The Great Twitter Experiment

"Motivate Thyself" Says:

August 16th, 2008, 21:40 pm

I’ve never used Twitter but now I’ll have to look into it. Good luck with the experiment. I’ll be following your updates.

Genesis Says:

August 16th, 2008, 21:49 pm

I`ve been using Twitter for a few weeks now and it`s actually brought a lot of traffic to my blog, so it is useful in that way.

It`s also quite addicting, so I think you are right on when you say you are not going to follow thousands. I follow a very select group of people and keep it small and simple. Personally, I use it most at night when I`m up late working on articles . . . that also seems to be when most other wahms are on and it provides an excellent networking forum if you need to do some research.

Good luck!

Rob Robinson Says:

August 16th, 2008, 21:50 pm

I’m glad you’re taking the Twitter plunge, and I hope you enjoy it. I’ve come to love it over the past year plus after not really getting it at first.

Don’t treat Twitter like email. If you don’t see some updates of those you follow, it doesn’t matter. I use Twitter when I’m in an elevator, at a red light or waiting for a movie to start, for example. Or when I encounter something really clever or (hopefully) insightful. Keeping up with replies is the important part.

Just let tweets occur to you as you go about your day. If you find yourself struggling to find the words, stop thinking about Twitter and go do something else.

Happy tweeting.

"Motivate Thyself" Says:

August 16th, 2008, 21:52 pm

Well I just signed up for Twitter and I’m already liking it. Thanks for the info Leo. Now the question will be can you survive the onslaught that is to come? : )

kristina Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:01 pm

i personally love twitter. the trick is following ppl you like and/or have something in common. start off with twittering about cool articles you’ve read, a tasty meal or favorite guilty pleasure. comment on other ppl’s tweets if you feel the need.

twitter is like attending a 140 character cocktail party. often there are any number of conversations going on at the same time, feel free to jump in when you find one you like.

Debra Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:08 pm

Here’s what’s cool on twitter. You can set up remember the milk as a follower. Then you can text in an item for your “to do” list and it shows up on rememberthemilk.com. You can even text a “to do” item to someone else’s remember the milk.

Enjoy.

Ben Young Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:08 pm

Try two days a week. Monday and Friday as they tend to be the most emotive days and more conversations strike up.

shawn Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:10 pm

I would say if you use Firefox, get the plugin called twit kit. It doesn’t have pagination like the twitter website does, which means you can only have access to what is currently on the screen. This is good if you’re wanting a really minimalist twitter experience.

Jennifer Breazeale Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:19 pm

Welcome to Twitter! A few tips I’ve found useful… Make sure you’re following enough people to be interesting, but not so many it’s overwhelming. This number seems to be somewhere between 20 and 150 depending on who you follow (some people are *really* chatty!) Don’t get SMS or notifications to your phone unless it’s close friends or family in the area - otherwise it will really be disruptive and annoying rather than fun. Don’t feel any obligation to tweet or jump into conversations; it’s perfectly fine to just throw a statement out there whenever you feel like it. Even if no one else is reading your tweets (which is unlikely since I think you’ll be pretty popular follow on Twitter), it can be interesting to see for yourself what you’ve found interesting enough to post. Also, I would recommend a quick tweet when you post a new article to your blog. I know I often have Twitter and a browser handy, but may not have access to my RSS reader. If I read a tweet that an interesting post is up, I may look at it immediately instead of waiting hours or days until I spot it on my RSS reader. Finally, find a 3rd party app to handle your tweets. Posting through twitter.com is definitely not optimal. I’m in Firefox a lot, so I use Twitbin, but there are tons of tools (and opinions about them) out there. Good luck!

pavs Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:21 pm

My tip is to not use twitter, it will suck the life (and time) out of you. :)

Vered Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:25 pm

Welcome to Twitter. :)

I think it’s a great tool for keeping in touch and interacting with people that you can’t see on a daily basis.

