Painless Social Networking For Newbies: Twitter 101

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I know, I know--there are too many "must-do" things online, too many social platforms that all your friends are waxing poetic about, and for those of us that are not tech heads, it can be more than a little overwhelming (and actually kind of intimidating).

You have no idea how much I've resisted all the "must-do" things that almost everyone is participating in, such as Facebook, Linked In, MySpace, Second Life, Digg, Reddit, Naymz, and about a hundred other social apps that most of us don't really feel like we have the time for and feel totally out of place doing.

I know, I'm with ya. But let me tell you something--if you are working online, if you are marketing online, you pretty much need to start getting involved in some aspect of online social networking. This is what the internet is about these days--community, meeting people, connecting in some informal way, almost effortlessly building friendships and connections with folks around the globe who you thought you'd never be lucky enough to meet.

I know it can be overwhelming to think about the sheer number of social networking outlets available, setting up accounts and profiles, adding friends, and wondering "what exactly am I supposed to be doing on this thing?"

I know because this is me too, but I've learned a very painless, easy way to dip your pinky toe into the social networking waters that your friends, competitors and colleagues are probably already knee-deep in. I promise, this won't hurt a bit--this is the big secret for us non-techy, non-MySpace-y types:

Start by using one social application, the easiest one, the one that requires the least setup, the least upkeep, and that will allow you to meet the most folks with minimal time investment.

If you are not using any social applications right now, I would highly recommend starting off with Twitter, and here's why:

Twitter is uber simple to do, but has amazingly huge potential for helping you meet folks and market your business/website. You can start out with the basics, and then as you feel comfortable you can mature your Twitter usage.

This is how I started--last year I just jumped on the Twitter bandwagon as it was just gaining steam, and low and behold here I am a year later ever more impressed at what this simple, stress-free app is capable of.

I remember my first day of doing it--I was nervous, didn't know what to do, felt kind of self-conscious. This is normal for folks who are not used to doing social networking, but since I've been there before, please let me pave the path for you so you can progress without fear.

Getting Started With Twitter

1) Sign up here.

2) Follow some folks. On your Twitter home page there is a search box that says "Find friends". Type a person's name in there and it will take you to their Twitter page. Click "Follow" on their page and you will see their Tweets (what they write in Twitter) start to appear on your own home page (if this person's updates are "protected", they will need to approve you before you'll see their updates on your Twitter)

Who should you follow?

• Friends--Chances are, your friends are already on twitter. (I am here)
• People whose blogs you read, whether you know them or not.
• Newsers--you know, the people in your industry who often get the news first. Also, mainstream news agencies like CNN have twitter feeds, just in case you can't get enough of the news on TV
• Blogs--many blogs use Twitter to communicate with their followers, and you can get immediate updates on the latest news items. (I follow CuteOverload)
• Movers and Shakers in your niche, whether you know them or not.
• Entertaining people--sometimes you will add individuals who you don't really know but who are known for having really great Twitter feeds. On of my faves is Merlin Mann who for some reason has the username of "hotdogsladies" :-). He just cracks me up.

Again, let me stress, don't be shy about following folks who you don't know--this is how you meet people. If their feeds are public (and most people do have public feeds) then you can just add them and see their tweets. When you follow someone, they will receive an email letting them know that you're following them, and then if they want to they can follow you back. If they follow you, then the two of you will be able to converse back and forth--they can see what you write, and you will be able to see what they write.

Truly, this is like the easiest, most pain-free way to "introduce" yourself to folks you want to know. Even the shyest person on the planet can press the "Follow" button, and let nature take it's course.

Don't get your feelings hurt if you follow someone and they don't reciprocate--that happens :-) and its no biggie. Also, sometimes you'll receive messages that folks you don't know are following you, and you have the option to follow them. Sometimes you'll decide not to follow them--it's nothing personal.

What should you say?

