The Value of Twitter, Part 3: The Informational

The Value of Twitter Series:
Part 1: The Personal
Part 2: The Professional
Part 3: The Informational
Part 4: Join the Conversation
Part 5: An Annotated Conversation

In the first post of this series, I outlined three major areas where I find value in Twitter: the personal, the professional, and the informational. Of the three, the informational is probably the easiest to understand.

Virtually every news-gathering agency maintains a Twitter feed at this point. The 140-character format actually works very well for delivering a news headline with a link to the full story. I follow a few key news services to keep up with international, national, state and local news.

And it’s surprisingly easy to do. I prefer the BBC World for international news, and Breaking News for most everything else (I found if I followed too many news sources the feed got cluttered with a lot of repetitive tweets). Other people use CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, etc. –- depends on what flavor you like your news in.

But the real advantage of Twitter for me is the local coverage. In our little community of Orange, Virginia, we have a local newspaper that publishes weekly. The regional television stations do a good job, but I seldom catch the morning, noon or evening newscasts. So one might think it’s difficult for me to keep up with local events.

But when our board of supervisors abruptly canceled a controversial meeting in the early afternoon, I knew about it. As I did with every other important event that’s happened in our county (and there have been several). Why? Because I followed the Twitter feed of said regional TV station, NBC Channel 29.

And that’s the informational value of Twitter to me. I receive live updates of important events nationally, and locally. If I want more information, I can click on the provided link and get it. If not, at least I’m aware of the event.

Twitter’s what you make of it. Choose the news feeds you follow carefully, and it can be a valuable resource. Twitter’s not the be-all and end-all, but it can be a good place to start.

- Ralph

Day 184 of the WJMA Podwatch

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#twitterset

The Value of Twitter, Part 1: The Personal

The Value of Twitter Series:
Part 1: The Personal
Part 2: The Professional
Part 3: The Informational
Part 4: Join the Conversation
Part 5: An Annotated Conversation

Several people have asked me what value I find in Twitter. They all signed up for the service, and after a few desultory posts pretty much gave up on it.

Well, as I recently wrote, Twitter is what you make it. And it works pretty much like a cocktail party. If you're a wallflower and don't talk to anyone, you're not going to get much out of it. Personally, I find three areas where Twitter's valuable to me; the personal, the professional, and the informational.

Let's talk about the personal.

If you're not familiar with Twitter, you might ask how is it different than Facebook or any other social media site?

Part of it has to do with the length of the posts, and the nature of the service. With only 140 characters, you have to be brief. Facebook, et al, allows for more lengthy conversations, along with embedded pictures, videos, etc. With Twitter, it’s all text. You can provide a link to further illustrate your point, but even that URL must remain within the 140-character limit.

People often dismiss Twitter as a time-waster. And if you're perception of the service is an endless series of tweets about what one had for breakfast, or when they went to the bathroom, then that would be true. But it’s not.

Go back to the cocktail party analogy for a moment. Plenty of people just make small talk in social gatherings. "How's the weather?" "How about them [favorite sports team]?" There's not much value in those conversations. And I think few of us would be interested in talking with someone who could only make small talk.

But suppose you were a fan of said sports team. That opening question might get you to respond with your opinion of the star quarterback. Which could lead to a discussion of the current season, and then favorite plays from past games, and so on. Now you and the other person are conversing in depth about a topic of mutual interest.

That's how I use Twitter for the personal. I sometimes throw out informational tidbits about what I'm doing, to give folks a better idea of who I am. But they’re also designed to be conversation starters, too, if anyone’s interested. Here are some real tweets I’ve done:

One thing I like about fall. When it's chilly, the morning sky is clear and I can really see the stars (even the Milky Way this morning).

"Food will not bring us close to God." (1Cor.8:8) Hmmm. So I guess I better put down that Lil' Debbie snack cake.

Bird feeder's knocked out of the window, and there’s feathers on the windowsill. I think we've inadvertently fed the hawk again.

Sometimes it works. In the following real-life example, I happen to know a goodly number of my followers are interested in classical music. So when I talk about what I listen to, I expect to get a comment or two -- like this:

Me: Listening to Bruckner's Missa Solemnis in B flat. (thanks, iTunes DJ) This choral work seems to flow better than his symphonies. IMHO

Tom: Bruckner's Symphonies flow majestically if the conductor knows what the f*ck he's doing (i.e. Furtwangler).

Me: Not saying I don't like Bruckner symphonies. I do. Now Furtwangler's symphonies are another story entirely...

Tom: Furtwangler's symphonies are awful. He did write a decent Te Deum, though. It's not as good as Bruckner's however.

