Help I'm Drowning in Twitter

Even though I've had a Twitter account for a while now, about a week ago I decided to dive in, really get my fingers a Twittering and see how it all works. Started following a bunch of people that I think are smart (hey, they were smart enough to follow me!) and I hopped on to the Twitter-train.

One of the first things I did was check the lists to see how many people folks were following. I follow about 30, but some of the folks I checked were following like 1,000+ people! I don't know how they keep up with just the single back & forth conversations of 1,000 people, let alone the many thousands of threads of conversations that must be going on. And I have to think that maybe they have no idea what's actually being said, but they wanted big numbers so they follow everyone. I don't know.

But I bet they don't have it set-up to receive cell phone alerts for all those folks. Just with the 30 people I'm following I'm getting another 50+ text messages a day. It seems like my phone is always pinging to let me know a new message has arrived.

And, myself VERY included, most people just don't have that much to say all day long. Sure I get (and hopefully have given) the occassional good piece of information that I can use, or sometimes just something fun, but mainly I get (and have given) some pretty mundane information. Like where I've just landed or that Hilton charges $25 for an extra hour to check out. I guess if I were writing something more, it might be the start of an interesting dialogue, but as a singular sentence, I'm not sure how much value it has.

Then there's the pressure to Twitter. I've got people following me from lots of parts of the world, I constantly feel the need to be profound. They're following me, after all, so they must think I have something to say. So, I feel like I need to keep saying things. Even when I don't really have anything to say.

And I must say, I don't seem to stimulate much dialogue. Like I said, people have chosen to follow me, but they don't respond to me. When I Twitter that I'm getting on a plane, no body wishes me a safe journey. When I post a link to something I've written on our blog, I don't get agreements, disagreements or anything. Although a few folks made fun of me because I was still watching Gigi instead of the start of the Super Bowl. (You know, I never get many comments on my blog either. Maybe it's how I write.)

Now, I've already pitched Twitter to three clients, so under the right circumstances, I think it can have great value. But, I'm still trying to figure out what it does for me, and what I do for it. I'll Twitter this post and see if it sparks any twitterlogue or maybe some comments on our blog!

Comments

[Geoff]

David, I feel your pain. I decided a couple of weeks ago to really engage in the whole social media scene. I found twitter fairly intimidating at first; who to follow, the cultural "conventions" that accompany any established group, and yes, the pressure to contribute something of use. I also got the feeling that I was speaking to no one. My perspective changed as I thought about abandoning the experiment. I think that on-line, just as in real life, it takes time and effort to build a group of bright people in your world with whom you can really engage. Initially, I find that I'm following the "rock stars" of the on-line world. JC Hutchins and Scott Sigler got the ball rolling, followed quickly by Leo Laport, Jason Calacanis, Dave Winer, Cali Lewis, Guy Kawasaki, etc, etc. These are folks with thousands of followers, and are fun to follow from an entertainment perspective. Nonetheless, I'm not sure at this point when, or if, there will be a transfer to "regular folks".

Don't worry about being profound. Just do what seems comfortable. The good stuff will come through and people will find it. That's the beauty of 140 characters; even when you're headed down a gopher hole, you just can't get too far!

Final note, you are probably limiting the response you get on your blog by forcing people to create a typekey account. It's not exactly a quick and painless experience. People just don't want to be bothered with one more account and one more password just to type off a sentence or two.

My two cents. The blog looks great, and I look forward to digging through it more.
(courtesy the @stweetteam)

[J.C. Hutchins]

Excellent post, David. I'm glad to see a Stweet Team (@stweetteam) member has commented here. I hope you enjoy the new Twitter followers, and feel more welcome in the community.

[David Polinchock]

Geoff:

Thanks for your comments! I've gone back & forth with comments and had to go to the Typepad account format due to the amount of comment spam. But I've changed the format and let's see if this works better!

David

[Nathan Lowell]

Twitter takes some getting used to. It's not like blogging. It's more like a chat room. It's like sitting next to the river. You go there, sit for awhile, watch what goes by. Sometimes it's just floating junk. Sometimes it's a houseboat. Sometimes somebody flips you the bird and other times they throw you candy. When you need to, you get up and leave.

At least that's how I see it.

I also didn't get it until I used it to connect to two communities of practice with which I have connection -- the Podiobook authors group and a group of educators that I relate to. It took awhile to get used to it and my level of critical mass was about 50. Once I was following 50 people, there was sufficient flow to interest me. Which in turn gave me incentive to participate more, which in turn helped with that reciprocity.

Part of my learning experience was in throwing stuff onto the wall and seeing what would stick.

You asked for "business uses" of twitter in one of your tweets. I just replied to it. Cluetrain, man, Cluetrain. "Business uses" smacks of MSM and more clueless than Cluetrain.

Hutch's Stweetteam is kind of a cross over - a virtual flashmob idea - where he's asking some of his followers and colleagues to work as a group and try to see if there's any leverage in massed conversations - a la Cluetrain - by "spreading the love" rather than "spreading the message."

That's a fundamental distinction, I think. Had he asked us all to promote JC Hutchins Inc, most of us might have because we know that JC would respond in kind to requests to promote Whoever We Are Inc in return.

Part of this issue is based on the idea that we're splashing in the tidepools of a new global ocean of conversation. Power-curves, long-tails, zero incremental cost of production and distribution are all good but the MARKETS are formed - as Cluetrain points out - in the conversation.

Just my opinion. Your Mileage May Vary.

(courtesy of the @stweetteam)

[John Herrington]

Hi David -
I think your frustration isn't unique in that it takes everyone a little while to get used to Twitter and how it's relevant to us. What you'll find is that even though some people are following 1,000+ people I'd guesstimate that less than 25% actually Twitter on a regular basis. The trick to Twitter is looking to add value to the conversation and engaging with other people that are trying to do the same. Happy Twittering!
Twitter me: @johnherrington

[Adrian Miller]

Hi David: Thanks for directing me to your post. I think that I'm going to jump in the twitter pool and see what happens...and heck, follow you and I'll be certain to wish you a safe flight and all. I really do like Facebook and there seems to be many people that reference "twittering" on the site...and so I decided to hop aboard. I'll let you know.