As long as you have the willpower to just check it once or twice a day, it’s not that time-consuming. And you do have willpower, we all know that. :)

Shanel Yang Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:28 pm

I joined recently and it’s fun to follow others’ days when I have a few minutes here and there. I basically tweet my latest posts as most bloggers seem to do. But, if someone I’m following mostly complains or tweets too often about nothing in particular, I usually stop following them. It’s not too much of a time drain, Leo, if you use it like this. Good luck! : )

Patrick Curl @ Theresabloginmysoup.com Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:28 pm

Personally, I’d have to say twitter has gone down a lot lately, perhaps signs are even there that they may be failing as a business, which isn’t to say I don’t use it. I’m just needing to find new ways to use it. (Follow limits + removing the sms for UK users, and such)

With that said my advice is if you’re going to get into the world of microblogging platforms, you should look into the following ones as well: plurk and identica. Friendfeed is a good service that you can use to watch all of your lifestreaming services from one place.

My new favorite tool for twitter is monitter.com which lets you type in keywords, and you can carry on conversations on what you’re truly interested in - by doing this people will follow you and join in as well, and from a marketing standpoint that’s what you want to happen.

There’s also a lot of great apps for twitter, you can check out the wiki at: twitter.pbwiki.com for a detailed listing.

One more tip is to look into pingfm and pingpressfm(wordpress plugin for ping fm) ping.fm is a service that lets you send updates to all of your networks or at least the major ones. Pingpress, sends an automatic update to all your networks every time you add a new blog post..it’s a good way to get some more exposure for you blog, I highly recommend both.. You can read my blog post about pingfm and pingpress.fm here:
http://www.theresabloginmysoup.com/intro-to-pingfmin-case-you-dont-know-and-wordpress-plugin/

Lissa Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:34 pm

I’m a big fan of Twitter, as I find it a great quick conversation starter/continuer, that’s a supplement to blogs and focus communities, without replacing them.

Example: I follow one person (a friend) who follows and converses with a number of twitterers engaged in Social Networking and New Media development, particularly ethics and business practices of that development. They have monthly meetups and all “Live Tweet” during the evening. Following one person who’s engaged let’s me “listen” to dozens of points of interest, without getting bogged down with too many people all tweeting the same thing. I can then follow individual tweet introductions to visit new blogs, engage in ongoing dialogue in their comments, and then add them to my Reader account if they’re sufficiently interesting.

The key is to find the right people to follow, which takes trial and error.

Shannon Ritter Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:35 pm

I’m a huge fan of twitter and it’s become invaluable to me with my local community.

There are some tools you might want to try that make twitter easier/more enjoyable than visiting the website all the time. I use twhirl and I’ve also tried Tweet Deck. Those are both nice because they update automatically and with Tweet Deck you can even set up a search so anytime anyone on twitter says “zen” (for instance) that would appear in one column of your Tweet Deck app. It just makes it a little easier and more beneficial.

Ken Allan Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:44 pm

Kia ora Leo!

It’s called the suck-it-and-see approach.

Go for it!

Ka kite
from Middle-earth

Bruce Simmons (brusimm) Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:45 pm

Twitter can be useful, addicting and a time sink if not managed well.

If you’re interested in using the tool carefully for your own distribution and the occasional twit interaction, check out a tool called twitterfeed at http://twitterfeed.com/

You sign up your blogs rss feed to this tool and not worry about interactively posting from your account again. It’s wonderful if you’re a busy bee.

And thank you for your posts… insightful, delightful and appreciated.

-Bruce

rob Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:50 pm

Try http://identi.ca instead… new micro-blog on the block.

It’s not nearly as busy (yet) as Twitter, so easier to start looking for stuff you like, and with their tagging feature easy to find topics of interest as well.

Writer Dad Says:

August 16th, 2008, 22:58 pm

I’m afraid to give it a try. I think I’m going to put it off until I have the time to give it the attention that I’m sure it will require.

Matt Gantner Says:

August 16th, 2008, 23:19 pm

I have been using an app called Tweetdeck (adobe air) and I think it does a great job of organizing what can be a great deal of information. makes the flow of Twitter more managable and enjoyable.

Tri Nguyen Says:

August 16th, 2008, 23:21 pm

Leo, I’ve tried all kinds of things - email, IRC, IM, Facebook and blogging - but Twitter is the thing that I like best.

Use TwitterLocal to find interesting locals to follow. Edit your follow list ruthlessly.

Use a more capable client to post. I like Twhirl. You can easily reply, privately direct msg folks who follow you, favor tweets, and re-tweet. Filter your tweets to see a subset. Post photos.

