Twitter Teaches and Lessons Learned

I'm not sure what you'd classify as a milestone on Twitter, but when I crossed 1,000 followers this past weekend I wanted to reflect on the experience and identify what I've learned.


Twitter is the real deal. You can make connections. You can make meetings happen. And, you can learn anything you want. Seriously.


When I first joined Twitter in December 2009 I was timid – to say the least – about who I should follow and what was I supposed to do when someone followed me. I was taking this on for a work assignment (yeah, I was a Twitter-basher prior, too). And, I couldn't figure out why some people hit the follow button but I wasn't sure I wanted to follow them back.


Lesson One. Just follow back. It'll be o.k. I promise. No one bites. (Well, maybe, the spammers do. But, I hope you can figure who those folks are.) You might say, Drew, why the heck do I want to follow someone who tweets about growing bananas and I only care about growing apples? My reply – you might not know what you'd learn from this person … and if they are in your region or city, there's a great chance you could meet up and with almost certainty they know others in your area you should know too. Twitter can be for expanding your reach but I tend to find more success with people in my own city. Somehow seems more real – or realistic that you'll meet. I wanna be connected to everyone in Austin, for sure. And, if following this person/entity is sooo bad, then unfollow later. I've gotten to the point where you know exactly what someone is going to tweet and if you like them, just maybe not their content, it's pretty easy to gloss over the tweet.


Lesson Two. Follow lots of different people – not just the 'experts'. (Even though I strongly encourage you to follow/watch what experts do, look to everyone. Many people don't give great bios/info on themselves so I get that sometimes it's a shot-in-the-dark.  Look to follow others that people you follow are tweeting about/with.) Not only is it not a richer experience, there are many things to learn from folks in fields other than your own. And, you might be surprised to find how many people are really just like you. I've been able to offer advice (I use this term loosely. :)) to folks in other areas and they to me. You can learn lots.


Lesson Three. Engage. You gotta, gotta, gotta give your “hellos” out. Don't be shy. Respond to someone's post. Offer help, if asked...and sometimes when they don't. If you are following someone and they don't follow you back. RT them, comment on their post, tell them why you followed. This builds a connection (lots of “shy” folks it seems...aka humble?) and usually you can get a follow-back. I love building 'tweetships' with others. Tons of funny, great folks out there. Had no idea!


Lesson Four. Add Value. How do you think you should add value? Eh, I don't have the easy answer but I look to be helpful by engaging, being humorous at times, commenting and also tweeting content that's helpful to me and I think others would find valuable. I read dozens of blogs daily and usually tweet at least one post I've read that day. It could be anything from tech, to personal development, to branding, to leadership, to The University of Texas, all-things-Austin to the random humor post. Mix it up...helps people get to know you and sort of expect what they will get when they see your tweets. I'm not a fan of only tweeting about 'x' when the world is 'a' to 'z'. 


Lesson Five. Meet up. If you're engaging with others you'll be following folks who tweet about tweetups, lunches, other meetings. You'll find something you want to go to...then go! You'll have fun and it's exciting to meet people in real life that you've been tweeting with. And, you can't even imagine how much stronger your Twitter relationships become. If you're in Austin, the #BATHH (Big Ass Twitter Happy Hour) is a happy hour I knew I needed to attend after seeing tons of folks tweeting about it....and I was right. Lots of awesomeness at this event.


Lesson Six. Join chats. Those # thingys you see. Do searches for industry-specific chats or any topic you want to be connected to. Great way to meet new folks and learn more about something you care about. Fun way to connect. The sky's really the limit. There was a law job chat started last week...can you imagine the help students are getting from attorneys all over the Twittersphere? Connecting is powerful.


These are just a few things that come to mind that have been helpful to me. I love connecting, learning more from others and expanding what it means to be a community.


What lessons have you taken away from using Twitter? Do share!


Wanna connect? @drewcarls