Each Twitter update is limited to 140 characters, so you've gotta keep things short and sweet. The big open-ended question on Twitter is "What are you doing?" and you can answer that question literally ("Just finished breakfast--I love organic blueberry scones!") or you can tweet things that are a bit more strategic, such as:

• Blog Marketing--Provide links to new posts on your blog. This is a marketing tactic, and it works--I see Darren Rowse doing it all the time and I always fall for it :-)
• Share references--Share links to interesting/helpful posts that you've found on other folks' blogs
• News--people will tweet their opinions about real time news events, such as Presidential/political debates, big conferences (such as SXSW), and popular TV shows (American Idol, etc).
• Questions--one of the most useful things about Twitter is that you can get outside input. Ask for a reference ("Does anyone know where I can buy intro music to my podcast?"). Ask for advice on a particular situation ("If you had a book coming out and you could give it to only one person for marketing efforts, who would you give it to?"). Ask it on Twitter and you'll likely get a few decent answers.
• Ask your followers to do something. Want someone to share the Digg love on a post? Want someone to Stumble a post for you? Want someone to pass along a tweet to their followers? Just ask, and likely folks will do it.
• Answer someone else's question. When you want to reply back to someone (and they must be following you in order to see your reply) you type @ followed by their username and then type your message. For example, if I were replying to Andy, I would type @Andymatic and then type the rest of my message. That way he knows I'm talking to him.

Should you protect your updates or not?

When you set up your account, you'll have the option to make your tweets private or open to the public. If you protect your updates, the only folks who will be able to see your Twitter updates will be folks who you approve to follow you. Your tweets will not be included in the public Twitter public timeline and I think they will also not show up in Google (not sure about that one though).

If you do not protect your Twitter account, then anyone can follow you, and what you write may show up in the Twitter public timeline and search engines. For instance, if you search for your name, you may notice that some of your tweets are appearing in the search results.

If you would like a bunch of folks to follow you then it's probably a good idea to not protect your updates. If you don't protect your updates you'll want to be sure not to tweet any really private stuff--don't tweet anything that you wouldn't put on your public blog, cuz it will show up in the search engines.

Dipping the first toe...take it slow

Remember, don't feel the pressure to do every social app under the sun. Don't even try to keep up with your 15 year old nephew. He has way more time on his hands than you do and he will always know the hottest newest thing before you so don't even use him as a model you want to emulated.

Just start slow and easy. Pick one social app to get comfortable with (I think Twitter is the easiest), and just do it for a few months. Before long you'll get used to it, you'll start to enjoy it, and the social app world won't seem so big and scary anymore. :-)

Related posts:

The Top 5 Ways Smart People Are Using Twitter

Cuz all the cool kids are doing it: Twitter Mania

Twitter Resources:

Also, to make your Twittering super easy, you may want to look at:

For PC - http://rareedge.com/twitteroo/
For Mac - http://iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific

Comments

[Wilma]

This is so what I needed. A guide how to start something, anything in that social network jungle. I have so avoided it. Looked at it a few times and then ran away.
Sharon, thank you.

[cohnsey]

thanks for the breakdown on twitter. i have been meaning to sign up for a while and i think i am going to check it out now

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Hey Wilma,

You're welcome, and I know--that was me too so I totally understand. So many times folks have told me about something that "everyone was doing" and I just looked and turned and ran away :-) Nothing to be scared of here tho--you'll enjoy Twitter.

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Hi cohnsey,

Yay, I think you'll like Twitter. This is one of the most non-invasive social apps out there, so it's really easy to do, sign up, and maintain. It's like a virtual watercooler, so if you work from home it's also kind of fun to interact with other web workers.

Y'all, I forgot to add my twitter feed to the article (adding it now). Feel free to add me as a friend. :-)

[Gavin Heaton]

It is so nice to see you blogging back here, Sharon! Hope all your projects are going well!

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Hey Gavin,

I'm trying! :-) I'm juggling a few blogs, but I love them all so I'm trying to keep all the blogs in the air.

Cheers,
Sharon