Being Original On Twitter
Today I had a fantastic conversation with colleagues and friends (Happy Birthday FR) that had me thinking about some of the reasons people struggle with social media and social networking. In my opinion there are two distinct groups that immediately come to mind; those who do not attempt to converse because they are indecisive or socially anxious and those who are incredibly repetitive and boring.
Eventually you will make the jump into Twitter, but before you do I implore you to do some homework first. Research some of the Twitter users out there and note what they are doing. Are you actually clicking on those links they push out there so effortlessly? Are you reading what they are saying? Do you understand the context?
It's incredibly easy to become part of the noise on Twitter. The social network thrives on people pushing out their own nonsense every second with no intention as to who should be seeing this, when, and with what purpose. They just assume that its a free way of getting content out there.
For the love of God do not be one of those people. They are ignored and shelved in the space. People are smarter than that. Do not become one of those link droppers and think people are sheep. We will rise against you and outcast you. We will never converse with you and assume every piece of content you put out there is complete garbage.
Basically I'm asking you to be a real person. Here's how you do it - The Top 3 Reasons People Are Boring On Twitter:
1. You Don't Spread The Love
-You don't Re-Tweet or Favorite other content and assume everyone should do the same for you. You're selfish, not social. Get over yourself and partake in other things bigger than you. Join a conversation relevant to your interests and talk to people you wouldn't otherwise. Don't assume you are the Messiah of your topic. You probably aren't.
2. You Hashtag Everything
#Does #This #Look #Familiar?
-You must've gotten caught up in the possibilities of more impressions. It's a temptress and you feel right into her lap. Nobody clicks every word you write. You'll be damn lucky if someone clicks the LINK let alone the hashtag. It's a symbol to show you are in the conversation behind the word/concept. By doing this to every word you are basically dubbing yourself the social media whore. Classy.
3. You Never Tweet Without a LInk
-Real people don't ask you to go to your friends website every time they've completed a sentence in your company. They don't ask you to check out their latest blog post every time they see you. Do this in reason. I am not suggesting you never attach links, but I am very much suggesting you cannot do this all the time. Use the social tool for social purposes - not just for your commercial gain. Make authentic connections and rearrange your priorities. Stop trying to manipulate the system and attract traffic and share some creative thoughts and ideas. Take leaps. Links and traffic will follow if you can accomplish this.
You can follow me at www.twitter.com/shaunnielknih and make complete fun of everything I just said. Give it a shot. We'll talk there.
And if you don't agree with me tell me in the comments some tips for Twitter users to stay away from the boring stockpile of accounts. I'd love to hear your ideas.
