Taming the Twitter Monster

Twitter, Good Bad and Ugly
By Marvin Double


Hold on to your reading glasses, this is a Monster of a post. I apologize in advance for the length. I cover a lot of ground here and, what I feel is an important topic about Twitter and social media. I'm breaking a basic rule of blogging, which is to keep posts short and "bloggy". In this case I feel the subject is to important to short change. If you're one of those folks who thinks the microwave is to slow this isn't the post for you.

If You are a regular reader you already know that I'm a fan of Twitter. I've only been on Twitter for a short time compared to others and am still a neophyte. In that short time I've made some great contacts and discovered some really great folks and a ton of new information. Like many others I've also discovered some bad and even ugly things about the network - but I'll get to that.

It was those very issues bad ugly issues that stimulated me to create a my latest cartoon. If you like you can get your own high quality copy of the cartoon free from Twitpic or if you prefer Flickr

Feel free to use it on a blog or website if you wish.

After my initial delight and enthusiasm for Twitter wore off a bit, I realized that I'd created a something of a social monster. People started following me in droves across different time zones and different countries.

Simply responding to them became a chore and the time differences had me scratching my head.

Like a lot of folks out there, as my list of followers grew, I quickly came to realize that Twitter can chew up a lot of valuable working time. If you are in business like me, or simply a busy person, time is a preciouses commodity. When I put Twitter in the mix of things my already long days got longer still.

Looking for a Better Way to Tweet
It wasn't long before I started looking for ways to better manage my twitter activities. That's when I stumbled across Bill Crosby and his Twitter Traffic Machine course.

Don't panic this isn't a big pitch.

After checking out the video, I bought his course followed his instructions and began to benefit immediately from using it - here's how and you'll see why a bit further on.

I found that I could use third party applications to look for people with similar interests to mine. I loved this idea and have been very pleased with the results produced for both my personal and business interests. For me the most important part of using the methods from this course was how they have allowed me to build my web presence.

Being Present in the Moment with Twitter
Being present in the moment is a concept from meditation but it applies equally well to social networking. Many social media pros point The importance of creating a "web presence". In the case of twitter being present means being online when others are too - hard to do when they are located thousands of miles away and hours ahead or behind you.

Maintaining visibility in social media comes at a price - it takes time and effort to get right. Because we live in a 24 / 7 world doing that can be a bit tricky. Developing a web presence is a matter of being in the moment with your followers. Web presence is all about being recognized and remembered as a, individual person or business. Because Twitter is real time, being present means being there in real time too.

In marketing parlance this web presence could also called be called brand awareness, which applies even if the brand is only just you. The truth is, if you aren't out there you tend to simply disappear. The wonderful thing about Twitter is that it allows us to help each other build brand awareness through our social interactions - which is a topic for another post.

Using methods Bill describes in his course Twitter Traffic Machine you can set up automated RSS feeds which allow you to tweet with content you've selected as noteworthy. The great thing about this is that you can select feeds from blogs, ezines or any other source of important information you want to share. This kind of filtered content let your tweets focus on specific areas of interest, topics even authors which are important in any niche. Using automation really is useful when following emerging stories or ongoing developments or trends - and it cuts down on the daily work load dramatically.

The Ugly Side of Twitter
Little did I know at the time but the issue of auto-following or automated tweets is something of a bear trap. I've read blogs and been on forums where discussions on this topic were down right nasty. Apparently something about these subjects raise passions and divide opinions. Leaning of this was a bit disheartening considering the fact that I begin semi-automating my twitter activities.

In fact there are tons of issues and lots of arguments and no shortage of controversy about how twitter is used in general. It seems some are abusing automated tools and in some cases it is accused some are gaming the system. Tiffany Dow AKA the "Squidoo Queen" is an internet marketer of some renown and someone I admire and respect. In a recent blog post she took a courageous position on these issues, which I endorse and support.

On her blog Tiffany took exception to comments made by Michel Fortin regarding Twitter. He is quoted as saying that "Twitter is Populated by Drones and Fakes". I won't repeat his arguments here. However I do recommend giving Tiffany's Blog a read if you'd like to know more.

As far as I'm concerned the flap about auto-following on Twitter is pretty much a tempest in a teapot.

Do I care that there are people that some people have 30,000, 40,000 or 90,000 followers? No. In point of fact I could care less if they are, using multiple accounts, faking the numbers for some personal or commercial reason. It just seems foolish to be concerned about something that has an obvious simply remedy. If you don't want to be followed by someone who you suspect of spamming or gaming "block them". By doing that you've cast your vote in a very democratic system. If you follow someone back you are simply giving them permission to send DM's. If they abuse that privilege, block them.

If you found me through some automated system that auto-follows that's just fine. If you've done that to spam me with a pitch for some wacky MLM program - sorry but you'll likely get blocked. Eventually I'll un-follow those who don't offer something I want or need, two clicks and they're gone. I don't want to waste my time or theirs.

Personal Responsibility
How the system is used is a matter of personal responsibility, much like driving. It's become popular to support banning Auto DM's, a rallying point against those who are abusing this feature. Here's my thought on the matter. Should we remove cruise control from all vehicles simply because some drivers use it to go to fast? Should we ban alcohol because some people drink irresponsibly?

Is sending a polite non-commercial auto DM to thank and welcome a new follower immoral, unethical uncouth? In my opinion, no. Sending an initial automatic welcome DM might not be as warm and friendly as a personal hand written note but I don't object to them.
A welcome message with obvious pitch is generally considered poor netiquette and just kind of tacky. Blasting someone with commercial DM's is simply uncool and I've already offered my opinion about dealing with that.

It's true that I've set up a system that partially automates some of my twitter activities, but only some. I use it help me find people I actually "do" want to follow. Am I trying to build a huge following? No. Do I want to find people who have an interest in what I'm doing? Absolutely.

So far the system is working really well. I've already made a lot of new contacts across a number of areas of interest both personally and professionally. I'm continuing to tweak and refine the set up to get the most targeted and meaningful results. If that kind of automation is something that appeals to you I encourage you to check out Twitter Traffic Machine

I can recommend it with certainly cause as I've pointed out I actually use it.

One Final Word
For me being able to automate some of my twitter tasks has made my life immensely easier and more productive. In point of fact I think it allows me to add more value to what I'm doing and maintain my web presence more effectively.

I use scheduled tweets so I can keep a web presence across different time zones but, I manually tweet too. In order to control the quality of the content I use controls in the system that allow me tweak or change things as needed. Do I need to say that most of my content is entirely original.

The value of my content is exceptionally important to me as it should be for everyone else. I'll be adding the URL for this blog as well as my cartoons to my automatic tweets for later tonight and the wee hours of the morning so those overseas will get them even after I've logged off for the day.

If you don't find value in following me then I encourage you to stop following. If you like what you see then please hang out and lets get to know each other better - after all that's what puts the social in networking.

To quote Forrest Gump, "and that's all I have to say about that"