Twitter - How to Use it?
Structures #43
©2005
21"x 22"
$750
Talking about Twitter on Facebook
I said a while back I’d write about how I use twitter. Today 3 things happened that made it clear today was the day to do that.
First I had the following conversation on facebook after I clicked to become a fan of twitter:
Friend: Hi Lisa, I should get this, but thanks to old age, I don’t. What do you use twitter for? Is it more than just another facebook-like status? What am I missing?
Me: As an artist (this tech thing for 40 hours a week where I see you is just a hobby) I find twitter more useful in terms of resources. Not sure about the marketing side of stuff but I have a good group of followers that are quick to help me out. Today I asked for pointers to paper sources to print thank you cards with my art and got great comments.
Lots of artists on twitter. Maybe a bunch of geeks stuff over there also but I’m mostly interacting with artists.
Some people auto publish their tweets to their facebook status - I don’t - I view them as different conversations. There is some overlap in audience but facebook is more of everyone I know - most of them in person, but not all. Twitter - I don’t know many of those folks in real life. So I write about different things.
Twitter is more everyday mundane stuff and I update many times a day. Facebook isn’t quite as interactive - so I only update it every couple days as people don’t seem to check it as often.
Friend: That makes sense: different communities, different granularity. Thanks for the explanation!
How I use Twitter
So that kind of explains how I view twitter. I view it as walking into a room full of friends and joining a conversation for a bit then leaving again. I come back throughout the day and the conversation shifts and flows as the day progresses.
It takes a while to get the hang of twitter. The @replies, which aren’t obvious, are a big part of it. Once one gets that figured out I think twitter makes a bunch more sense. An @reply is like a comment on a blog post. I write a tweet, if someone responds it puts and @lisacall in the front of their tweet back and I get to see all of those on another tab. That is how twitter becomes a conversation.
I have twitter set up so that I see @replies from people I follow to other people that I follow - which expands the conversation beyond just me and 1 person. I’ve had several multi-person conversations as a result of this. I don’t get all @replies (so I don’t see replies from people I follow to people I don’t follow) as that seems like too much to me. Setting it to see no @replies at all didn’t feel as much of a conversation. Each person can decide how many @replies they want to see.
Twitter is a never ending conversation. We all need a break from that at times. So for me the key to not letting it overwhelm me is that I don’t worry about what was said in my absence. Sometimes I go back and read stuff (like during lunch at work) but mostly I just let it slide. Although I always respond to @replies directed to me.
But again - twitter makes no sense at all to some people. Not a big deal - there are thousands of way to communicate with other people - twitter isn’t required or even necessary. Some of just find it highly entertaining.
If you want to follow me my profile is here: Lisa Call’s Twitter Profile. Or you can just go take a peek and see what I’m saying today. At some point I’ll put my most recent tweets into my sidebar. It’s on my todo list.
Twitter Articles
The other 2 interesting things that happened today were people tweeted pointers to some really great "how to use twitter effectively" articles. These said things that I might have written in this post, and now I don’t have to repeat. The articles are excellent:
How not to be annoying on twitter
What to write about on twitter
I really like that first article. I’ve stopped following some people that don’t seem to understand this.
Not everyone loves Twitter
For a fair and balanced view, I also read this blog article about twitter today:
That doesn’t paint twitter in such great light. It was written in March 2007 by Kathy Sierra, who no longer blogs. Although, ironically, you can follow her on twitter now. Hm…
Construction
I didn’t get home from work until 5:30 tonight - way too dark for photos. But it’s way cool in the backyard - the forms are down and I can see the walls. Photos will have to wait til tomorrow.
Structures #43
I’m building a webpage for a holiday art sale. Turns out it’s supposed to be for art $500 or less. Oops - I thought it was $1000. So now I have to pull a bunch of my stuff off. My fault for not reading the info again before starting.
Anyway, came across this piece while doing the page and remembered how much I love this piece. It’s over $500 (it’s $750) so it’ll have to come off the page, but decided it needed to appear on the blog today instead.
Posted by Lisa in: art business
Tagged: Art for Sale, facebook, marketing, structures, twitter
Mary said,
November 7, 2008 @ 5:00 am
as someone just figuring out twitter, this is great! thanks for taking the time to post it! i came into twitter through etsy and would love to find more artists and writers but don’t know how….
Mark Evans said,
November 7, 2008 @ 6:06 am
It’s really interesting to see how people use Twitter in different ways for different reasons. As much as Twitter may get a bad rap for people talking about what they had for breakfast, etc., it’s also very valuable tool - be it access to information, branding, asking questions, etc.