Me: I actually have all 3 symphonies, his piano concerto, and violin sonata on CD. So I think I've given Furtwangler a fair shot!

Not earthshaking, but a pleasant conversation, nonetheless. And I learned a little in the process, too (now I have to track down that Furtwangler Te Deum).

Just as I would at a cocktail party, I only disclose so much on Twitter. I seldom talk specifics about work (boring), and politics (too polarizing). Since other family members aren't on Twitter, I don't talk about them to respect their privacy.

But still, I find the personal content of my Twitter feed to be an engaging read when I check it. If you pay attention, you can get to know a person better just chatting with them informally. And I've found that to be true, even through a 140-character filter.

Are my followers BFFs? No. But, just like a good cocktail party, it’s an interesting mix of personalities. And one that I brought together by taking part in the conversation and not being a wallflower.

- Ralph

Day 182 of the WJMA Podwatch.

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#twitterset

The Value of Twitter, Part 2: The Professional

The Value of Twitter Series:
Part 1: The Personal
Part 2: The Professional
Part 3: The Informational
Part 4: Join the Conversation
Part 5: An Annotated Conversation

If you want to understand Twitter, think of a cocktail party. In part one of this series, I talked about the value I find in Twitter on a personal level. This would be the equivalent of making light conversation with friends and acquaintances. But sometimes a cocktail party can be more about networking and make business connections than socializing – and so can Twitter.

Like networking face-to-face, it’s important on Twitter to strike a balance between self-promotion and genuine interaction. From a professional standpoint, I use Twitter to do the following:

1. Promote our company’s activities
2. Discover and interact with professional colleagues who can help us, and whom we can help
3. Develop a resource for information

So how do I do that? Well, I actually have two Twitter accounts. @ralphgraves primarily deals with my personal tweets, and @DCDRecords is the Twitter feed for our record label, DCD Records.

Professional tweets in a professional feed
I use the @DCDRecords feed to promote the activities of DCD Records. Normally our tweets concern

1. Notices of our Friday sales and other special offers
2. Notices when new episode of the “DCD Classical ‘Cast” podcast is posted
3. Notices when new releases are added to the DCD Records website
4. Notices when updates and additional features are added to our website, such as sound samples, new artwork, etc.
5. Reminders that we have a Facebook Fan Page and a MySpace page as well
   

All of the above, of course, include a link to the pages I’m referring to. And yes, I’m looking at the traffic for those links. I also like to go a little behind the scenes and share vignettes of what it’s like to run (almost single-handedly) a small record label as eccentric as ours. I’ll post about writing podcast scripts, formatting web pages, exciting new projects, all kinds of things.

As yet, we’ve not received much feedback, but should some of our followers offer up questions or opinions, I’ll be more than happy to start a conversation. And that conversation doesn’t have to end in a hard sell, either. Just as you can form an opinion about a person’s character through conversation, I believe you can do the same with a business -- especially a small one. That’s why our little label (read: me) continues to tweet away.

Professional tweets in a personal feed
I also do some professional tweeting at @ralphgraves. The goals are different than those for DCD Records. On my personal feed, my goal is to build my own personal brand. I do that by posting the following:

1. Notices about a new blog post to C.E. Conversations. If you want to know who I am, and what I know about, this is a good place to start!
2. My radio program on WTJU. This serves two functions. I want to raise awareness of the station within the online community, and document my knowledge and experience in radio.
3. Notices about updates to the “Gamut” playlist. This is the playlist for the above-mentioned radio show. It’s a pretty unique program, predicated on the rule that I will only air a particular classical work once. I just finished show #851, and I still haven’t run out of music to play. The Gamut Playlist site documents that journey.
4. Participating in collegial conversations. It’s not just about me. If other broadcasters are tweeting about an issue, I’ll join in. If you’re at a party, you don’t want to hear the other person’s list of accomplishments – you want a back-and-forth conversation. Me, too.

Other advantages? When our company attended the Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference this summer, we used Twitter to our advantage. I tweeted commentary about the sessions I attended and picked up several followers in the process. I tweeted invitations for a get-together at our booth in the exhibit hall – and people showed up. All good from a business standpoint, you’ll have to agree.

And here’s something else. There was a professional conference I wasn’t able to attend earlier in the year. I really wanted to be in a certain session, as the information presented was critical to our business. One of the folks I follow was there and tweeted during the session. I raised an objection to one of the things being said, my colleague read it, and asked the question to the presenter, and then tweeted the answer. And this conversation wasn’t just between the two of us. All the other professionals in the field who were following the thread got the information, too.

