Comments on: Treat Twitter respectfully for the right response http://alice-online.co.uk/treat-twitter-respectfully-for-the-right-response/ Thoughts of a visual marketer Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:05:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: alicedesigns http://alice-online.co.uk/treat-twitter-respectfully-for-the-right-response/comment-page-1/#comment-169 alicedesigns Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:36:33 +0000 http://alicedesigns.wordpress.com/?p=390#comment-169 Many thanks Adam for all your information, and I've now subscribed to your blog. Julie, you've convinced me to try out Tweetlater.com and see if I can also span out my expertise throughout the day. This should be an exciting project for me. Your 'two cents' have certainly worked. Many thanks Adam for all your information, and I’ve now subscribed to your blog.

Julie, you’ve convinced me to try out Tweetlater.com and see if I can also span out my expertise throughout the day. This should be an exciting project for me. Your ‘two cents’ have certainly worked.

]]> By: Julie Bestry http://alice-online.co.uk/treat-twitter-respectfully-for-the-right-response/comment-page-1/#comment-168 Julie Bestry Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:01:41 +0000 http://alicedesigns.wordpress.com/?p=390#comment-168 I'm not sure that the purpose is to give the impression that one is constantly on Twitter (which I usually am, even if I'm not posting), but to organize the time one spends. I also think it's a fallacy (one held by many) that the point is always to catch someone in real time. When I've been away from the desk, I first click "more" until I have "rewound" to the last post I read, and then read up/forward until I get to the top. I then respond, whether it's five minutes or five hours later, if applicable. (Of course, if one follows a million people just for the sake of doing so (rather than because one wants to read their tweets), it would quickly become unmanageable to read all tweets.) In other words, Twitter can be real-time, but it need not be, any more than one needs to respond to comments on one's blog within minutes of them appearing. And Twitter is, as you noted, micro-blogging. :-) I think setting up *some* tweets in advances makes sense. For example, most efficient Twitter users have their new blog posts automatically announced. This eliminates user-error in typing a shortened URL and lets you announce even when you're away from the keyboard. (I like Tweetlater.) I think it's also quite suitable if you have a plan in mind to tweet one quote per day, or a tip of the day. I think it's fine to set up some of your broadcast/bullhorn tweets in advance, especially if you're trying to hit a large proportion of people awake when you're asleep due to personal scheduling or time zones. The problem, to me, isn't people who aren't there *right that minute* to respond, but the people who are so intermittently on Twitter than they respond days later. Just my two cents. I’m not sure that the purpose is to give the impression that one is constantly on Twitter (which I usually am, even if I’m not posting), but to organize the time one spends. I also think it’s a fallacy (one held by many) that the point is always to catch someone in real time. When I’ve been away from the desk, I first click “more” until I have “rewound” to the last post I read, and then read up/forward until I get to the top. I then respond, whether it’s five minutes or five hours later, if applicable. (Of course, if one follows a million people just for the sake of doing so (rather than because one wants to read their tweets), it would quickly become unmanageable to read all tweets.)

In other words, Twitter can be real-time, but it need not be, any more than one needs to respond to comments on one’s blog within minutes of them appearing. And Twitter is, as you noted, micro-blogging. :-)

I think setting up *some* tweets in advances makes sense. For example, most efficient Twitter users have their new blog posts automatically announced. This eliminates user-error in typing a shortened URL and lets you announce even when you’re away from the keyboard. (I like Tweetlater.) I think it’s also quite suitable if you have a plan in mind to tweet one quote per day, or a tip of the day.

I think it’s fine to set up some of your broadcast/bullhorn tweets in advance, especially if you’re trying to hit a large proportion of people awake when you’re asleep due to personal scheduling or time zones. The problem, to me, isn’t people who aren’t there *right that minute* to respond, but the people who are so intermittently on Twitter than they respond days later. Just my two cents.

