw something that you tweeted that they thought was interesting/funny so they contacted you?
Let me see if I can outline this.
When I started on twitter I tried to follow the advice of a friend to have a goal. So initially, my goal was to promote the sustainable living blog I write for www.Granvilleonline.ca. I followed any 'green' people I came across, then went through any new person's lists and looked for other green people.
I found that I began stumbling across editors and when I did, I followed them. When ever an editor followed me back I'd read their feed and try to find things to either retweet or @comment on. I also began sending out a DM that essentially says "Thanks for the follow (something interesting and relevant) - with the one mag I made a joke that they must be the tech savvy little sister publication of the main mag. When they respond and I find out who the heck they are - sometimes they have their name sometimes just the mag name I ask if they are accepting pitches (but only if I have a good pitch ready to go). On another occasion - the person followed me and asked me for a story on something I had recently blogged on.

I'm trying to keep my follow list under control and have started dumping people who chitchat too much. I'm now looking for story leads and contacts only.

cheers,
Diane
 
#18 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by momma-molly View Post
I'm on facebook, so twitter is kind of redundant to me. However, I think it would be a really cool way to keep your readers connected to you on a personal level - especially if you have a more informational/educational blog.
I actually set up my Facebook so now it hooks to Twitter. When I update on Twitter, it updates my Facebook status at the same time. I have friends in Facebook who don't have Twitter accounts and vice versa, so it's much easier for me to only have to update once.

Quote:
Does anyone know how to get your twitter updates to show up on your sidebar?
http://twitter.com/widgets Helps you create one for blogs, etc.
 
#19 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by aoife View Post
I actually set up my Facebook so now it hooks to Twitter. When I update on Twitter, it updates my Facebook status at the same time. I have friends in Facebook who don't have Twitter accounts and vice versa, so it's much easier for me to only have to update once.

http://twitter.com/widgets Helps you create one for blogs, etc.

Wow..now updating fb and twitter at the same time would be convenient!
 
#20 ·
It's pretty neat. I added the Twitter app to my Facebook - http://apps.facebook.com/twitter/ At http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/editapps.php (think that should work to pull up everyone's own FB - if not click Settings at the top right of a page and choose Edit Applications), I clicked edit setting next to Twitter. At Wall, I allowed Twitter to publish stories and at Additional Permissions I allowed it to update my status, etc.
 
#21 ·
no offense to those who like it, but Twitter seems to be perfect for lazy writers.
i hate reading "tweets" (or FB status updates, for that matter) that say "shopping at Wholefoods for dinner items blah blah" or "watching TV and cuddling with hubby blah blah"... Huh?? are people really that attached to their phones/ laptops/ or whatever portable device they have that they think the world actually cares what they are doing in half-hour intervals throughout the day?? are we really that starved for attention??
ha! maybe i should write a rant about this on my blog.
 
#22 ·
I have a twitter that I used to use to keep friends up-to-date on what we're doing but I haven't been on it in sooo long! I myspace more.
 
#23 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by MommyofHero View Post
no offense to those who like it, but Twitter seems to be perfect for lazy writers.
i hate reading "tweets" (or FB status updates, for that matter) that say "shopping at Wholefoods for dinner items blah blah" or "watching TV and cuddling with hubby blah blah"... Huh?? are people really that attached to their phones/ laptops/ or whatever portable device they have that they think the world actually cares what they are doing in half-hour intervals throughout the day?? are we really that starved for attention??
ha! maybe i should write a rant about this on my blog.

Maybe...I actually think it's a sign that the world cares a great deal, the popularity of these social networking sights are a testament of our need to be connected to other humans in some way. I'm sure there are many people who tweet, facebook, blog, write emails, write letters, make phone calls and connect in all sorts of ways.

I'm not so sure how it's perfect for lazy writers unless you are assuming that we are all twittering away and doing nothing else...I think it's perfect for busy writers!
 
#24 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by MommyofHero View Post
no offense to those who like it, but Twitter seems to be perfect for lazy writers.
i hate reading "tweets" (or FB status updates, for that matter) that say "shopping at Wholefoods for dinner items blah blah" or "watching TV and cuddling with hubby blah blah"... Huh?? are people really that attached to their phones/ laptops/ or whatever portable device they have that they think the world actually cares what they are doing in half-hour intervals throughout the day?? are we really that starved for attention??
ha! maybe i should write a rant about this on my blog.

I agree.. it's like who cares?? The only persons twitter I ever followed was on a womens blog where she posted prayer request for people.

As far as "this is what I'm doing today..." seems so weird to me.
 
#26 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by MommyofHero View Post
no offense to those who like it, but Twitter seems to be perfect for lazy writers.
i hate reading "tweets" (or FB status updates, for that matter) that say "shopping at Wholefoods for dinner items blah blah" or "watching TV and cuddling with hubby blah blah"... Huh?? are people really that attached to their phones/ laptops/ or whatever portable device they have that they think the world actually cares what they are doing in half-hour intervals throughout the day?? are we really that starved for attention??
ha! maybe i should write a rant about this on my blog.


I guess it depends on who you follow. I tend to follow people who tweet things and links I find interesting - news reports, blog posts studies...

If I find someone is just jabbering on - I don't bother...
 
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