Final advantage – I follow several fairly prominent journalists and podcasters in the tech field. I’ve commented on their tweets, and have received some responses. And in a few cases, been asked for input. Without Twitter, it is extremely unlikely that any of this would have happened.

So yes. I personally find professional value in Twitter. And if you think creatively about your business, you should, too.

- Ralph

Day 182 of the WJMA Podwatch.

#twitter
#twitterset

The Value of Twitter, Part 4: Join the Conversation

The Value of Twitter Series:
Part 1: The Personal
Part 2: The Professional
Part 3: The Informational
Part 4: Join the Conversation
Part 5: An Annotated Conversation

In the three previous parts of this series, I talked about the ways I find Twitter valuable using the analogy of a cocktail party. Many people hear about Twitter, open an account, look around, and abandon their account fairly quickly. Talking with some folks I know that have done so, there seem to be two reasons:

1) They don't understand how Twitter works

2) They don't know where to start.

Hopefully, the three previous posts help with point 1. As for the other, let's return to our cocktail party analogy. You walk into a very large room (perhaps at a convention) and it's entirely filled with people engaged in conversation with each other. The din is overwhelming, and there's no way you can make out more than a few words of what anyone's saying.

What do you do? Well, you could join the people lining the walls, the wallflowers looking on, but never participating (until they decide this is stupid and leave the room). Or you could plunge in. And most of us would probably do so in one of two ways. If we saw someone we know, we'd probably join their conversation, at least initially. If we happened by a conversation about something we were really interested in, we might introduce ourselves and join in. In either case, you're filtering out the noise, by focussing in on something specific.

Same with Twitter. To get started, you need folks to talk to and things to talk about. Many abandoned Twitter accounts have a single tweet that essentially says: "I'm here, now what?" The response is the same as it would be if you made it at the door of that convention hall -- nothing. Because you're not talking to anyone. So the first thing is to start following people.

Following friends

A good place to start is with other people you know on Twitter. The search function is fairly useful in tracking people down. Once you start following some friends, you've part way there. Each person you follow receives a notification that you've added them, and (if they're really friends), they'll return the favor.

Once you have some followers, that's the time to ask "I'm here, now what?" because then folks will see your question and have an opportunity to answer.

Following friend followings

OK, sounds a little circular, but it's not. If you visit the profile page of someone, you'll see a list of everyone that they follow. It can be a great way to discover other people or organizations of interest to you (depending on how much overlapping interests you have with your friend).

Following strangers

You're not just limited to friends, of course. I find it useful to follow my elected officials, for example. Many other public figures have Twitter accounts, too. As do many news organizations, cultural institutions, etc. One way to find such feeds is to search by the name of the person or group.

Get hip to hashtags

Another good way to expand your follow list and find interesting conversations is to search with hashtags. A hashtag is a word with a pound sign (#) in front of it. It serves the same function as a keyword. Twitter recognizes this symbol and uses it as a link. You can click on it and see everyone else who used that hashtag.

So, for example, if you're interested in knitting, you might search for #knit (with only 140 characters, #knitting is a little too chatty). I've found hashtags handy for communicating during conferences (using the conference initials) as a way to talk to other attendees -- some of whom I met through the process.

RT and FF

There are two other ways to join the conversion -- Retweeting (RT) and Follow Friday (FF). When you see RT in a tweet, it means "retweet," or forward to your followers. It can be an efficient way to spread the word about breaking news, things requiring fast action, etc. Yes, it's similar in concept to the idea of forwarding emails, but there's a difference. With only 140 characters stupid stuff like urban legends, and chain letters tend not to happen. RT or not as you choose.

"Follow Friday" has become something of a tradition on Twitter. Every Friday people send out lists with recommendations of people to follow. Usually, the tweet has the designation FF or #FF (remember hashtags?) and then a few names. Sometimes there will be a word or two about why that particular person is worth following. It can be a great way to find people to follow -- and for you to help others find the folks you enjoy conversing with.

Reciprocity optional

Just because someone follows you, you don't have to follow them (and visa versa). If you're at our hypothetical cocktail party and the person you're talking with is boring (or saying something inappropriate) you move on. Same with Twitter. It's fine to unfollow people (even friends) if you find you're not interested in what they're saying.

And conversely, don't be too upset if the people you follow don't follow you. Let your list of followers and follows reflect your use of Twitter -- the numbers don't have to match.

So there are my suggestions on where to start. Where you go with Twitter from there is entirely up to you.

- Ralph

Day 186 of the WJMA Podwatch

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#twitterset