Use search.twitter.com to search for things that you care about. There’s power in its advanced search options. (You can you its basic search from Twhirl.)

Last year Leisa Reichelt coined a phrase that perfectly captures what Twitter affords: “ambient intimacy.” http://www.disambiguity.com/ambient-intimacy/

Welcome to Twitter! I hope that you stay.

Tri

LivSimpl Says:

August 16th, 2008, 23:39 pm

While I like Twitter, I’ve found Plurk to be more useful to me in that it’s better to chat with/get to know those who follow me. Twitter is better for occasional updates while Plurk is better for following conversations.

Looking forward to following you - in the Twitter, non-stalker way.

Philip Steinke Says:

August 16th, 2008, 23:48 pm

While I support your experiment, my tip is to Boycott Twitter, since it has recently decided to disallow UK (and therefore Australian) users ability to receive twitters by SMS. It is only looking after the most profitable part of the market, and ignoring the rest of it. I think an influential and moral blogger like you should consider taking part in this boycott.

Phil

Eric Blue Says:

August 16th, 2008, 23:49 pm

Leo,

Glad to hear you’re giving it a try. It’s funny, last month I posted an article (rant actually) on why microblogging services like twitter are information overload.

http://eric-blue.com/blog/2008/07/microblogging_i_just_dont_get.html

After some great feedback, and conversation with some friends, I decided to give it a try before I totally dismiss it. I’m now a couple weeks into my own Twitter experiment, and have to say that it’s actually pretty interesting and useful.

The key is cutting through the cruft, of course. But, I’ve actually connected to some new people with similar interests. And, I’ve discovered that tweets can compliment your usual blogs posts. To me, tweets aren’t a “Watered Down” version of blog posts.

Creating a new blog article (for me) takes a bit of time and energy. The barrier to entry/completion can be high sometimes. I think the opposite is true with twitter…the 140 char limit helps. Sure, you don’t get the content/quality that you do with a full post. But, you can communicate and share ideas more readily when you know that the time/effort commitment is low to begin with.

Bruce Simmons (Brusimm) Says:

August 16th, 2008, 23:49 pm

LOL.. Twitter, Stalker… hmm… Sometimes there is no difference.

Scott McIntyre Says:

August 16th, 2008, 23:51 pm

Like yourself, Leo, I am a fresh-faced beginner to Twitter.

As a soon-to-be blogger myself, I regularly participate in blog communities through the comments sections.

However, I felt a little ‘naked’ travelling the blogosphere without a url…. ‘url-less’ I call it!

So, because I don’t yet have a blog, it’s my Twitter profile you’ll find if you click above.

I’ve already got 60 followers- including well known and respected bloggers- which is ‘Twitterific’, as they say! :-)

Rob Jensen Says:

August 17th, 2008, 0:05 am

Great to hear that you are giving twitter a try! To keep it simple set your goal early and consider how you want to use it! I really consider twitter the swiss army knife of microblogging. There a ton of useful third party services and for me it has been a great tool for crowdsourcing and networking within are where I live and those in similar industry.

And don’t feel like you have to follow anyone on twitter. They have great search tool so just subscribe to the keywords you are interested in such as on this link: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%40zen_habits

Prateek Says:

August 17th, 2008, 2:31 am

if you don’t want spammers following you,then keep updates protected :)

Ben Rasmusen Says:

August 17th, 2008, 4:08 am

Twitter is addicting, but if you’re doing it for a specific purpose (mine was to network and build my personal brand) then it’s worth the time it takes up. If you don’t have a specific purpose and you don’t set limits it can get pretty addicting in my experience.

Having said that, it’s nice to have you on twitter. Best of luck with it.

http://twitter.com/benrasmusen

Mark McGuinness Says:

August 17th, 2008, 4:14 am

I resisted twitter for ages, then tried it and decided it was great. So I wrote up the reasons I was wrong about Twitter: http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/2008/03/31/6-reasons-why-i-was-wrong-about-twitter/

RhodesTer Says:

August 17th, 2008, 4:34 am

Okay, here’s how I approach it.. this may or may not be what you want, but it works for me..

