5 Changes I Made To How I Use Twitter

04/08/2010

Social Media

Over the past few months I’ve been trying to streamline my online world to make it more focused and easier to manage. As much as I love all things Web 2.0, I need less distraction and more interaction. This is especially true when it comes to twitter.

I started on twitter back in Nov of 2007 when the only way to engage on twitter was either through texting messaging or going on twitter.com to send out messages. It was pretty simple. Then through out the day, I’d check my email to see who is following me and then go follow them back if I wanted too.

Pretty simple right? Well… I got to missing those simple days.

Now there are so many ways to use twitter that my head spins just from thinking about it. Everyday there’s a new twitter iPhone app or desktop app to help you get on the twittering branch and believe me… I’ve tried them all!

I’ve have a lot of people follow me and for the most part I’m a huge fan of following everyone who follows me. In the past, I’ve also been a big fan of using a site call SocialOomph.com to auto follow everyone who follows me…and… auto unfollow everyone who unfollows me. I started using this service almost two years ago, which honestly… if that’s something you’re into, then go for it. They rock in this department.

Something else I used to do, which I haven’t been doing for over a year now, is send an automated DM to those who followed me and I followed back. It was simple and was a thank you for following me.

Well.. the Auto DM’s I was getting were starting to get out of control. They are completely annoying and spam filled so I decided to not add to the chatter and I stopped auto DM. DM=Direct Messaging.

Over time Twitter has changed in so many ways. There are a ton of marketers using it, which is great, but all they do is market themselves and don’t engage in the conversation.

There’s a lot of spam which twitter has really done a better job of managing recently.

And twitter is starting to punish those who don’t play by the rules.

So here’s what I’ve done…

  1. Focus on how I want to use twitter. I want it to be conversational, informative, fun and a vehicle to drive people to another destination.
  2. I stopped auto-following anyone who follows me and I now have gone back to vetting everyone who follows me. If I like you then I will follow you back.
  3. I stopped using text messaging and finally made the transition of using just a twitter client for my iphone and desktop. I have specific people coming in on text messages to my phone, but those same people are also in a specific column for HootSuite, which I use on my phone as an app and desktop. HootSuite does everything I need it to do. So I don’t need another distraction like text messages popping up every 10 seconds. In certain situations I will turn on text messages but it’s rare now. This helps me to be more present when I’m with people to not always be looking for text messages on twitter. It’s better to get in a habit of checking messages when you get up from the table or someone else takes a call… twitter can wait.
  4. 80/20 rule. I followed some good advice from the likes of @ChrisBrogan. He says to keep your twitter messages to 80% RT(ReTweet) or about others.
  5. RT those who RT me. It never hurts to promote others and share the love. I don’t always do this 100% of the time, but I try as much as possible which is key… just try and do what you can when you can.

So here’s the deal. There’s no possible way to keep up with EVERYONE. So I focus on those I really like following. I interact with them and if someone I’m not paying attention to DM’s me or @replies to me then I do my best to reply back. You can do this easy with a good twitter client like HootSuite.

One thing I thought was annoying was when people would have conversations publicly over twitter when no one else knew the context of the conversation. Well… now I’m thinking that’s ok. As long as it doesn’t go on and on and on. If it’s interesting enough, you can always go look at their twitter feeds to see what is really going on. Now I don’t’ mind it and I will have conversations in the same way on occasion.

If someone chooses to unfollow me, that’s fine. It’s the beauty of twitter. If you don’t like what someone has to say, you don’t have to follow them.

In the end… twitter for me is about engaging people in conversation and sending them to another destination. With these few changes, I’m getting a little more ‘twitter old school’ and I’m really happy with how much easier it is to be more engaged.

Another plus… it’s now taking up less of my time to be more engaging! Perfect!

How do you use twitter to engage people?


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  • http://intensedebate.com/people/JasonWert JasonWert

    That's some really good advice.

    I guess I'm just not "social networky" enough because I've never auto followed or followed someone back just because they followed me. I usually don't follow back if I don't know the person and they have thousands upon thousands of people on the follow and followers list. It almost screams "marketing!" to me and makes me feel like they really don't care what I have to say but they just want to add another number.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

      i think there is some truth to that but for me it's about making sure people have the ability to DM me when they need… which encourages conversation and can also tell people that you are open to conversation because you are willing to follow everyone… the problem now is trying to figure out who is a spammer and who isn't:) thanks for the comment jason!

  • http://jayewalking.com/ Jacklyn

    Spence, great post. It has gotten so overwhelming for me since I have an account I use for work/personal and then our company has a twitter account, and the nonprofit I work for. I'm on twitter overload some days and need to step back and make some rules.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

      yikes!!! that's a lot! how do you keep up with all of that!

