Posts Tagged ‘how to twitter’

We have asked you guys for input for what kind of content you would like to see and learn from on this space.  After all, it’s all about you guys and making the most of it for you.  We got a lot of response from people who are new bloggers and/or fairly new to twitter wanting to know how to make more of their experience.  How to have more of a presence on twitter.  A lot of people just don’t feel like part of the “in” crowd, on many levels. We’ll get to that.

OK, so now that Jen has got you logged on to Twitter I am going to give you the nitty gritty.  I mean I do come from the school of Hard Knock as Jay-Z would say.

It’s true, so I have no problem giving it to you straight.  I am not a guru or expert of any sort, so I am just trying to give you some normal perspective.  I am just a really cool chick who wound up stuck on the couch because of an ankle surgery who joined twitter to see what all the hub bub was about.

I have to say in the beginning I was like WTF is this?  After some intensive googling I got the hang of the basics.  And I just went for it.  I can totally see how some people would be confused and “not get it.”  Once you do, oh boy, YOU’RE HOOKED.  So I will just tell you how I went from 0 followers to over 1100.

And NO I don’t care about how many followers I have, just showing how fast you can get sucked in! LOL  It’s more about the people YOU follow.  I mean let’s be real here, I mean who knows how many of those 1100 are spam, gurus, scammers, porn bots, you name it.  It’s about what fill up your stream with.  Those people should interest you and make you think, spur conversation.  Or maybe you follow the local news, or your favorite blogger that only tweets out new posts.  Everyone uses twitter differently and you just have to figure out what you want out of it.

Since I was fresh out of ankle surgery. I started looking on wefollow.com for people who seemed like they were suffering and pilled up like me.  Well, that didn’t work out so well, so I went with the biggest characteristic about me and what I like to talk about…so I started following moms.   Some actually started following me back.  Some still follow me.  Those are the crazy ones. Heh.  Then I just started looking at who they talked to and so on…then it just started happening…people were tweeting things in my stream that I could relate to. Fussy, defiant kids, snuggles, play-dates, pre-school, poop, ya know, speaking my language. Some men are insightful and hilarious.  Sometimes I really love seeing their point of view.  You know I even follow some awesome ETSY sellers and usually they sucker me with some kind of twitter deal and I end up with this or this. So cute right? (Also, check out Apron Frenzy on our sponsors page. She has become a bloggy friend, twitter buddy, and has made me an AWESOME apron for my mom for Mother’s Day!)

Anyway, all you have to do is ENGAGE. I know, I know you are afraid…well get over it.  Twitter is fun and shouldn’t be taken so seriously, really.  At least not in my world.  Maybe to the “big-timers-of-the-day” but not me.  Sometimes there are streams of dramas that flow through twitter that will get the blogosphere in an upheaval or vice versa. You know what, I usually find out about it after the fact, if I ever even do.  It’s not what I like to do with my twitter time.  I follow some totally rad people from all over the world and the experience is amazing.

You know, I didn’t start blogging until after I started tweeting.  People wanted to know more about me. *CRAZIES* Ialso had some stuff to work through, and so off I went…and now here I am!  Ok well in that picture I am at Chuck E. Cheese, but you know what I mean.

The support on twitter has got to be one of he most amazing things I have EVER seen in my life.   Whether it’s a tough day at work, whiny kids, ankle pain *COUGH*, or something really serious like the passing of a child, twitter will band together.  Twitter can be something very powerful and positive.  Being a part of that is so amazing.  I think so anyway. And what I think matters most.

Everyone has their own twitter style.  Some people like me who have over 18,000 tweets (I only joined a year ago *ahem*) use it as an IM sort of way.  I might have a series of several tweets to one person, or a group of people even.  Which is why it’s nice to use a third-party twitter clients like these.

Anyway if at any point during a conversation you like, if you have something to add, JUMP IN.  That is the whole point .  Don’t be worried that you don’t ‘know’ people.  You would be really surprised what kind of connections you can make with people just from ONE tweet.  Now you are connected, and will probably start following some people they follow and so on.

