Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Twitter



Do You Tweet?

At first, I thought, why bother with another online social networking tool? I was kind of at my saturation point right before I discovered Twitter. I had been on overdrive with Facebook, and then Twitter comes along to complicate my life. Honestly, I had to live off the grid for a few weeks because I was feeling a bit overexposed! Well, it's a few months later now, plenty of time to reflect, and I have formed a definite opinion between the two. There is just not enough time in the day to be a genuine devotee to both. It's not a contest, since both Twitter and FB both do different things, but for my most frequently used networking tool, I prefer Twitter.

Here's why:
• More direct, "clean" connections to others with similar interests
• Allows people to deliver information in a direct and succinct way (140 character limit)
• Virtually no "white noise" (no one's sending me plants or smiley faces, etc.)
• Allows you to connect with people who may deliver USEFUL, HELPFUL information in their tweets -- information which may help you gain more success and enjoyment with your artwork/business/hobby.

What's the diff?
Twitter is more about quick-hit promotion, information-sharing, opinion/feedback incubator. Which I love. Facebook is more a place to primarily connect with old friends where you can also promote your work and share information. I like that too. But, there is a time and a place for everything. As much as I love my iphone and it serves so many purposes (both utilitarian and trivial) for me, it simply cannot take the place of my day planner, no matter how many ways I have tried to make this happen. My day planner is right-to-the-point, no-nonsense, no fooling around. Ok so maybe it's a stretch, but I see similarities between that iphone conundrum and differentiating Facebook and Twitter. Somehow.

The bottom line for many people is that they don't "get" Twitter. I understand this. Twitter - and tweeting - it can be hard to wrap your head around: what it is, the benefits of doing it, the results, the connections made. And unless you are utilizing Twitter regularly, it's going to be meaningless to you. You have to use it to gain benefit. You have to dive in. It might seem like a painful commitment at first but once you get accustomed to it, you get a handle on that aspect pretty quickly, and you can set your own limits on your tweeting, which you are comfortable with, but that still make it worthwhile for you.

For me, utilizing Twitter is a more productive and sentient way to promote myself/network/share information/connect with others, in my fields of interest.

HELPFUL LINKS:
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9 Benefits of Twitter for Bloggers

How To Use Twitter For Bloggers

Twitter for beginners

Growing your Twitter Presence

17 ways you can use Twitter

You're on Twitter. Now what?

What can you say in 140 characters or less in the Twitterverse?

10 Twitter Tips for Artists

Twitter For Artists Series by Art Paw:

Twitter For Artists 1:What do your Tweets Look like? (this one is pretty funny, but true)

Twitter For Artists 2: Customizing your background

Twitter For Artists 3: Creating your Background

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kathy! thanks so much for posting this! I, too have been wondering how to make sense of the TWO!

Ann Gorbett said...

Thanks Kathy-this is so helpful. I created a Twitter account, but didn't know what to do from there. Your post has given me the motivation I needed. Hope you are going well.

artpaw said...

hey thanks for the shout-out links.

Great article. I prefer twitter and see it as a totally different space with different people. For me Facebook has become a tool I use to connect with my husband's family. They are all on it and we even started a family group section there. If they were not active at FB I would never check in with it. I agree twitter's straight forward simplicity is brilliant. I love you Kathy, but I don't need you to poke me, send me a doughnut, flowers, rainbow, or other virtual goofy thing. Facebook's biggest problem is it is clunky as hell and needs a redesign. Facebook is ugly and hard to use, there I said it.

Anonymous said...

Great post! I had no idea what I needed Twitter for before I signed up, but I find it more useful than Facebook now. Thanks for the links, I still need to get my learn on with some proper Twitiquette.

Unknown said...

I'm so glad the post helped you all!! Yay for useful blog posts. :)