Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service (offered via a website as well as a host of other Twitter-capable applications) that lets you send and receive messages (known as Tweets) to other people in 140 characters or less.

Here’s a great video that sums up Twitter nicely:



I first started using Twitter a couple of years ago, and here’s a little bit about what I’ve learned:

• People use it in different ways for many different reasons.
• Everyone has some tips or advice on how to use Twitter, but it really comes down to your personal preferences and what you expect to get out of it.

With that said, I’ll share a bit more about my personal “Twitter Philosophy”:

• I Follow People I Find Interesting: When I first started tweeting, I followed celebrities, but I quickly grew tired of the one-way communication model where they don’t follow back, or respond to @Tweets (i.e. messages sent directly to a user on Twitter like @KindraCotton). When I find non-celebrities who are interesting, they usually are more likely to engage in conversation.
• I Don’t Let Everyone Follow Me: I block bots and people are who using automated software to gain followers (spammers). I can usually tell if someone is a “Spam Follower” based on: 1) The last time they tweeted, if at all (if it’s been months, then their following is suspect), and 2) What they tweet and to whom (if every post is a link to an article or website and there are no @Tweets, this is generally a sign of a spammer). I do this because there is no real connection to be made with a “Spam Follower”, plus it degrades the quality of your Twitter network to have a bunch of people that aren’t actively using the service nor are they likely to re-tweet (i.e. re-broadcast) your messages. This keeps my list of followers shorter than my followees, but I prefer that.
• I Unfollow People (As Necessary): Because I amass a fairly large amount of followees by adding everyone I find interesting, I occasionally find someone who doesn’t quite jibe with my “Twitter Vibe”.
• My Take on Following: I will generally follow anyone (except for a spammer/robot) that follows me as a courtesy. When Twitter was first introduced it was a standard procedure to follow someone who follows you, but this practice has evolved. As celebrities embraced the medium, so too did many wannabe pseudo-celebrities who desire a “following” without the reciprocity of a “follow back”. For the most part, I’ve found that if you regularly engage in a tweet exchange (i.e. conversation) with someone, they will follow you back. I’ve also noticed that sometimes people aren’t aware that they aren’t following you if you converse often, so they appreciate the reminder. Most times, if I ask someone to follow me back, they do, and if not, it’s not a big deal.
• I Review and Purge (As Necessary): Because Twitter is an online application that is searched and indexed (i.e. archived) by search engines, everything you tweet has the possibility to end up searchable and remain archived on the internet in perpetuity. For this reason, I regularly review and purge (i.e. delete) tweets I’ve sent that may at some time down the road be taken out of context or used against me in an unfavorable way. While I rarely have to do this (because I think before I tweet), it’s a good idea to keep in the back of your mind that anything you say on Twitter can and will be used against you! LOL. So far I haven’t had a problem with this, but I have noticed that there are a number of websites that have sprung up that re-use other’s tweets for their own purposes (e.g. a Job Search-related site will grab one of your tweets about Jobs and place it on their site).
• Tweet-time Limits: Finally, I find it prudent to have a time limit on the amount of time I spend on Twitter on a daily basis. Currently, my daily time limit is 60 minutes, unless I’m actively publicizing articles or blog posts, in which case I will add an extra 90 minutes. I find that the time limits help me be more succinct in my communications and it keeps me from wasting time that can very quickly become “unproductive”. Like anything, Twitter and other social media applications are best used in moderation. :)

Don’t forget to check out my Nashville Home Technology Examiner page, and Follow me on Twitter (@KindraCotton), Link up with me on LinkedIn, and Friend Me on Facebook.

K.