Which Stage of Twitter Are You At?
Having heard and read so much about Twittter, I’ve just recently become a Twitterer myself (StephaneGrenier) to see what all the hoopla was about. And I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve already gotten a lot of value out of it, and I’ve just joined a bit over a week ago!
There are lots of benefits to Twitter, but it mostly depends on who you are. That is, the Twitter experience is going to be very different for different people. For most people, the obvious benefit is self-promotion (just like for blogs). However that’s just a very small part of it, just like blogging.
Rohit Bhargava wrote a very good post titled: The 5 Stages of Twitter Acceptance. Where are YOU at? And I have to agree, it’s very accurate. Well with the exception of stage 1, I wouldn’t necessarily call it denial, but more along the lines of not really having time to check it out since you can’t clearly see the value. And stage 2 being where you still don’t fully get it but you’re willing to commit to taking the time.
Having just joined a week ago, I’ve jumped from stage 1 to stage 2. The good thing is that I skipped stage 3 entirely. I’m now working my way between stages 4 and 5, but I don’t know that I’ll ever completely get to stage 5. Sometimes it’s nice just to post the odd distraction. Like last night when I was tired from coding for the better part of the day, I decided to post a couple of entertaining links. Things I found interesting but that didn’t really offer any value other than entertainment. I don’t believe you can be all business all the time, sometimes you have to have a lighter side (and what I have entertaining is not always useful). Which is why I might never make it completely to stage 5.
That being said, although I’m probably not the normal Twitterer, I believe the 5 stages of Twitter Rohit describes to be very good and accurate. I’ve found, in the little time I’ve been Twittering, that a lot of people get caught up in stage 3 of self-promotion. I even had to stop following some people because almost all of their tweets where stage 3 tweets (that or they were tweets of links to their latest blog posts). I’m following you on Twitter for a reason, and it’s not just for self-promotional tweets (a certain level is acceptable, but not the majority). The good news is not everyone does this, but unfortunately enough do. The other thing I’ve found difficult is trying to follow more than a few dozen people, I find there’s just too much noise. But that’s another post for another day (I’m still learning).
The good news is that there are a lot of people at stage 4 and 5. And that’s great! It’s because of this that I’m really enjoying my Twitter experience. My only regret is not having started sooner.
Which leads me back to my original question, which stage of Twitter are YOU at?
· February 5th, 2009 · 9:24 am · Permalink
Stephane,
You should check out tweetdeck ( https://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/ ) I downloaded it last week and it makes interacting with Twitter about 10 times easier.
~Scott
https://twitter.com/karstetter
· February 5th, 2009 · 11:35 am · Permalink
Definitely I’m at stage 1 Steph. At least the first half of stage 1. I do care what others are talking about, but I’ve simply not had time to pay any attention. Guess it’s past time I did, soon… 😉
· February 5th, 2009 · 12:19 pm · Permalink
Ok, I’ve decided to give it a try – many of the bloggers I read are spending more and more time over there. I’ll see how it goes. I’m wholeweal on Twitter – all the permutations of my name were taken already, guess that’s what I get for being a late adopter.
· February 5th, 2009 · 5:00 pm · Permalink
Hi Scott,
I’ve actually been using Twirl. How do you find it in comparison to TweetDeck?
· February 5th, 2009 · 5:02 pm · Permalink
Hi Scott,
That was me too until just recently. However if nothing else, just register your username so it’s not taken. This way you can also follow some interesting people. Even if you don’t contribute, you might benefit from some of the info. I know I have.
· February 5th, 2009 · 5:03 pm · Permalink
Hi Jesse,
Congrats on deciding to give it a try. And I understand about usernames. I tried to get FollowSteph initially but someone was cyber squatting on it. I did some quick research and it appears to be happening more and more. Good thing the spelling of my full name is pretty rare.
· February 13th, 2009 · 4:27 am · Permalink
Ok, I’ll give it a try. Registered at Twitter about year ago and still haven’t used it. Hope it will be of any use to me.
by the way I found your book in twitter. I must say it works!
· February 17th, 2009 · 2:16 pm · Permalink
Hi Andrew,
That’s good to hear, I’m sure you’ll benefit from it. I’m a perfect example of someone who was like you just a month ago. I really didn’t appreciate Twitter. Of course it’s not for everyone, but if you read this blog then the odds are very high you’ll benefit from it.
And thanks for letting me know you found out about the book on Twitter. That’s really great news. It definitely shows that Twitter has a lot of value.