I love Twitter. My friends and colleagues laugh and make jokes about my tweets, twirps, peeps and chirps (their words) but once the laughter subsides they usually want to know what it’s all about. Rarely do I succeed in explaining it well enough to elicit more than a quizzical look and a shrug of the shoulders. But the fact is that it’s hard to “get” until you dive into the conversation.
There are lots of great resources out there that explain Twitter far better than I ever could. One of my favourites is Twitip, a blog all about tweeting edited by Darren Rowse, an Aussie who also authors a great blog site called Problogger. A recent article in Computer World explains the ins and outs of tweeting for business and offers sound advice to those contemplating diving in.
You join conversations on Twitter by following others. I make a point of seeking out and following not only others in credit union land, but anyone who is asking compelling questions and providing insightful answers. It takes time initially to figure out just what’s going on and who you want to follow, but once you start following and listening to the conversations it’s not a big commitment. And the payoffs are huge.
So what’s in it for me? I get to listen in on the conversations of some of the best minds in the world of finance, marketing, communications, politics and social media. I follow some terrific credit union people like Gene Blishen who reached out across the country to help me out with my Mac questions, and Morriss Partee who welcomed me to Twitter and invited me to participate at Everything CU. I’m a journalism junkie so I follow CBC and NPR to keep up with the news headlines, and I’ve discovered great music and emerging musicians through Blip.fm and last.fm. And, I even found an elusive Wii Fit through a tweet sent out by Matt Davis, also known as the CU Warrior, who had just ordered one himself. That was a very big moment!
What’s not to love about that? Sign up for a free account and find someone to follow. (You can start with me @lorinewton!). It’s important to take the time to upload an image that represents you or your brand, and be sure to fill in your bio so others can learn a bit about you. Then, spend lots of time listening and make sure you share stuff you think others will value.
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