Twitter Observations

1. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

   Anyone care to make any observations about Twitter as to how it relates to our writer-entrepreneur well-being? Useless? Potential? Rants? Whatever.

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   1. 97

      Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I like Twitter. It allows people who are not on HubPages to follow me. I noticed a few extra Twitter followers after the new HP profile allowed specifying my Twitter link.
      
      I use it not only to tweet my hubs when I publish, but also to tweet recommended reading of other people's hubs that I found useful.
      
      I also find it useful to see the tweets made by HP staff once in a while. It's another source of information when used right.
      
      Some people tweet silly things like what they are doing at the moment. I don't follow those people. Unfortunately, Twitter has become know for that. But one can make it very useful by following the worthwhile twitters.  One of the most useful is following Matt Cutts' tweets on what Google is doing.

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      1. 59

         paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         +1

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      2. 57

         sergs_pogiposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Glenn, for sharing this info.

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2. 89

   WryLiltposted 11 years ago

   Use hashtags.

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   1. 59

      paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yep, mandatory.

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      1. 89

         WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Lots of people don't. Or they just hook it up to auto post.

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   2. 97

      Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I add hashtags to all my tweets. Before I post I look up what proper hashtags to use based on the subject of any hub I am tweeting about. This gets more quality traffic.

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3. 48

   wavegirl22posted 11 years ago

   Twitter for me is my news, it’s how I get my news. I have probably 10-15 different feeds, and I am constantly updating them.  And of course it is my favorite place to hang out during an NFL game.

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4. 86

   DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years ago

   I am on Twitter, but I rarely visit the site anymore.  I just don't have time to read through all the nonsense posts of folks going to have a cup of joe, or to the store, in order to glean worhtwhile tidbits.
   I was following it for a while, under my secondary ID, with an animal welfare cadre of folks there...but it really is very time-consuming, and I was doing that at the expense of more important things.
   I have Twitterfeed that posts any new articles or blog posts to both Twitter and FaceBook,and that's about it.
   I know, I know--in order to successfully use a social media site--you need to be on it and be sociable.   ... oh well.   I do have a life (of sorts) outside the computer.
   
   I'm much more active on FaceBook....(or has that become 'Face-Crooks'????)

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   1. 48

      wavegirl22posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You are not following the right people then. Twitter is an amazing tool for whatever it is you are interested in. Especially up to the minute news. Try creating lists. That way you only see what it is you are interested in or maybe looking for.
      
      You put in you take out.

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      1. 59

         paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Normally I would agree with you...
         
         But your favorite color is pink?

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         1. 48

            wavegirl22posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            lol. . I do love pink but at this time of the year its all about Green and Big Blue! Just check my twitter feed and you will understand

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            1. 59

               paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               https://twitter.com/07shari22

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5. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

   Back to business...

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   1. 48

      wavegirl22posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Go Jets

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6. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

   Bump if interest.

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7. 74

   WriteAngledposted 11 years ago

   I stopped using my real Twitter account too, because it was flooding me with messages I had no time to read. I was following 77 people when I stopped.
   
   I started another one where I just post hubs and other stuff like that. I'm "following" about 190 people and have about 200 following me, but I never look at it.
   
   I don't know what hashtags are.

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   1. 69

      the girlsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      hashtag is the sign #. If you use hashtags on proper key words, your link will reach your target group. I like twitter too. But I am not so fast-paced to keep abreast with the nano-second news. I only follow the ones that I have to. And mostly, they send links to my email. With regards to HP, I haven't explored this aspect yet.

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   2. 97

      Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      What I don't understand is why you are following 190 people that you can't keep up with on Twitter.
      
      I also don't understand why you started another account and made the same mistake following too  many to read. Why didn't you just unfollow the people who were flooding you with useless tweets.
      
      The idea of following is to know what those people are saying.  If you don't find it useful, don't follow them. Simple as that. 
      
      Sorry if I came across harsh in the way I said this, but I am frustrated by reading so often how people think twitter is full of spam and stupid posts.  I do agree with that, but I only follow intelligent people who tweet useful information and whom I can keep up with. We do have control of making Twitter what we want it to be.

