Twitter Zen – Finding The Deeper Meaning of Twitter

This is a guest post by Ashley over at BossSanders.com.  Besides her personal blog, she operates a very successful maternity and baby blog that reaches thousands of readers daily.  These are her thoughts on the social media platform, Twitter.

Twitter, a social-networking site based on 140-character blurbs, has successfully confused millions of internet users around the world.

“How do we use it?”

“What’s the deeper meaning of this thing called Twitter?”

Wait.  Are you serious?  Are you really looking for deeper meanings and spiritual awakenings from a social media platform? – You’d be better off with that stale fortune cookie you just trashed!  I hate to break it to you (okay, so maybe I’m liking this just a little bit), but there is no deeper meaning of Twitter.  The idea of Twitter is to be able to post really short blurbs or ideas that wouldn’t, alone, make a blog post.  Twitter allows you to connect with other people and share your links, updates, and funny happenings throughout your day.

How do you use it?

Well, I’d highly suggest getting your username and password at Twitter.com, first.  Then, type something under 140 characters and hit submit.  There really are no rules as far as content goes, and I’ve seen some pretty hilarious, off-the-wall, blurbs.  Post a one or two-liner about something funny that happened to you today, post the link to your latest post or to a post you really enjoyed, or reply to a comment someone else said.  Do whatever you want!  It’s twitter.  Meaningless and random conversation where you are allowed to zig in and out of conversation like you have the worst case of ADHD and… it’s all okay.  It’s even normal.

However, while there are no RULES necessarily, basic conversation etiquette still applies.  If people generally scurry away from you faster than a mouse on crack when you begin talking, you might want to review some of these basic tips.  Otherwise, you’re free to go, now.

The Tips

1. You might want to refrain from “hitting on” people you don’t know well.  Just because you see me and a friend of mine joking around, it doesn’t mean you know me well enough to make inappropriate comments.  You could at least buy me a drink first.
2. If you constantly “self-promote” and ignore everyone else, they will eventually leave.  Or, you’ll all be stuck talking about yourselves and too self-absorbed to notice nobody is actually listening.  Self-promoting your blog and site are GREAT, but don’t forget to reach out to others in the process.  And, if you have trouble actually caring about what other people have to say…pretend.
3. Don’t keep repeating yourself.  If people didn’t respond, there’s probably a reason why.
4. If you’re looking for a real in-depth soul touching conversation, you should look elsewhere (not Twitter).  Twitter is good for touch-and-go type of “conversations,” and getting your feelings hurt or feeling ignored can be easy if you are expecting too much.

But, mostly…just have fun with it.  Meet new people, have fun, and then go do some Yoga if you’re still looking for that deeper meaning.

Go here to follow Ashley on Twitter.

What are your thoughts about Twitter?