First of all, I’m almost NEVER at the Twitter website. I use Twhirl on my home PC, and it’s running on the desktop unobtrusivly most of the time. My “tweets” tend to be silly, random things meant to get a laugh out of people. I do this several times a day at most - I NEVER carpet bomb! I’ve unfollowed users I’ve enjoyed reading if they happen to have a bad habit of tweeting every three minutes.

Twhirl has a reply tab and a direct tab, meaning I can always check these to see if anything has been directed to me personally. Everything else is expendable. I’m on a company computer at work right now, and thus NOT using Twhirl.. it’s okay to miss tweets.

I think the general consensus is that it’s okay to use it sparingly and not take it too seriously. Tweets don’t need to be answered - people don’t need to be followed - you don’t have to monitor it every waking moment.

When I get home and fire up my home PC, I’ll check my reply and direct tabs to see if anyone has talked to me.. otherwise the last 20 tweets that it loads are sufficient for a glance and a chuckle, which is fine with me.

Charles Says:

August 17th, 2008, 4:50 am

I’ll step aside this time, as I consider Twitter not only useless but a loss of precious time :)

I think this is the opposite way of making one’s life simple and uncluttered.

rob Says:

August 17th, 2008, 6:26 am

I agree with Matt Gantner, Tweetdeck is a fantastic way for me to filter a lot of the noise you tend to get in twitter. It allows you to organise followers into manageable groups.

Glen Allsopp Says:

August 17th, 2008, 7:08 am

I’ve just followed you, if anyone else wants to add me:

http://www.twitter.com/PluginID

Nicole Simon Says:

August 17th, 2008, 7:37 am

I like having your postings on twitter, it may be another way to come across them.

You want to use the replies tab a lot as well as http://search.twitter.com with certain keywords to search for.

The more you interact with twitter, the more you can gain from it, simply because you build up a relationship. But it is also fine if you just use it once in a while.

See it this way: Think about what you would like to do at some point and then build it up to there. Twitter is great to subscribe on mobile use through the search site if you are on an event or have a certain topic.

I asked readers before where to find my way, about a certain issue etc. you could even post stuff you do not post here.

And no, even if you subscribe to people there is no need to read them all or even try to do so. ;)

Jin Says:

August 17th, 2008, 7:39 am

I finally “get” Twitter. it’s addictive once you have some following and followers.

Chris @ Lifestyle Project Says:

August 17th, 2008, 7:48 am

Hi Leo,

I will be very interested to get your views on Twitter and how it works for you. Maybe a “Twitter to Done” post? ;)

Tim Ferriss has some interesting perspectives on Twitter (note he doesn’t follow anyone!)

I’ve been using twitter recently to promote my blog and engage my readers. I’ve found it to be a great way to promote myself - however you don’t really need to do that as you are already established?

By way of interaction I now ask all my new followers to tell me about themselves on my blog as a sort of “Tweet and Greet”.

I do try and keep my updates to a minimum and add value with my tweets rather than just saying things like “it’s raining” or “i’m eating ice cream”. I think if you add value to the twittersphere you get more out of it.

Cheers,

Chris

Follow Lifestyle Project on Twitter

Herbie MIller Says:

August 17th, 2008, 8:21 am

Tried Twitter for a while but couldn’t build up any momentum using it.It seemed like it cluttered my technological life more than anything. I use Facebook and even that can get annoying after a while. I look forward to hearing about your experience.

Jerry J. Davis Says:

August 17th, 2008, 8:41 am

I’ve been on the verge of trying Twitter for a month or so now, because a group of podcasters I’m associated with are all constantly on it and also talking about what so-and-so said on Twitter. Being that you’re going to give it a try, so will I. Don’t worry, I won’t blame you.

Phil Says:

August 17th, 2008, 9:05 am

I use TwitterFox . I can see new tweets come in while I’m searching the web, but don’t think about them when I close the lid of my laptop.