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      1. 74

         WriteAngledposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I was following 77 people on the account I stopped using, which was in my real name. These were mainly people I knew, a couple of authors and someone posting about Egyptology.
         
         I found it simpler to keep up with the people I know through Facebook, although I have about 140 friends on there. It's a lot easier on FB than on Twitter to select to view one specific person if I want to catch up with them.
         
         The second Twitter account is just for posting hubs and other articles and does not use my real name. I follow back people who follow me, but never look at the account as these are people I don't know at all. I set this up specifically because I did not want to advertise my stuff on my real Twitter account. Subsequent to that, I gave up on my real Twitter account, because it was just taking too long to read through everything. I did first try a program on my laptop, which was supposed to help with organising and filtering things on Twitter and FB, but it took up too many resources and slowed down my computer horribly.

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         1. 97

            Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            You can view the tweets of any specific person simply by clicking on their @name rather than just reading your entire timeline. 
            
            You can also make lists to follow specific people in categories. For example, I have a list for HubPages people and a list for stock investment gurus.
            
            
            Why bother? Why do you follow people who follow you if you have no interest in what they post? It's like saying you will jump of a bridge when you see someone else jump off.

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      2. 48

         wavegirl22posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I agree with all that you said.
         
         Just to add what I find extremely frustrating is why someone would use a platform that they dont understand and obviously have never read the rules and regulations of the site.
         
         How can you set up not one but 2 accounts and not know what is going on.
         
         Plain and simple, If you do not understand what a Hashtag is you should not be on twitter sharing anything.

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         1. 97

            Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I totally agree. Thanks for adding that.

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8. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

   You see the posts you choose to see.  I only follow people who regularly share things I am actually interested in.  I only look at the latest posts, there is no obligation to read them all.

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9. 78

   Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

   The thing to understand about Twitter is that, as with all social communities, people only follow you if you post things they find interesting. So, be interesting, notice what kind of Tweets and Tweeps YOU follow, and do that. (and by "follow," I mean "pay attention to and read," as opposed to following in the hopes you'll get some reciprocal benefit.)
   
   Don't post ten updates a day. I unfollow anyone whose tweets dominate my Twitter channel, no matter how interesting they are.

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10. 74

    WriteAngledposted 11 years ago

    I am only there because everyone bangs on about how we have to twitter all our hubs and other articles!
    
    
    For some reason, almost 200 people have decided to follow me on there, although I did not ask them to do so.
    
    I did not find any use for it when I was trying to follow people I know or authors I liked, because they did not have the space to say anything interesting and develop trains of thought.
    
    I personally don't see much point of a place where you only have a tiny space for a message.
    
    At least on Facebook, I can have some sort of discussion with people. On Twitter, everyone uses mobile phone abbreviations and even then can't say more than one sentence at a time.

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    1. 97

       Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Those are fools who follow hundreds of people hoping they will find other fools to follow them back. This is wasting the resources that Twitter offers and it's a shame. I ignore anyone who follows me who has also followed hundreds of others. I see what they are up to. It's obvious they have no interest in me since they are following way too many to keep up with anyway. So why would I follow them too.
       
       On the other hand, I do briefly check out anyone who follows me and if I see they are following the rules and that they post useful tweets that I am interested in, then I may follow them too.
       
       
       It's all that's necessary. Twitter is not for carrying on long conversations. You have not read the rules and regulations. There is enough space to post a meaningful intro to a link and space to include the link too (Links are automatically shortened). 
       
       Just don't abuse it by tweeting ONLY links to your own stuff. For instance, I tweet other people's Hubs from time to time when I find a good one that I think my followers would want to read.  That's how you get more followers who actually want to read your tweets.
       
       It's a two-way street and it works when used right!

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11. 84

    psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

    I don't read twitter for long trains of thought, but for alerts and breaking news in niche subjects.  A tweet makes a bad essay just like a saw makes a bad hammer.

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