Mark
Anne said,
November 7, 2008 @ 8:43 am
Thanks for posting about this. Very timely. I was just talking to someone about this and how twitter was a mystery to me. Anyone’s posts that I have seen quite by chance have *been* soley about self promotion or what they had for breakfast.
Well all the best :) Look forward to seeing more construction photos :)
Anne
PaMdora said,
November 7, 2008 @ 8:55 am
I originally signed up for Twitter as entertainment, still like that about it. I like following people who say funny stuff, or post interesting or thoughtful links. But I’m thinking you’re right, it’s a whole different conversation, so am thinking about taking my recent tweet out of my sidebar blog. I think it’s good practice for artists to self-publish, to get used to the idea of expressing an opinion or thought in public, because that’s what art is. Sometimes I’m uncomfortable with expressing myself out loud, but trying to get over that on Twitter just like I have on my blog.
Ed Terpening said,
November 7, 2008 @ 9:07 am
Lisa, as you may know, my part-time “day job” is managing social media at Wells Fargo, so Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc, are my daily business. I think your assessment of Twitter is right on! Thanks for helping to inform the artist community. There are SO MANY social media options, personal blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc, that it can get overwhelming. I personally think a consolidation of sorts is necessary.
Cheers!
Schnoobie said,
November 7, 2008 @ 10:13 am
I have noticed a bit about the “broadcasting” For me ir’s mostly about connecting and conversing with interesting, creative and artistic people( and animals!).There is a big void of that in my daily life on my farm.
Tracy said,
November 7, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
Thanks Lisa for clearing some of the confusion for me.
I’ve only briefly peeked inside Twitter once or twice. With everyone saying you simply MUST be on Facebook, My Space, Linkedin, the blogosphere, and a gazillion others, and now throw Twitter in the mix, I have trouble discriminating the differences. I know they all have their niche, but I’d like to be selective since time is such a premium.
You’ve helped make it a little clearer; thanks!
(BTW, I love Structures #43; love the color scheme.)
Arnold - Mr.Gadget said,
November 9, 2008 @ 4:52 pm
Great post on Twitter Lisa! Thanks for sharing.
Ed said,
November 9, 2008 @ 4:58 pm
“Twitter is a never ending conversation.”
You are correct Lisa, and there’s a skill that can make Twitter
‘all that and bids singing’.
When you’re on it, (for some of us nutjobs that means all the time),
you learn to scan for speed, yet not miss important gems.
I pump out a lot of very valuable tips, but refuse to be an info bot.
I’m a person with a life.
For some, 2 different accounts,
(if that’s how they can best focus their day’s attention)
is a good bet.
I know someone who tweets several times a day,
his personal stuff for us friends, and also twitters a conversation to his
niche business audience.
And yes, add your twitter widget! To do list starts now :)
Thanks for the solid post!
~Ed
kaidez said,
November 9, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
I JUST signed up for Twitter and my main use for it is to update my Facebook page. I’ll eventually use it to post tinyurls but I wanna get used to tweeting. One step at a time.
Jane said,
November 11, 2008 @ 2:37 am
Thanks for this, I’m on twitter but still don’t really ‘get it’ but your article has helped!
I guess I’m not much of a chatty person, small talk comes hard to me, I like deep and meaningful :) But I wish it wern’t so.
Jul said,
November 16, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Great post. I’m trying to figure out if I want to start using Twitter, and you make some great arguments for it.
Mary said,
November 21, 2008 @ 3:41 am
This is a great post. I joined Twitter about 2 weeks ago due to lots of chatter about it on Etsy. I will admit I joined it for marketing as much as anything else but have already made some buddies there. I do post links to new work, etc. but I also engage in conversations, answer questions, etc. I love it! I should also say I’ve made 2 sales through Twitter this week. Mostly, though, the community is fun and interesting. I’m a writer as well and have sought out other writers and entrpreneurs as well as artists so it’s a fun mix!
Kathy Clark said,
November 24, 2008 @ 1:54 am
Hello Lisa, Great idea for a Blog. I am just learning about Twitter and trying to get the hang of it. It is fun to talk to people around the world and share tips and ideas.
As you are interested in Art, you may be interested in visiting my Daughter’s website: http://www.JoatStudio.com She and her husband share a studio in Portland Oregon and do some awesome work.
Kathy Clark
http://www.JimAndKathysCorner.com