Comments on: Advanced Twitter - The Conversation

By: Vandover Transitions | Twitter as a Networking Tool

Vandover Transitions | Twitter as a Networking Tool — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:36:28 +0000

[…] your network on her blog, starting with her Twitter Tips for Newbies post and continuing to her Advanced Twitter – The Conversation post. So what about Twitter and the job search? If you’re on the market and don’t […]

By: TweetDeck Just Keeps Getting Better | Connecting the I’s

TweetDeck Just Keeps Getting Better | Connecting the I’s — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:38:58 +0000

[…] TweetDeck is in my previous posts about Twitter (Twitter Tips for Newbies, Twitter Stage Two, and Advanced Twitter). Clearly, I’m a big fan. So when I met TweetDeck founder and developer Iain Dodsworth at […]

By: Twitter, I have grown to appreciate you even more… « Aneta Hall’s Blog

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:45:28 +0000

[…] all should loose some of them. Go read his blog post if you still struggle with it. I entered what Barbara Gibson calls the advanced Twitter stage. I listen much more than I tweet. I get to know folks, start a dialog and try to bring value to […]

By: Matthew McCracken

Matthew McCracken — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:52:02 +0000

Thanks for the reply Barbara. I’m sure you’re right - the real value of Twitter starts to reveal itself when you’re engaging with lots of interesting, switched-on people. I should add, I’ve been following your advice since I read your post, and I think it’s definitely helped me get more out of Twitter. In fact I think I’m slowly becoming an addict. Now I just need to figure out how on earth people manage to keep up with Twitter and hold down jobs at the same time

By: Barbara Gibson, ABC

Barbara Gibson, ABC — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:40:52 +0000

Hi Matthew. I definitely don’t believe that “success” on Twitter depends on how many followers you have. And everyone uses Twitter in different ways for different things. But for how I am currently using Twitter, I’ve found that the more interesting people I’m mutually following, the better it is for me. It’s not about ego-massaging (that’s what I tend to think when I see someone with 20,000 followers who is following 100 people). I don’t think of followers as fans or friends (though I certainly have made some friends on Twitter). I don’t measure my “success” by the numbers of followers, but by the great conversations and the fun I’m having and the things I’m learning and the responses I’m getting. It’s completely subjective, but to me, it *feels* like I’m getting something right, like I’ve discovered something really valuable. I’m still exploring, and I’ll keep sharing what I think about it all. But it may or may not apply to anyone else or what they want out of Twitter.

By: Matthew McCracken

Matthew McCracken — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:10:35 +0000

Interesting post, and very useful stuff for Twitter newbies like me. However, something puzzles me. You seem to be implying that being a successful Twitterer depends on how many followers you have. Is this always true? Is it not possible to use Twitter successfully with just a select group of friends and followers whose interests complement each other? If it’s all about the numbers it just seems like an exercise in ego-massaging to me. Or maybe I’m missing the point? Intrigued to hear your views. @mjmccracken

By: Kami Huyse

Kami Huyse — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:39:07 +0000

Barbara;

I have to agree with Ike. I usually don’t follow someone until they either @me or I find them through some other means and I am interested in them. I have never “culled” my list - at least not yet - for people who don’t follow me back. I, like you, have little time to check out every one of the people who follow me, but I make a point to check out everyone that retweets something and/or makes a comment to me directly. Like you also, if they meet my overall criteria I usually add them.

I have only unfollowed someone a handful of times, and usually because they misuse the direct messaging (DM) function.

As for limits on number of people you can follow in Twitter, it really depends on how many people are following you. If you follow fewer than follow you than you are generally okay. You can read about it on Twitter’s blog.

http://blog.twitter.com/2008/08/making-progress-on-spam.html

By: Bruce Colthart Creative (@bccreative)

Bruce Colthart Creative (@bccreative) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:05:39 +0000

“Follow liberally. There’s no risk to following.”

On one hand I understand and even agree – I *should* be roaming more, from person to person, listening in.

On the other hand, I find myself spending more time per person lately, deciding both who to seek out to follow, and who’s invitation I should accept as a follower.

When I do decide to follow, I try hard to draft a sincere Direct Message, including their name and a comment regarding what they’re tweeting or blogging about, even if it amounts to “keep it up!”

I like to think of myself as a quality versus quantity person, though I don’t think the two have to be exclusive. I do use TweetDeck, yet still prefer to sprint through All Friends, waiting to be surprised, delighted or educated.

I have to admit I’m thrilled when a post of mine is retweeted, and nothing beats a Direct Message that leads to a conversation.

But I guess one of the beauties of social media is scalability, so it fits different styles – and different levels of free time.

Okay, back to Twittering!

By: Lee Stacey

Lee Stacey — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:23:45 +0000

Excellent post. I have a similar approach to who I do/don’t follow.

When I get new followers I’ll have a look at their profile and if what they are saying is of interest I will follow back. If they look spammy I’ll block them straight away.

By: Jay Philips

Jay Philips — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:42:00 +0000

Great posts & tips. I don’t use auto follows at all just for the fact that when someone news follows me I always check out their page. I follow the person but if I notice that they are tweeting about things that are just not relevant or TMI’s I unfollow them.

Twitter has helped me expand my network so I can now reach other people in my field much faster. If I have a question I can tweet it and people are so nice to answer back. I do the same, it’s great and helpful tool.

I personally don’t use TweetDeck. I like Splitweet on the web and Tweetie on my iPhone.

Thanks again for the great post.
@jayphilips