Lisa | Holistic Treatment for Depression Says:

August 17th, 2008, 9:27 am

I’ve learned a lot about using Twitter right here today. I feel a little uncool because I was basically tweeting my blog posts — but now I’m going to start doing things a bit differently. Do people who don’t know me really want to know my thoughts on my various experiences throughout the day? Apparently so…ambient intimacy.

nXqd Says:

August 17th, 2008, 10:22 am

yay, very nice. I’d like to have comment about this one.
First time, I loved it because people love it .. And I change to plurk.com, it has a beautiful interface. And I change back to twitter, clean up my following, just following the ones I know and I love to here “things” from them, that’s what I learn from plurk.
So, you follow them and feel “I got nothing from him ” then delete, free :)
I’d love to here your experiment ZH :)

Stephen Tiano Says:

August 17th, 2008, 10:26 am

Problem with going into it knowing you’re limiting time on it from the get-go is that you can’t really predict when and from whom something that’ll matter to you will come. For instance, after experimenting with LinkedIn, the social network for cultivating professional contacts, and finding it no great shakes for my field—freelance book design and layout—I find myself just collecting connections. It’s rather like running up a score.

So then I turned to Twitter. Truthfully, it IS billed as a means of following the doings of your friends. But once again I went into a social networking sitch looking for professional contacts. So I tried to gear my following (and, hopefully, followers) to people somehow involved in publishing. At first it was easy to stay focused, searching on mentions of “book design,” “book designers,” and “publishing” and “publisher.”

But you also need to contribute if you expect to get anything out of it. So that’s led me to widening the net and picking up on things people “tweet” about which are not publishing- or book-related. And yesterday, the second time in two days, someone (a different person each day) tweeted about postings from job boards I don’t frequent. The postings were on-target, re: book design/book layout work.

So I’ve been surprised by Twitter and disappointed by a social network tool meant for furthering professional growth.

Noelle Says:

August 17th, 2008, 10:37 am

I have to say I am with the seeming minority who just do not like Twitter. I felt like I was watching cocktail party conversation run at triple speed. For simplicity and zen-mindfulness, I think I’ll skip it.

(p.s. Thanks for trying the experiment, though, Leo. I had been meaning to see what the fuss was about and following you got me out there. It’s just not for me.)

Havana Says:

August 17th, 2008, 11:12 am

@Noelle: I don’t like Twitter either.:x

I’ve tried Twitter but I just don’t like the interface. I enjoy microblogging on Tumblr instead; not AS huge but I’m sure you can attract a flock of followers, Leo. ^_~

I didn’t have much of a use for microblogging except for posting links and videos to things I wanted to share throughout the day. Maybe you can try using it for that too. ^^ ‘Course, since so many people want to lead a zen sort of lifestyle like yours, maybe posting your day’s activities would help them have a better idea of how to set their day up.

Also, go and see Stepbrothers sometime! Sorry you had to miss it. It is *so* ridiculously funny. :) My cheeks hurt from laughing so much.

Stephen Tiano Says:

August 17th, 2008, 11:29 am

Havana, there are multiple ways to improve Twitter’s interface, if that’s all that bothers you. There’s Twhirl and TwitterDeck. The latter organizes tweets along the lines of threads, I believe, tho’ I haven’t gotten around to checking it out.

kaguvkov Says:

August 17th, 2008, 11:29 am

I have not use twitter eversince. Its better for me try it in the near time.

Sue Says:

August 17th, 2008, 11:30 am

I’m surprised (and not) that twitter has become a really structured networking tool for some, and while you might find that beneficial, I do think its good to have some space on the internets for essentially goofing off. So I’m glad that twitter seems to be evolving and becoming useful for both, I personally find it indulges the latter without being a time suck. I do think that people who constantly update from their mobiles are weird, I mean, seriously. Although sometimes while I’m out or en route, I’ll scribble in a notebook, so perhaps I’m just being resistant to the interpretation of twitter as yet being a scratchpad for thoughts.

Maura Says:

August 17th, 2008, 11:44 am

Good luck Leo…. let us know how it goes.

I barely have time to keep up with ZH anymore, thanks to a year of reading and making use of your “keep it simple” tips and habit changing advice, so I will stick to your blog, the only one I follow. :)

Maybe this will change when I upgrade my hardware, and if I decide to start blogging myself someday!

Ginger Says:

August 17th, 2008, 11:51 am

I love Twitter! So glad you are giving it a try.
I just added you, and if you’d like to add me, I’m GingerSnaps. (My tweets are protected, so it will take me a bit to add you, but I will!) :)

Thomas Moviel Says:

August 17th, 2008, 12:02 pm

I’ve used twitter & twhirl, but for the past 3 weeks haven’t even opened it up. I was following about 20 peeps and it just got annoying getting pop-ups with someone saying “I’m going to dinner!”. Yea.

