If you know me at all, you know that I love Twitter. I love it so much I co-created a network called the #twitterqueens.
Lately, though, I have been missing the “Twitter of old”. When I first joined Twitter, it was an underground social media experiment of sorts. It wasn’t indexed on Google and most people had barely heard of it. That lent itself to allowing those of us pioneers to get some time to mingle. When I first began, it was exciting to have all these new people following me. I soon realized, however, that while the number of followers can fool you into feeling popular, many of these people never actually TALKED to me. I gravitated towards others who wanted to socialize and converse and have made some powerful and amazing relationships (including meeting my boyfriend @mmpartee).
Twitter has always been my favorite social media platform because it is quick and agile and everyone’s experience is defined by who they follow, so each stream is unique. That being said, I have been spending less time on Twitter and couldn’t quite put a finger on why.
Last night I figured it out. I tweeted that I missed when people on Twitter tweeted at me with conversation and not sales. I longed for the day when the stream was more than an endless pitch of blog posts and ponzi scams. Was I ever gratified when out of blue several people started actual conversations with me. Many of them are “old twitter friends” and several were people I had never chatted with. I was energized and excited that Twitter could still hold that positive result for me.
I tossed out that we should create a movement to take back the “Twitter of old” by committing to strike up at least three conversations on Twitter a day.
I added that I thought we should use the hashtag #3Tweets to be accountable to each other.
My plan includes doing some Twitter pruning for the first time ever. I never really felt the need to thin the herd before, but after last night, I feel like it is time to create space for conversations with people who want to engage.
Of course I use social media venues, including Twitter to share my blog posts and business ventures. BUT….I still talk with people most of the time. If you are using Twitter as one neverending commercial sales pitch, say goodbye to me now while you still can.
If you feel the same way as I do, drop in on #3Tweets and share the conversations! I am @LesleyLambert, Twittervangelist!
Thank you, Lesley for putting your finger on this! I’ve dropped out of twitter completely, for exactly the same reason. It’s become nearly impossible to sort through my stream to find actual friends that I can engage with in conversation. I may have to give it another shot, with your #3tweets method, although I have to say that I am bummed that what such a fun, frenetic medium now requires contemplated efforts. Always love your outlook on things. xoxo
Shari, don’t leaaaave! Pllllllllll-ease?
Lesley, GREAT post. I had a crazy week and just finally had time today to do some reading. I love twitter for that very same reason… But then of course I’m also being paid to tweet as @Obeo, so I have to find that happy medium. Where I’m using it as a sales tool, to market blog posts and webinars, but I also have to stop and simply chat… And when time get’s short, guess which aspect of Twitter gets cut? Yep, the fun part, the chatting. We need to stop and remember that Twitter has 2 important aspects. #1 of course is the marketing blog posts etc., but equally important is #2, the simple chatting with our friends. This chatting is equally as important, because it’s how we strengthen and build online relationships. And through these relationships we build synergy and cross marketing. So keep preaching it girl, because that small talk on Twitter is pretty important in my opinion!
Love ya,
Marci