  • http://jskogerboe.com Joshua Skogerboe

    Hey Spence. Thanks for an interesting post. It is fascinating to read people’s strategies for managing social media, because the way you interact with it is always evolving – both due to new technologies and apps AND due to the changing numbers… You can’t interact with 50 followers in the same way you interact with 500. Your stream changes. Your strategy has to, as well.

    One thing has stayed consistent for me – I want Twitter to be a conversational community. That means I never auto-follow. Never have. I check every new follower’s tweet stream, and it it looks like marketing or a bunch of links to things I’m not interested in, I won’t follow them. In fact, if it’s just a marketing tool devoid of personality, I block them. That means I have FAR fewer followers than I otherwise would have, but a majority of those who do follow me would most likely be interested in what I have to say. It takes time, but it works. Thanks again for the great post, Spence. God bless.

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  • http://www.jdeddins.blogspot.com JD Eddins

    In the past I have not been intentional about how I used twitter. There were a lot of random updates, such as what I was eating, where I was going, etc. Now I am trying to spend more time RT valuable links or finding them myself in order to add value (both the those who read this new information and for those who write it).
    Did I read correctly that you try to practice an 80/20 rule with the 80% being RT or about others and only 20% about yourself?

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/klreed189 Kyle Reed

    It started mainly as a way to interact with friends and has moved into a whole other set of friends. I love to engage and provide resources. That is my main goal. I love to see what people are doing, engage with them, and then share some stuff that I have read online and let others know that they should check it out.

    I like your "old school" approach. Looking forward to seeing your new strategy in play.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/torybee torybee

    Twitter is still a mystery to me. I had no idea about auto follow and automatically sending a DM to thank a person for following them. I've only received a few of those and thought it was an actual person and very thoughtful, so thoughtful that I looked into them a bit more, read their blog, etc.

    You've just spoiled that for me. Twitter/social media is supposed to be about connection and sometimes I wonder if it's all just appearances with little substance.. Lately, it just seems that social media disappoints.

    I did learn a lot from this post and had no idea that retweeting was such a good and wonderful thing. I always thought it was strange to re-tweet someone that I had never met before, but I suppose that is what makes twitter work so well.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/lightchild Grant Jenkins

    Great post, Spence. These are some great tips. I have also been altering how I interact and engage people on Twitter. I've never used an auto follow/un-follow, but just a month or so ago I broke through my personal "I'm only following you if I know you" barrier. I want to be accessible and encourage a dialogue between myself and those who follow me, which includes the ability to DM both ways. Twitter is becoming a very interesting community and the more open you are with who has access to you, the more genuine the dialogue. As such, I've been enjoying getting to know many new people who I never would have otherwise.

  • http://www.gritandglory.com alece

    great thoughts, spence.

    i honestly never thought i'd enjoy twitter. for many years, i was adamant about not twittering. it was almost reluctantly that i finally bit the bullet and started. and now… i love it. i am realizing more and more how much i enjoy people, and this is just another element of relationships to me. i love interacting with people — so i usually don't follow someone who has no @replies in their timeline, even if they're big and famous and say wonderful things. i figure if it's that great, someone else will end up RTing it anyway, so i'm not missing anything. but i don't want to waste my time (or attention/focus) on people who aren't going to engage.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

      ahhh!!! thats a good thing to do too!!! to not follow anyone who has no @replies in their timeline… that would say a lot about them i think:) thanks for commenting and i look forward to your gritty tweetup!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Lindsey_Nobles Lindsey_Nobles

    "texting messaging"? ;)

    This all is great advice. You are a model tweeter or twitterer or whatever. Hopefully other folks will watch and learn from your example.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

      i'm just trying to ride your coat tails:)

  • http://twitter.com/Debberzz @Debberzz

    I enjoyed your post. I've seen, for the most part, that those who try Twitter do one of 3 things. They give up early on and say, "What's the big deal?" and leave or let their account sit idle. Or they amass tens of thousands of followers and then can't keep up with it in a personal way and some of their followers feel left out while they converse with a few or just broadcast. Or they try Twitter and stick with it long enough to try things to make the best use of it all for both expressing themselves and for connecting with others, whether they end up with 10 followers or tens of thousands. You seem to be most like those in that last group, thank goodness. :-)

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

      thanks for the comment. with so many followers it is hard to be completely engaged with everyone but the cream kind of rises to the top so to speak and you notice who is commenting and talking to you:)

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/scottdwinter Scott D. Winter

    Thanks for the thoughts, Spence.

    There are certain times when you need to amass followers (if you are marketing something). but I have always used Twitter to connect and keep up with people I don't see all the time – but the key is that usually I know them, or have some tangible connection to them.

    That's why I block my Twitter feed. I don't need (or want) the spam, and I don't want (or need) complete strangers following me. Sometimes I want to be one of the "cool kids" and follow all the influencers on Twitter, but without a personal connection, why do I want to clutter my life with it? Besides, anything good those people say will eventually be re-tweeted by someone who is in my circle.