However, there are some amazing and inspiring individuals on twitter who put out quality info and it’s inspiring to follow their lives. But for now, I’m taking a break, as I feel it cuts into my productivity.

Lin Burress Says:

August 17th, 2008, 12:33 pm

Leo, Twitter is amazing tool and one that I highly recommend for anyone with a blog. For me, Twitter helps build relationships with other bloggers, and we all know (or should know) how important social networking is in building a brand.

Twitter also DOES increase traffic to your blog, and helps in getting new followers to begin commenting and engaging with you.

I personally enjoy providing links to blog posts I’ve read that I feel others would enjoy. Give to get has always been my view. Just jump right in and start conversations with people, and you don’t have to follow everyone who follows you. Except me though. :)

Julie N Says:

August 17th, 2008, 12:34 pm

Hi Leo - Twitter definitely has it’s good points and bad…I guess just like anything else, but I’ve had a few successes with it in the form of people writing about my blog/website, asking me to write guest posts and provided resources I didn’t know about.

However, it’s a huge time consumer and can be very addicting. It can at times seem very clickish too. I don’t think anyone tries to do this, it’s just tough to sometimes jump in. I’ve had several people tell me this.

At first I was very turned off by the random comments. Why do I care what that someone is cleaning their house? But over time, I’ve found such comments useful. Like the other day a person tweeted that they were at a restaurant somewhere (in the US) and I did a quick search for the restaurant and found out they offer a birthday freebie. That’s one more for my directory that I didn’t have to hunt down. Time saved….

So there are benefits, but learning how to manage it is the ticket. :)

Good luck Leo! Oh and I’m following you!

United Voices Says:

August 17th, 2008, 13:25 pm

Well, I’d signed up for twitter for quite a few months and I don’t have any regrets. Every now and then i do tweet and update stuff. Not a huge kinda fan, but I like twitter.

I’m following zen habits :)

My twitter address http://twitter.com/nepal

Fit Bottomed Girls Says:

August 17th, 2008, 13:26 pm

I’m on twitter but I still haven’t gotten addicted or seen a huge benefit from it. It’s kind of interesting, but it kind of just seems like a place for people to post links or make snarky comments. Maybe I’m just not cool enough…

Louis Says:

August 17th, 2008, 13:37 pm

I suggest you try Plurk. :)

Sam Says:

August 17th, 2008, 13:46 pm

Good luck! :)

I started with a similar philosophy to yours, following only my friends and a couple of interesting people who I follow via blogs. It turns out that my friends were the big offenders - a couple started posting hundreds of times a day.

Your experiment will only work if you follow people who twitter like you, and there may not be a clean mapping between those people and your friends.

Check out the 10 Commandments of Twitter… they captured my zen-like approach to Twitter. :)

Rick - Tripping the Muse Says:

August 17th, 2008, 14:55 pm

I’m looking forward to see what you think. I’ve tried twitter for a couple of my online ventures and I haven’t found a use for it but maybe my particular niche doesn’t quite benefit from it. Or perhaps I’m just not using it to its full potential.

Rick

Leonardo Cassarani Says:

August 17th, 2008, 15:22 pm

My best piece of advice is to use Twitterrific as your client of choice, without it Twitter wouldn’t have the same feeling to it. Good luck with your experiment!

Jonas Says:

August 17th, 2008, 15:41 pm

I think your particular niche of writing is perfectly suited for the blog format; less so for twitter.

spyscribbler Says:

August 17th, 2008, 16:35 pm

Have you checked out Tiny Buddha? Totally awesome. My favorite twitterer. I bet you’d love it!

If you twittered like that, it would be awesome. But it’s your twitter!

James @ Organize IT Says:

August 17th, 2008, 16:50 pm

Great to see you on Twitter. It’s my social networking site of choice. If anyone is interested I have a productivity Twitter list of productivity/personal development bloggers and fans. Just leave a comment to join it.

Jennifer Breazeale Says:

August 17th, 2008, 17:07 pm

And for an academic’s take on Twitter, check out Andrew McAfee’s article here: http://is.gd/1GzS. (He’s a Harvard professor focusing on “Enterprise 2.0″ technologies.)

