Why you should Tweet…
“But why should I tweet? What do I have to say?”
A friend of mine asked this question of a group of us late last week. That “group of us” included myself, my roommate, two friend’s and my friend’s mother. We’re all bloggers. We all met on Twitter before we met in person (my friend and her mother being the exception, obviously), and we have our hands in various social media tools, of which Twitter is one of the most often-used.
Those of us “power users” were faced with a serious question:
How do you bring something you use every day to a new-user level that’s not only understandable, but relevant? How could we explain that not only could she tweet and follow and @reply, but she might actually find it useful?
We walked her through, step-by-step, and saw Twitter through the eyes of a new tweeter all over again. What did we learn? How to break it down, and how to make it relevant to just about anyone. Yes, anyone.
That means you. I pulled out some of the most useful tricks and tips we offered – enjoy!
Who am I?
1) Make your username count. Gone are the days of AIM and MySpace usernames like “CutieGrrrrl43″ and “TeamEdward.” Today, as social media becomes such an integrated part of our lives (or can, between Facebook, blogs, Twitter, photo-sharing accounts like Flickr, and video channels like YouTube), it’s important to take ownership of our online identities. Pick a user name that will inform people who you are, what you’re into, or where you’re from. Use your real name or your initials, consider including your location, or something that accurately portrays something about you. For example, I use my real, full, first name, Doniree.
How will I find followers?
2) Email contacts. The absolute easiest way to find followers when you first sign up for Twitter is to allow Twitter access to your email contacts. Twitter will import any contacts that have an email address you have saved in your contacts that’s associated with a registered Twitter account. For example, if we’ve ever emailed each other and my email address is saved in your contact information, I’ll come up as a suggested connection (person to follow) since my Twitter account is registered under that email address.
3) Word of mouth. Once you have a few people to follow, start checking out who they are following. If you find someone interesting through your own connections, you can meet new people and form new connections by following friends of friends. I’ve met some of the most engaging and interesting people because we found each other through a mutual Tweeter.
4) Local businesses. I love to follow local businesses on Twitter, especially coffee shops and bars. Restaurants will often tweet happy hour deals or daily specials that are only available to Twitter followers. For example, a local deli where I live in Boulder has a daily discount available to customers who follow them on Twitter and can correctly answer a trivia question. Twin Cities pizza shop, Punch Pizza, frequently offers free pizzas and drinks to customers who simply follow them on Twitter and show the Tweet when they come in. I’ve found a much stronger level of commitment and sense of engagement with my community by following local businesses and individuals on Twitter and starting new conversations.
What should I tweet about? No one cares what I had for lunch.
5) So don’t tweet about that. Tweet about things you find interesting, and in doing so, you’ll attract people who want to hear what you have to say. Share links to interesting news stories or articles, pass on information you read about your favorite local hot spots, or respond to someone you just started following and get a conversation started. Share your thoughts, your opinions, your inspirations. Share the kinds of things you’d jot down and keep note of anyway.
Most importantly, have fun and enjoy the conversation! Stay tuned for more Twitter swagger and some details about the different functionalities of each of the Twitter features. Meanwhile, sign up and get tweeting!
Doniree Walker | e-swagger | Twitter
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About Doniree: |
My friends ask me this all the time, and it's so hard to explain something that comes as second nature to me. Next time I'll just pass them on to you
I always explain to people that its kind of like a big chat room where people share links, share thoughts on life and tell you what they are doing.
It was really challenging at first, stepping back to explain the “why” and “how” and again “why” of Twitter, but she's catching on and becoming a real Twitterer, so I think we said something right!
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by ThomasGemkow: Check out this post by @doniree and pass it along to someone who can use it… http://tinyurl.com/yacs8jn #socialmedia #swagger #twitter…
The thing that I love the most about Twitter, is it has really torn down the wall between athletes/celebs and their fans. If you look at my Twitter list, I follow more than 40 professional athletes. You learn that they are people just like you, and struggle with some of the same things we do….really is going to do wonders for professional sports, IMO.
Well done, Doni. Twitter has proven to be so helpful for me in everything from what computer to buy to moral support. It’s very difficult to “sell” someone on Twitter, I’ve found.
Will you post instructions on, “How to Tweet”, “What, When and How to ReTweet”, and what @ and # mean and when to use them?
Yes, we will be working on a piece for that very soon…keep checking back with us, and we will get it all explained.
@Ol’Man – Hi Dad
Yes, the next piece is on @Replies, DMs and Retweets, and the piece on hashtags (#) will follow! 
Stay tuned!
I tried to explain what Twitter was to my parents. I was all “Um, it’s like… uh… ya know. You write things. And then people follow you. And it’s neat.” Maybe I’ll forward this to them! Nice job
@Denise – Ha, that’s awesome! My mom was on Twitter before Facebook, so we had to have the “why do I want Facebook?” conversation after she already knew how to Tweet! Funny thing – now she LOVES Facebook and tells me she’s spending more time than she’d expected there too!
I’m pretty impressed your mom is so techno-savvy. Does she follow you? How does that affect what you tweet about?
[...] know Twitter may be new to you all, but you can find out how to use it by reading this post on e-swagger by Swagger Coach and Twitter expert Doniree [...]
It is because people do not understand it, next time you are trying to sell someone, just forward them Doni’s post
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