What We're Reading Now
15 June 2011
Allison did her homework assignments from Marijean Jaggers, and 14 days later she's a happy member of the Twittersphere.
Tags: communication, social media
I was more than a little late to the social media party. I just celebrated my one-year anniversary on Facebook. Finally deciding to be a Tweeter was like the final frontier for me... boldly going where at least this woman had never been before. I'm not sure why I resisted social media for so long especially since I love networking and helping people to get what they need. I think it may be that I worry that I can't see your eyes when I talk to you this way and make any adjustments to my communication approach if what I'm doing isn't working for you. Regardless, the train had clearly left the station and I needed to get on board.
I started by following @RachelBrozenske and @pammoran (two women I admire a lot) as well as all things Dave Matthews Band related (I thought feeding my inner groupie might help). You can learn about Rachel's first day on Twitter here. Then I asked my social media guru, @Marijean, for homework. I’ve included everything she told me to read or watch below. But even after I did my homework, I found myself dragging my feet and wondering, "What on earth will I say, how will I make it short (a personal challenge for me in all settings), how can I be a good member of the club, why would anybody want to follow me, and what if no one does?" With all those fretful concerns nagging me, I decided that maybe it was just time to jump in the water. On 2 June 2011, I started selecting people to follow. Within minutes, my friend @jeffgunther Tweeted, “Watch out world! @AllisonLinney is now on Twitter.” Then @copelandandi followed me and thanked me for following her. Right away I felt welcomed into this new land. Everyone I’ve talked to who was once a little nervous about Twitter has a similar story.
So here’s what I recommend if you’re still dragging your feet… do your Marijean homework, read Twitter 101 and the Glossary (both are very helpful to a newbie), and then just get started. Don’t wait as long as I did. I wish I hadn’t because what I’ve realized is that the best training for Twitter is to just start. Once you begin reading what everyone else is posting, then you’ll actually get comfortable reading and writing Twitter shorthand. Pretty quickly, you’ll come to appreciate the efficient exchange of information as well as the wonderfully warm connections you make with people. If you read my first 110 Tweets, I think you’ll see what I mean.
Now that I’ve been Tweeting for 14 days, here is the most important message I bring from a land not so far away: IT’S SO MUCH FUN! WHO KNEW?
And for all you doubters out there and I know you are legion, I also have a message: IT’S EFFECTIVE!
I’ve made many meaningful connections and am surprisingly pleased by the comingling of my work and personal lives. I’ve made new friends, reconnected with old ones and I’ve already seen how it’s helping our consulting business. I think some of the personal things I’ve shared have made me more accessible and maybe even a little more interesting (a gal can only hope). As Marijean, says, “be personable but never private in social media.” That’s an easy one for me to follow. While I lead a very public life, I actually tend to be mighty private and a bit of a recluse when it’s time for me to recharge. Therefore, I always used to think that engaging in social media would mean I’d feel overly exposed or perhaps not in control of the exposure. I’ve now learned that’s simply not the case. As long as I make good decisions about what to post and I follow, am connected to, or am friends with other people who make good decisions in the social media world, then everything works out just fine. So check out all these links and then here’s my last cliché for this blog post: Just Do It! (And maybe you'll consider following me @AllisonLinney.)
http://www.marijeanjaggers.com/twitter-why-we-care-what-you-had-for-breakfast/
http://www.commoncraft.com/twitter
http://inklingmedia.net/2011/03/22/twitter-is-real-life/
http://mashable.com/2009/06/12/twitter-executives/
http://www.marijeanjaggers.com/?s=Five+lessons+on+how+not+to+use+twitter
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Marijean
Jun 16, 2011
Allison, while I love seeing you in person, I love even more that you’re part of my daily stream of consciousness on Twitter. Thank you for the HUGE shout out and for putting together this helpful post for others who may be reluctant to join the conversation. I’m so glad you’re seeing the benefits so early—I enjoy learning when users’ “ah ha!” moments were with social media and especially Twitter.
Liz
Jun 16, 2011
What a great story! You may just notice someone new following you around.
Hooray for Allison for having the very good sense to listen to @Marijean
Allison Linney
Jun 17, 2011
Marijean, the HUGE shout out was completely deserved. I bet people would be interested to know that our company hasn’t even officially hired you yet (although we’re planning to) and that I’ve learned from you at many conferences, through your web site and blog, by watching how you interact on social media sites and just a few emails between us when I had questions here and there. You are generous with your time and really teach by walking the talk. Liz, I’m glad the story resonated and you just got a new follower too!
Jim Lansing
Jun 23, 2011
Comfortable introduction which is important to us “older” generation types. I’m researching how Twitter will enhance rather than encumber. Thanks!
Allison Linney
Jun 25, 2011
Jim, I’m so glad to know that this might be helpful across the generations. I’m learning that lots of people from all generations struggle with figuring out how to join the Twitter experience and make it an enhancement rather than encumbrance. I look forward to hearing what you learn.