Linnea Says:

August 17th, 2008, 17:50 pm

Frankly, I’m in the process of lifehacking and since I already keep a personal blog and have a facebook presence (which is how I read this blog), I’m loath to add Twitter to the mix. I’m afraid it will turn into a procrastination device.

Stephen Tiano Says:

August 17th, 2008, 18:14 pm

I just got to ask: What is “lifehacking”? Not knowing makes me feel like one of the younger kids watching the older kids smoke and play cards.

The Baroness Says:

August 17th, 2008, 21:30 pm

I agree with you. That’s also why I don’t use instant messaging anymore. I never get anything done when everyone wants to talk!

Jennie Rosenbaum Says:

August 17th, 2008, 23:21 pm

I love twitter I have to admit, it is good for brining traffic to my blog but it’s also great for when you’re working alone, it’s a little murmur of conversation or a watercooler you can turn on and off when you are feeling lonely.

natalia Says:

August 18th, 2008, 0:10 am

I use the gadget for google desktop and it’s a great way to make small updates on a website or in a profile (facebook), since you can’t write too long, it helps to make a concise statament.

eltejano Says:

August 18th, 2008, 1:49 am

I thought it was fun at first, then I got tired of it– but then I went back to it and trimmed up my usage of it (got rid of followers I don’t know) and then set it up so that the posts went to facebook, and that my google shared items went to twitter as well . . . so I’m digging it again . . . (in moderation)

Lee Says:

August 18th, 2008, 4:08 am

I find you don’t have to engage everyone all the time, using to simply put random thoughts out there are ask questions.

I’ve found some really interesting people who have visited my site after talking on Twitter and there are others who my entire interaction with them is via Twitter.

You get back generally what you put in.

Greg Says:

August 18th, 2008, 4:36 am

I bet you will not stay on twitter.
I found it a real waste of time which keeps you away from the real…

If you want your friends and relatives to know what you are doing, use IM, blog, sms or whatever. Twitter is just (part time) hype.

Abhimanyu Ghoshal Says:

August 18th, 2008, 4:51 am

I’d give Twitter a try, but then who’d follow me? Twitter isn’t marketed in India at all, and I don’t know anyone who uses it. It’s much easier updating people I know via the editable status messages on Google Talk and Facebook.

1WineDude Says:

August 18th, 2008, 9:02 am

Use twhirl.

Respond wisely.

And not too often.

:-)

Frugal Dad Says:

August 18th, 2008, 9:22 am

Twitter has evolved into something between a chat tool and a blog-marketing tool. Lots of little utilities floating around to publish notices of new blog posts to Twitter, etc, which tends to clog up the lines of communication.

Down the line I’d like to see some kind of Twitter groups feature where you can isolate particular groups of people you are following (friends, bloggers, etc.). Might make for cleaner threads.

Dot H. | Deeper Issues Says:

August 18th, 2008, 9:47 am

I agree with Lisa | Holistic Treatment for Depression, who said, “Do people who don’t know me really want to know my thoughts on my various experiences throughout the day?”

I don’t know a whole lot about Twitter, but what I’ve seen makes me think it’s conducive to a poor “signal-to-noise ratio,” as they say. I hate cocktail parties, so I’m thinking I wouldn’t like Twitter. I’m very uncomfortable with false intimacy, and prefer to read things people have put some thought into, rather than their mind’s meanderings. I wonder whether I’m resisting this because it’s a generational thing, though. I just don’t get social networking. Whatever happened to friendships in person? Oh, I know, they’re all too busy being online. ;-)

Mark Warnock Says:

August 18th, 2008, 9:58 am

Twitter is another technology that trivializes life. I predict you’ll hate it.

nudgeme Says:

August 18th, 2008, 10:01 am

I couldn’t get Twitter either to begin with, but now see it has great networking and marketing benefits. Just the fact of having to condense a message (tweet) into 140 characters acts as a big time saver for me, not waster - both for receiving up-dates on important things I’m interested in and when I want to send out a quick up-date on something as opposed to a longer email or whatever. You don’t need to follow anyone - as you can always search and see what people of interest are doing/saying. Although people who don’t tend to follow others tend to be the ones that have a big following so don’t need to (and I’m sure you’ll fall into this category Leo!) whereas people who aren’t in that position will want to follow more to network, make contacts etc. I also use Twhirl to manage/organise responses and find it easy and unobtrusive. Apart from the obvious business benefits of Twitter as a micro blogging platform, I also love that it can spread the word about something far more quickly (esp in terms of urgent news events, posting first pics of things) so that people can respond more quickly. I really look forward to hearing about how you get on.

