Staying Connected with Twitter

There are a lot of people that I would love to keep in contact, but the fact is with work and kids and other activities going on it is often hard to keep in contact with people that I don't see regularly. Friends from the old school, extended family, people I have worked with in the past and people that have just been good friends are with the group that I classify as, "I wish we could get together," and "What have you been up to lately?" The remedy has come with social networking.

I do know the social website My Space. My older kids and their cousins and friends have been using it for years. I have steered clear as it seemed to be full of kids and topics that were not worthy of my time. I did open up an account at one time, but did not do much with it as it seemed to be a time consuming place that did not hold my interest for long and I couldn't find anyone that I knew besides one of my husband's cousins and the kids. Before you can find someone you must know their nickname, or their homepage URL. Individual's nicknames could change, even daily, so you almost need an invite from someone to find people not going by their real names on My Space. That has changed recently, and now those that are part of My Space can use their nickname on their website, but can be found with a search of their real name. It's optional at this time to add your real name to your profile. Each My Space home page has the option of personalizing many different features that are entirely up to the wishes and technical ability of the individual. Again, I do not spend time here, and have promised my kids to ignore them there. I am by no means knocking My Space. It has an audience, and has opened many people's eyes on how it could be done even better.

My next experience with social networking started during my summer vacation this past year. I encountered people in my groups asking me to "tweet" them. I ignored them at the time, as it didn't seem to be something I had the time or energy to explore. The requests increased and by Christmas break this year I was part of the Twitter phenomenon. It didn't take me long to get the hang of making updates and doing searches. Soon I had download Tweetdeck and Twitterfox to make checking updates from friends, networks and groups easier. Twitter is not complicated at all. I have control of who follows me, and that is the term Twitter uses for who can see my updates. Only those that are following me, that I reply to, or if my profile is not protected, those that look at my profile, can see my updates. I can be open so that anyone, following me or not, can see my updates. I can also have the choice of protecting my updates, which means that only those that I allow to "follow" me can see my updates. If I choose to protect my updates, my profile will not be listed on the "timeline" for others to find me. It is always my choice. If I follow someone, they have allowed my to see their updates in real time, or the next time I log in to Twitter or the platforms that support Twitter. I use Tweetdeck and Twitterfox to check my tweets if I don't have my homepage online.

Another really cool feature that Twitter has is the Twitter search. If I go to the search site, I can search for any word or phrase, and the most current updates containing that word or phrase will show up. I belong to several tweet groups, and we find each other by putting a hash symbol "#" followed by a key or code term. Then anytime we want to find what others are saying to everyone in the group we search for that group's code (i.e. #sxsw). And anytime we want to put out a message for the whole group to see, we simply use the hash symbol and term in our update. Then anyone in the group will see that update. If you are just curious about what others are saying about a topic, then do a search on a word or phrase and see how many times it turns up on Twitter (i.e. NCAA).

Another feature with Twitter is choice of anonymity. When you sign up you choose a user name and have the option of also including your real name so that your friends and others can find you to follow you. You also have a place to write a brief description of who you are so that those searching can know if you are really the one they are looking for on Twitter. But you may just go by a user name in which no one really knows who you are. Others will decide to keep you in their follow group or let you follow them based on what you say in your updates. There are also those that simply collect as many followers, and people to follow, as they can, as if it says something about their worth. I am being a bit judgmental. There are some perfectly legitimate reasons for someone having 139, or 317, or even more followers. Maybe they really do have a large circle of friends and family that have found them on Twitter. Maybe they write an awesome blog, or do a weekly podcast or some kind of TV, radio or internet program. Maybe they are know for other reasons and simply have a following. Hey, I follow Santa Claus. I think it is really cool. (Note to skeptics: He does a weekly program on Blog Talk Radio. You should check it out.)

So what are the basics of an update? It is like blogging, but much shorter. It is like an instant message, but it goes out to everyone that is following you. You are limited to 140 characters to get your message across. Your message goes out to anyone that is following you as soon as they check their homepage or if they check your profile. If your updates are protected, only those you have cleared to follow you will see your updates or see your profile page. Your update can be about anything you are doing, thinking about, have finished or are planning to do. When you send out updates, keep in mind you are sending a message to your followers, or in the case of sending out to a group, the group members are your audience. Make sure that your message is appropriate for your intended audience. If you are tweeting friends, then by all means tell them where you are going, what you are eating, what you are feeling about current situations. If you are tweeting a following of sorts, as in people who follow you because you are a public figure, they may not care what you ordered at Taco Bell or that you are mad about your cell phone reception. Then of course, I think of the Shakespearean phrase, "To thine own self be true." That is my motto, and is why I just write whatever is important to me at the time of my tweet. If people don't like who you are or what you tweet, well, what are they following you for?

To find me on Twitter, sign up for your own account and then look for me, slmar. You can see my latest tweets here on my blog. Happy Tweeting!!!