I‘ve been noticing this phenomenon a lot lately, and I don’t think it’s because people are being snobby (or maybe I did something really, really bad??). I just think it’s because people are new to Twitter, and they don’t know about checking their @replies/mentions and their DMs.
So…. The most important thing you need to be doing on Twitter, is checking your @reply/mentions and your DMs.
If you have no idea what any of that means, then watch this:
The other thing I think might be happening out there in the Social Media World is that businesses, understanding that this whole Social Media thing might be passing them by, are hiring consultants to come in and create Twitter accounts for them. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a bad thing if all you do is program in a bunch of tweets and then ignore your Twitter account because it’s on automatic pilot.
Twitter is about creating conversations!
Rant complete. Thank you for listening.
After having very few DMs replied to when i have tried to start a conversationI’ve got to say I agree.
I would also add that one should learn about lists and setting up search feeds. If you use a client like TweetDeck, you should set up a column to follow hashtags and search terms that you’re interested in (#2amt being the first that comes to mind, though I also follow #webdev and other relevant interests). This has the effect of turning Twitter into a virtual chat room, and it really, really, really increases the chances of you finding someone else that you want to follow (and becoming visible enough that others will follow you!).
And another thing….
I was following the Twitter stream during #Jeopardy on Monday night bout its IBM AI contestant #Watson,and there was a supremely annoying ‘promoted’ tweet (#spam) that stuck at the top of the feed as other tweets flowed in. A jeans company using those hashtags and with clever comment tie-in to the content of the stream, but which could have been prepared ahead of time and set up to tweet during the right time. In the flow, tweeted by a real person in line like everyone else, not so bad. IN YOUR FACE – not so much.
If companies pay to sit on top of our conversation about something like that,#doyouhearmemarketers, our eyes will go elsewhere. Soooo annoying! And first time I’ve seen that.
Yeah, I pretty much report and block as spam anyone who @’s me with those kinds of tweets.
Twitter is about conversation! Not about selling! You can use conversations to create relationships based on trust, and you may sell through that. But you can’t use Twitter as a billboard.
AND PLEASE DON’T USE CAPS LOCK!!
See, Judi, you got my rant going again.