Brett Says:

August 18th, 2008, 10:42 am

If you’re a blogger, you should probably be participating in most of the mainstream microblogging activities, with the specific intention of promoting your blog, and your work. Probably why twitter gets so much coverage: self-perpetuating.
If you’re not a blogger, 9 times out of 10 it will produce the exact opposite of zen: simplicity and clarity.
It is another stream feeding the river. Sometimes there can be too much water in the river.

Lu Says:

August 18th, 2008, 11:43 am

Looking forward to following you on Twitter. I happen to like it until you get the Blue Whale…

Danny Garant Says:

August 18th, 2008, 17:06 pm

Well, I took a look on Twitter. I didn’t like the Interface. After that I read the What, Why and How and frankly didn’t saw the point of it. I’m not a blogger and don’t feel the need to follow what other peoples are doing and that they know what I’m doing via a web site.

Bruce Simmons (BruSimm) Says:

August 18th, 2008, 18:07 pm

That’s a good point Danny. Twitter is more a network tool that has practical applications to bloggers and their own niche communities.

Otherwise, I can see where most folk don’t see the usefulness of it. -Bruce

Ashley Says:

August 18th, 2008, 23:15 pm

It’s not just useful for bloggers though. I’m a student and freelancer, and I’ve found plenty of interesting folks to follow that have similar career interests and the networking potential Bruce mentions is real, and often helpful. A quick and easy group of people across the world who can help you with a quick question within minutes is quite powerful!
Feel free to follow me!

Christy Lee Says:

August 19th, 2008, 13:13 pm

I’m a newbie tweeter, but for me it was a great solution to a problem I saw on parenthacks.com.

Basically, I suck at babybooking, heh, and with twitter I can update twitter via text message or online, and have it update my livejournal blog via loudtwitter anytime something significent happens. Since it it saved permanently on livejournal, when I finally get the chance to catch up on the last few months of milestones, etc. I not only have a accurate reminder but I can share it with my friends and family directly via my blog.

Dave Says:

August 20th, 2008, 14:17 pm

What was your motivation for trying twitter?

Reading the comments, someone said it was like being at a great party. This indicates to me that I might enjoy using twitter on a Saturday night, once a month.

Seems to me there’s not much zen about it.

Nick Grimshawe Says:

August 20th, 2008, 14:55 pm

I have enough trouble keeping up with Facebook. Twitter just seems to over the top to me, but I will be interested in how your experiment works. I try to keep this sort of a thing to a minimum so that I can concentrate of the many other things I want to accomplish.

Nick

daily5list.com Says:

August 21st, 2008, 5:30 am

I’ll be following you…

I’m in Twitter for longer than a year and I still think it’s a great experienc for everyday life.

Hoarder Says:

August 21st, 2008, 17:24 pm

Twitter and your 12 rules article can go hand-in-hand, when you are not in an office environment, twitter acts as a virtual “water-cooler” where stuff gets done in an ad-hoc manner. Check it out, and give it more than a week. I’ll be following you.

Melissa Says:

August 22nd, 2008, 14:48 pm

*sigh* I’m intrigued guess I’ll have to try it….

Emma Jones Says:

August 23rd, 2008, 4:04 am

Just signed up to follow you on Twitter. And written the 5 reasons why I love Twitter here http://www.enterprisenation.com/detail/5_reasons_why_I_love_Twitter/2153/1.aspx

MikeC Says:

August 27th, 2008, 19:24 pm

I use Twitter and I don’t get it. But I can’t keep myself from not using it. I have yet to se the benefit but I continue to Twit every single day. See you on there!

MikeC

NIkonoel Says:

September 21st, 2008, 21:02 pm

The Great Twitter Experiment? It’s exactly the name of the experiment i launched today: http://www.nikonoel.fr/post/twitter-experiment