I was first introduced to Twitter about two years ago when someone invited me to join, so I did. I took a look around, didn’t understand it, ignored it and eventually just completely forgot about it. Another year goes by and suddenly Twitter is a household name. Friends, celebrities, TV stations, businesses, you name it, are all agog about Twitter. So I decided to dust off my old account and give it another try.
I hated it.
But because so many people loved it, I was determined to figure out why. So I asked my 12 followers at the time, “what is the key to liking Twitter?” and this is what I learned:
Follow your passions – This is by far the most important thing to do. Start by searching for and following people who have like interests as you. For me, those interests include organic farming, bee keeping, cross country skiing, food, art, and anything to do with the outdoors.
Read the posts of others – Perhaps you don’t know what to say. That’s ok, because others have a lot of interesting things to say, so just enjoy the thoughts and comments that they are offering. I found that by reading what others had to say was the best way to learn how to use this tool.
Be interesting – Rather than just giving a report about what you ate for supper, share your thoughts, comments about events, photos, or links to articles that you think your followers would be interested to know. My PBJ sandwich report wasn’t nearly as interesting as the number of bee stings I got in the apiary that day.
Have conversations – If you need advice, ask your followers for help, or share your own insights with those who are seeking info that you may know. I discovered this benefit one day when I had a concern about a pest on one of my crops. I posed the question to my organic farmer friends on Twitter and instantly received some great advice – from all over the world. I also learned that there is no grey area on the issue of eating brussel sprouts, but that’s another story.
Be yourself – Relax, let your personality shine through and don’t try to force yourself to be someone different online than the person you are at home. I started to just think about my twitter posts as being a comment I would say to a friend who might be sitting right next to me. That gave me a perspective, and helped me to be, well…. just me.
When I first met Twitter, it was not love at first sight. But over the course of several months, after giving it a chance, my relationship with Twitter has begun to blossom.
Now I’m starting to fall in love with it.
xoxo,
@SapsuckerFarms
