Simple Tip Saturdays are all about giving easy ideas for you to grab and run.
Twitter is a weird thing, I admit. This nebulous mass of people talking into the cloud to each other, but to everyone else as well. However, it is also an amazing thing.
This week I started a new habit, one that has helped my productivity and my relationships. I started listening more.
Each morning I start the day by taking in the goodness my Twitter friends are sharing. I share their joys and feel their pains. I read their words, privileged to see a slice of their lives and a window to their souls.
We seek slowness together in a world, as @taly_g says, full of madness. We are in this craziness together and Twitter makes it just a little easier.
If you’re not sure what Twitter is all about, your assignment this week is to just go listen. If you need more reasons, read Kristin Rutten’s 5 reasons to check out the Twitterverse.
Jennifer:
You’re right, Twitter IS awesome.
I found your blog on Twitter, like this:
KT the scrapbooking lady started following me. So I followed her back. One day she sent me a link to this blog. Two hours later…
That was many months ago. I still read your blog faithfully. 🙂
As for my professional life, a project manager that I follow on Twitter sent me a link to his Stakeholder Analysis template, I downloaded it, tweaked it (2 months ago), just presented the final analysis to my boss last Friday. He thinks I’m awesome.
And I think Twitter is awesome.
HOW do you read twitter? Just curious. I tried TweetDeck, but wasn’t thrilled with it. I use Digsby which pops up tweets on my screen, but of course you have to be sitting there to see them. Do you visit other people’s twitter pages to read back? How do you follow conversations? I always feel like I have no idea what anyone is talking about 🙂 Maybe just because I’m old or something, but Twitter escapes me sometimes!
Jenn, I couldn’t even pretend to keep up without Hootsuite. I can log in from any computer and not have to worry about re-syncing things (like with Tweetdeck). I use Twitter’s lists to segregate people. I keep my main column of everyone (I never read more than 30 min back), @jenniferswilson replies and these columns always in view: scrapbook educators, creative people, biz tips, local people. I keep my lists private so as not to offend anyone. In a second tab, I keep additional columns for scrapbooking: searches for the #scrapbook and #digiscrap hashtags, lists for scrapbook industry and scrapbookers. If there is an event going on – like this week was The Creative Connection Event, I’ll create a new column for that hashtag so I can follow along. Let me know if you want to talk more about it.
I’ll look into Hootsuite. Like I told Eliszbeth below I think having the second monitor gives me more real estate to work with and that might help. I love the idea of having a column for different hashtags. It seems to me that you do a good job working with Twitter, and I don’t want to be an old lady plodding along on facebook! Gotta figure out how to make Twitter work for me and not the other way around:) I’ll shout at you when I get stuck!
Oh I forgot, one of the big reasons I like Hootsuite because it includes optional tweet history threads with each entry. You can look at any one tweet and click on the “in reply to” link and it will show you the entire history of that conversation.
Jenn:
I tried TweetDeck but I too wasn’t thrilled with it. I have played with Seismic but it just seems too much trouble to open it sometimes.
I simply divide the people I follow into simple Twitter lists: “laugh, play, learn”…etc and I read my tweets in Twitter. When I’m in the mood for a good laugh, I click on my “laugh” list. If I want to learn something: my “learn” list. Anything related to my hobbies, including scrapbooking, my “play” list. And so on.
It is simple and works well.
Elisabeth, that sounds pretty good. I did set up a couple of lists, and now that I have two monitors, it is a little easier to keep an eye on more than one thing.
I am so happy to be one of your Twitter friends! This article rocked my socks.