As far as I am concerned there are no real ‘rules.’  The more you hang around the more you will get what is cool and what’s not.  When it’s not some jack-ass will probably tell you, so don’t worry.  Just don’t let that scare you away.  You can’t get too emotionally attached to tweets.  Seriously.  Yes, words hurt and there are people on the receiving end of the computer that are real, and have real feelings BUT you have to remember you may be misunderstanding the tone.  Or maybe that person has a super dry personality.  Or maybe you just need to unfollow them because they turned out to not be your cup of tea.  Or maybe they are a douche-canoe, who knows.  It’s your twitter, follow and unfollow at your own will.

I tend to tweet a lot while high on my meds from ankle surgery.  This seems to be a favorite of my friends’.  Nothing like a god laugh at my excuse!  I also, vent, learn, bond, and laugh at others, not just myself. Heh. Some people quit following me because I reply and chat A LOT.  Well it’s my twitter and I will reply if I want to!  It’s fun to chat with tons of people at once.  Some days I am too busy, but I spend a lot of time icing my ankle, and on twitter…so if you don’t like it…Ciao!

Some people really get their feathers ruffled when the “big timers” don’t tweet back.  I have even been there myself and a friend explained to me that I shouldn’t take it personal.  Some people have thousands and thousands of followers.  They can’t possibly manage  to respond to every single one.  And that makes total sense.  That doesn’t mean they didn’t appreciate your response, or even get a chuckle out of it…they just don’t have time to respond to 350 tweets individually, so most of the time, they just don’t respond to anyone.

Shoot sometimes I might tweet out something or a picture while I am on the go and get TONS (10-20) of responses but not be able to get back to everyone.  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tweet me again, I might just be busy with the pool boy the family and just can’t.  Also, I wouldn’t want to respond to one or two and not all, so I will just send out another tweet thanking everyone at once.  One thing that is awesome is that if I have a question or problem I can tweet it out and get a bunch of responses and help. IT ROCKS.  My tweeps are the best.  Seriously.

Plus you have to keep in mind that these groups of big bloggers started out just like us, they started going to tweet-ups and conferences and they are friends in real life too.   I am not saying they won’t even be your friend, I am just saying if you are my friend you are just as cool so don’t sweat it.  Friend me here. *SNORT*

Twitter for me is a place where I meet up and talk to my friends.  Some are moms, some are just super awesome people in general, and there is a certain time in the morning when we all seem to log on.  It’s coffee-talk hour of sorts.  Who’s kids are sick, who is overwhelmed, someone’s significant other is always being an arse, who’s so tired they can’t see straight, who wrote a new blog post, current events…you know, the usual.  These are women (and some men) that I have come to know through their blogs, some on Facebook, some email, text, stalk, in other words, really well.  Some better than others, but my morning twitter talk is always fun, and may sometimes involves Bailey’s, medication, coffee and breakfast.

I also follow and have people following me that I don’t really talk to.  Some are the busy bloggers that I enjoy reading their posts, but we don’t really know each other.  Some people just tweet out hilarious zingers that I end up RTing.  That’s all they are there for is laughter and favorite stars. Some are tweeting information I find useful, articles, links to stuff happening in my ‘hood or around the world.  Some are really awesome people and bloggers that we only talk every once and a while, but at some point they tweeted something I found interesting and we found a common ground.  So I don’t talk to them daily…but it’s all good.

If you can’t handle the ups and downs, being ‘accepted’ or not then maybe twitter in not for you. So many people refer to twitter being clique-ish and like high school, and to me it’s really not.  I talk to people from all “cliques” and walks of life, for hundreds of different reasons.  There are always people (IRL and on the internets) that are just (as I mentioned before) douche-canoes, and they always will be.  So to them I quote Jay Z again “Y’all should grow the f*ck up, come here let me coach you.”

There will always be something that will make you sit uneasy.  Just close twitter for the day, or unfollow that person.  No biggie, just let it go.  Or write a scathing blog post blasting them, I don’t care.

Now, if you follow me and at ANYTIME you like what you see, jump in.   Add something to the conversation.  Open up. Share.  Engage.

That’s what the hokey pokey twitter is all about.

P.S.  We would still like to invite you to link up with a post introducing yourself.  We will also be using this as a roll-call of sorts.  It’s an easy post SO DO IT!  Love ya, mean it!