Are You In A Twitter Funk?

Some folks responded to my recent retweet of Aaron Lee's (July 24, 2009) post from Penn Olson's website http://www.penn-olson.com with gratitude and I relished telling them why I'm so enamored with the platform. You see, it was through Twitter that I began my love affair with social media.

In the interest of full disclosure and transparency; here are some things I learned along the way:

1. Brilliant tweets generally won't get you followers. One person's brilliant is another person's stupid.

2. Twitter is not a tiny little Facebook.  People don't care what kind of shenanigans you got into in college or what five celebrities you think you most resemble.

3. People aren't into your own personal angst either. Save it for your mama.

4. Twitter isn't going to make you a millionaire overnight.

5. Twitter is an engagement platform for companies and non-profits. It's a way to promote your message and brand. It's a new way of marketing and that, in turn, does make money.

6. Twitter is not your personal cash cow (see number 4.)

7. Twitter is a high speed source of news. Real news or fake news or non-news depending on the news sources you follow.  It's more rapid-fire than any other social media or networking platform. Period.

8. Twitter is a way to build wonderful relationships. You will engage with people all over the world, people with whom you would not have exchanged nary a word were it not for Twitter. Your tweets will cross oceans and open your mind.

9. Twitter is what you make it. If you love science fiction novels, follow science fiction authors. If you're a political junkie, follow as far left or as far right as you want to go. If you love delightfully irreverent comedy, follow Sarah Silverman http://twitter.com/SarahKSilverman or Danny DeVito http://twitter.com/Danny_DeVito.

10. If tweeters get on your nerves, just stop following them. Twitter is a  guilt-free zone. It isn't supposed to get on your nerves.

11. Twitter is not a race.

12. Twitter doesn't have a rear view mirror. It's about moving forward.

13. Your twitter followers will not evaporate if you miss a few days.

14. When you do lose followers (and you will), don't take it personally. It's the nature of the platform. You get to unfollow. They get to unfollow. It's not personal.

15. Enjoy it or don't do it. But before you ditch it, take a look the list of people you follow. Own your stream!