]]> By: Adam Green http://alice-online.co.uk/treat-twitter-respectfully-for-the-right-response/comment-page-1/#comment-170 Adam Green Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:02:25 +0000 http://alicedesigns.wordpress.com/?p=390#comment-170 If you use the right tools auto-tweeting your Google Alerts can be a very effective way to build up an interesting stream of content in your Twitter account. I just wrote a blog post on best practices for auto-tweeting: http://www.alertrank.com/mrgooglealerts/2009/07/06/automatic-posting-of-google-alerts-to-twitter/ The idea is to limit the total number of tweets per hour and day, and use the influence ranking of the alert sources to make sure you are only tweeting useful items. As for missing out on opportunities to reply to incoming tweets, I don't see this as a problem. Twitter is like email in that conversations can extend over time. It isn't a chat room where incoming tweets just scroll away. You can always have your Twitter client show you any mentions you've received, so you can reply later. If you use the right tools auto-tweeting your Google Alerts can be a very effective way to build up an interesting stream of content in your Twitter account. I just wrote a blog post on best practices for auto-tweeting:

http://www.alertrank.com/mrgooglealerts/2009/07/06/automatic-posting-of-google-alerts-to-twitter/

The idea is to limit the total number of tweets per hour and day, and use the influence ranking of the alert sources to make sure you are only tweeting useful items.

As for missing out on opportunities to reply to incoming tweets, I don’t see this as a problem. Twitter is like email in that conversations can extend over time. It isn’t a chat room where incoming tweets just scroll away. You can always have your Twitter client show you any mentions you’ve received, so you can reply later.

]]> By: alicedesigns http://alice-online.co.uk/treat-twitter-respectfully-for-the-right-response/comment-page-1/#comment-171 alicedesigns Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:22:39 +0000 http://alicedesigns.wordpress.com/?p=390#comment-171 Thanks Julie, for your valuable contribution. I know there are the facilities to set up tweets in advance, to give the impression that you are constantly on Twitter, but is that a good thing? It does mean that there is a continuous source of information from you that will 'catch' more tweeple as they come online, but it does mean that you aren't there to respond appropriately if they answer your tweets, and therefore miss out on a possible lucrative conversation. What do you think about this? Thanks Julie, for your valuable contribution.

I know there are the facilities to set up tweets in advance, to give the impression that you are constantly on Twitter, but is that a good thing? It does mean that there is a continuous source of information from you that will ‘catch’ more tweeple as they come online, but it does mean that you aren’t there to respond appropriately if they answer your tweets, and therefore miss out on a possible lucrative conversation. What do you think about this?

]]> By: Julie Bestry http://alice-online.co.uk/treat-twitter-respectfully-for-the-right-response/comment-page-1/#comment-172 Julie Bestry Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:07:32 +0000 http://alicedesigns.wordpress.com/?p=390#comment-172 Good points, Alice. I think the biggest mistake people make online, in any venue, is to forget that there's an audience for their words. One would never go to a Chamber of Commerce networking function and boldly announce, apropos of nothing, what they ate that day, or worse, divulge inappropriate intimate factoids. Nobody need be a PR robot, but novices to Twitter need to recognize it's a forum for discussion and not merely a digital soapbox. I think the most successful people on Twitter are those who do just as you note, encouraging two-way conversation with relevance, humor and a genuine interest in the comments of others. Those who use Twitter to make pronouncements, as if they had bullhorns, may have interesting content, but if they fail to interact with others, they risk getting branded as blowhards. And leaving aside Trump and his hairpiece, nobody really wants to stand in front of all that hot air. Good points, Alice. I think the biggest mistake people make online, in any venue, is to forget that there’s an audience for their words. One would never go to a Chamber of Commerce networking function and boldly announce, apropos of nothing, what they ate that day, or worse, divulge inappropriate intimate factoids. Nobody need be a PR robot, but novices to Twitter need to recognize it’s a forum for discussion and not merely a digital soapbox.

I think the most successful people on Twitter are those who do just as you note, encouraging two-way conversation with relevance, humor and a genuine interest in the comments of others. Those who use Twitter to make pronouncements, as if they had bullhorns, may have interesting content, but if they fail to interact with others, they risk getting branded as blowhards. And leaving aside Trump and his hairpiece, nobody really wants to stand in front of all that hot air.

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