My First Week on Twitter

It’s been a week since I began to tweet and it’s not what I expected. Like others, I thought it was basically a Facebook status update, but without all of the other Facebook features. I checked it out a year ago, signed up and tweeted once:

@charno checking out twitter

Then I never went back until last week. Second tweet:

@charno is checking out twitter again

Is that all there is to this? Why do I need to do this? I’m already connected to a bunch of friends on Facebook. How is this different? After a week, I’ve found that I use both in different ways.

Facebook

• I’m connected to people I know in person – real friends and colleagues.
• Status updates are more personal and general – Diane is sick of snow.
• I share more personal stuff like photos.

Twitter

• I’m connected to some people I know in person, but most I don’t know – industry experts (social media, tourism, marketing, etc.), businesses, and news organizations.
• Tweets are less about what I’m eating for lunch and more about connecting and sharing information.
• For me, it’s less out personal play and more about business, tracking the industry, staying up to date on trends and news, as well as learning how others are using Twitter. I also wouldn’t mind getting to know some of the awesome social media mavens out there.

Getting Started

If you’re not tweeting now, maybe you want to check it out. Here are a few tips on getting started.

• Set up a Twitter profile/handle – It’s recommended you use a real photo or avatar and be honest in your bio.
• Connect with people – You can start by using the search email feature on Twitter to find your friends already tweeting. Once you’re connected to a few people, check out who they follow and connect with others you know or want to know. You can also search Twitter for topics of interest and follow those tweeting about the same things.
• Learn the language – Check out the Getting Started area on Twitter. Watch how others are tweeting.
• Manage your tweets – Check out some of the Twitter apps that help you organize your tweets. I like TweetDeck or find some others on the Twitter download page. These apps are nice for creating groups and filtering tweets.
• Start tweeting.

This is a simplified intro for an individual. A business or organization needs a more in depth Twitter strategy developed. Are you ready to tweet? Then follow me @charno on Twitter.