    Finally, I'm glad to see the days of people trying to make me feel like I'm less of a person because I don't have 1,000 or 2,000 or 50,000 followers going away. I think the novelty of Twitter is wearing off, and the benefits of it being a legitimate communication tool are becoming the reasons people stick with it.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

      Ah… good comment. i think the newness is wearing off a bit too. I think people are really starting to figure out how it works for themselves and how to stay away from the spam. thanks for your comment!

  • http://twitter.com/SarahuMoore @SarahuMoore

    What I have found is those I mention and those I RT I really appreciate the Thanks or the RT, especially if it is a product I follow or use, it makes me feel they care. It has also help me find like minded people when they give them a shout out. I also like when "locals" mention places the patron it gives me new ideas of places I might enjoy.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

      yep… you are really good at staying connected and using twitter well:)

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/patriciazell patriciazell

    I really enjoy Twitter and I like how I can make lists. I am currently what you would call a "basic" user, but this summer, I want to expand my use and look at differnt apps. Right now, my own tweets are about my blog or are interacting with someone else. I'm following you among others and I enjoy reading what you have to say! :-)

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

      thanks Patricia… just have fun with it when you dive into it a little more:)

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

    Great post Spence! I have already implemented your suggestions! Can't wait to hang out soon in real life and not just on blogs and twitter :)

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

      hey! i'm looking forward to lunch this week, thanks!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/HSchiefelbein HSchiefelbein

    Spence – good read, good thoughts. I applaud your efforts to constantly analyze your social media best practices. And I agree that it has the ability to get overwhelming at times. While I use Twitter to drive traffic to my blog and engage in certain conversations, I also use it as a huge source of information for news, technology bits, and social media strategies (blogging ideas).

    So I have to ask a guy who has 35,000+ followers: how long is your list of your "inner circle?" I know the Franklin campus is your main group of friends, but outside of that, how many @replies or mentions are you getting per day? The reason I ask is that I've tried to interact a little on Twitter regarding your LifeWorks with Randy Elrod and haven't heard back from either of you. Please don't read this as confrontational – I'm just trying to figure out how you manage conversations and what to expect. Email may be better for this conversation.

    Thanks again for the insight on Twitter.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SpenceSmith SpenceSmith

    Hey! thanks for your comment. Well… you have hit on the reason why i changed how i do things on twitter. I started to notice that i was having a harder time connecting to people on twitter because there was so much coming in and because the Desk top app and iphone app i was using was online showing me some of the people that were @replying to me. I know randy has had trouble with the same. As he and i talked more about it i decided to change a few things and try to make it all simple again. Fortunately, HootSuite captures everything i want to see which is good.

    As for my inner circle… in my offline world i have a few circles going. I love people and I love my friends for sure, but in the online world… my circle continues the more i engage people. I really am trying to make things more simple and find easier ways to have conversation online so as to not let the number of followers overwhelm me. In fact… i'm in the process of getting rid of a lot of spammers and marketers who have no conversation in their twitter stream.

    thanks for staying on me:)

  • Ani

    Right, you are mentioning stuff I didn't know. I'm definitely not in the right place. Auto follow? Really? Hootsuite? Who?

    In the beginning I was surprised people were following me anyway. I ask myself "why"? Really? I have really nothing to share. Sometimes I read something in the Bible or I read a nice story and I feel sharing it I will share it on Twitter but that is not often.
    I started Twitter because of Bart Millard of MercyMe. I thought you had to follow everyone who follows you. But then there were people with porn and marketing follow me. So unfollowed them and blocked the porn. Now I only follow the ones I want. I'm not a person who is on Twitter that often. I'm more a person who needs to speak face to face. So Twitter is just a tool to get information and learn stuff I've never known before. For example someone RT the blog of RefineUs of Justin and Trisha and I like their blog, and there were you. Got interested in what you were writing. That's it. I'm very much behind with all these iPod, iPad. I don't know these things. I have a friend who helped me buy my laptop and tells me about the new stuff but at the time I hear about these things I'm already behind because they invented something new again. Too complicated and too much for me. I can't keep up with it. I guess there are people who need people like you, the networking, media-guy. I'm just too simple for this. Sometimes I even think to leave Twitter. But then I meet people like you and I have a reason to stay.

    By the way I don't reply always on Twitter, I'm more a person who replies on a blog. Like it more this way. But I do like to get information about albums and tourdates of bands I like. And I like to read blogs like yours now. I've written more than my intention was.

  • http://jeffgoins.myadventures.org Jeff Goins

    Good stuff, Spence. I've had a similar rediscovery of why I got started with Twitter, as well.

    Any thoughts on using RT versus the new "retweet" function?

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