The Power of Positive Tweeting: Beyond Quotes and Smileys
by Lori Deschene
I love finding useful tools and sites, but it’s even more exciting when someone I respect and admire is behind the project. I couldn’t have been more thrilled to contribute a guest post to Just Tweet It–a Twitter directory created by a couple of my favorite Twitterers.
My post begins:
I reluctantly joined Twitter a year ago. Perhaps you can relate to some of my initial excuses for holding out:
I thought Twitter was about telling people what I was doing—and it felt like a better idea to save those details for time we spent together in person.
I didn’t like the idea of narrating my life via technology. What if I started talking about it more than experiencing it?
I was protective of my anonymity. The interwebs is a massive place, and people aren’t always kind; did I really want to open my daily ramblings to critique?
Then something inside me clicked: Twitter is about sharing small pieces of information with large amounts of people. That’s a powerful opportunity, particularly for someone who provides more detailed information elsewhere on the web, and wants to build an audience.
I was one of those people. I was planning to launch my blog about realistic positive thinking, SeeingGood.com a few months down the road. Since there are millions of blogs on the Internet, I knew gaining readers would take time and effort.
In the past year, I’ve made many meaningful connections on Twitter, and introduced quite a few people to my writing, both on my blog and other sites. If that’s a goal of yours, as well—and perhaps you feel frustrated with the process—these tips may help you stay positive and make progress:
Head on over to Just Tweet It to read my 3 tips!
Great post, Lori!
Lori,
I found you through Twitter, so I enjoyed reading this post.
I admit I’m not really big on Twitter — I much prefer writing substantial articles on my own blog. But you are right, Twitter does provide unique opportunities to meet others that I wouldn’t have known otherwise.
So thank you for your tips.
Akemi
Thanks Dani! You and I are always on the same page with this kind of thinking =)
Akemi~ I’m glad this post resonated with you! I know what you mean about writing longer articles. It took me a while to warm up to Twitter, but then I fell in love. I even use the search page as a search engine of sorts. Watching the co-creators make it to Time’s list of influential people this year confirmed what I’d already suspected: Twitter is huge. It’s so much more than I thought it was at first. It’s pretty exciting to be a part of something that’s connecting people globally, in real-time, in so many ways.
Hi Lori,
I read your full post on JustTweetIt, but I lost it! Shoot.
I think one of the things you do really, really well is to connect with people personally in a very kind and genuine way. The idea of making a real connection with one person is a big deal.
I was touched (and surprised) that you had time to write several real message to me, someone you’d never met. In the space of a week, someone mentioned your name to me, and then I heard from you in person. I was immediately transformed into a cheering fan. I think that may be a great place to start… especially for beginners. Rather than trying to amass a giant but uninterested audience, just chug along at first, one real connection at a time.
If you feel like sharing, I would love to hear your insights on how you manage such a large volume of communications across a variety of sites (in such a thoughtful way). Some of it is who YOU are, but do you have some tricks that help you along the way?
Happy Friday!
shea
Hi Shea!
So nice to see you here! I agree with you that connection is a big deal.
Thank you for the kind words. I enjoy building relationships here and on Twitter, and I’m happy to share a little more about what that looks like for me.
When I first got on, I tweeted one daily quote. I didn’t want to open myself up or interact with people. I just wanted to be a person who supplied inspiring quotes. Then I realized a few things:
1. Other people have as much to offer me as I think I have to offer them.
2. If my intention was to be meaningful (my original twitter name was @BeMeaningful) it was pretty ironic to avoid making meaningful connections.
So I set two commitments:
1. When someone talks to me, I’ll respond every time as long as that’s realistic (if 100 people respond this approach may not work as well).
2. I’ll make an effort to know people I talk to beyond their avatar and bio.
Usually when I respond to someone, I try to learn one thing about them first, through either their twitter stream or blog. This way I can possibly address that and start a conversation that feels meaningful. I don’t always do this; sometimes I just converse. But I generally make it a priority to show I care. Because I do.
I’m in a unique situation now. I’ve been unemployed for the bulk of the year. I have lots of time on my hands to write for my blog and others, and to engage people across various sites throughout the day. If I were working 40 hours a week in addition to blogging, I’d connect with far fewer people.
But I think I’d still do it as I do; just on a smaller scale.
I guess what I feel it comes down to is quality of interactions over quantity. Leo of Zen Habits wrote once that he sometimes misses having less clout because he could engage people in the comments. I can understand that at some point it becomes more challenging. So the best we can do, I’d say, is use the time we have to connect genuinely with whoever we can.
I hope that helps. Thank you again for reading my blog =)
Lori