Comments on: Making a case for Twitter

By: The Agra Indian

The Agra Indian — Sun, 17 May 2009 21:12:32 +0000

The term social media itself say that it is social; it is a network of people. When talking to people you have to make professional as well as personal relations with them, you can’t through information like any thing to your followers, the information should hold some value and should be interest of your followers.

I don’t thins sitting the whole day on twitter will going to work for marketing purpose. You must have quality followers that share same interest.

Thanks for the great post Karyln

By: JustinSMV

JustinSMV — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:39:50 +0000

I used to say Twitter is just another form of real live RSS feeds as a joke but its true that we are surrounded constantly on Twitter with great minds out there that most of the time we don’t need a large convention to set up when we have the knowledge at our very hands.

By: Rob Westervelt

Rob Westervelt — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:12:16 +0000

I had a Twitter account about two years ago and couldn’t figure out what the point was. I just set up a new account this week and I was blown away by the conversations going on and all the information I was learning in the process. I’ve found that Twitter is only as good as the people you follow. I’m following some really good people and think it’s really valuable. Good post Karyln.

By: Kyle James

Kyle James — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:40:16 +0000

Haha… yeah yeah so you remember the “old” Kyle… funny thing is if you digg hard enough there are comments out there on the web where I trashed Twitter saying that I didn’t get it.

Oh it’s amazing what a conference and hanging out w/ a @drunktsand will do to a person.

By: Jeff Cepull

Jeff Cepull — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:35:08 +0000

Completely on target, Karlyn, especially your remarks regarding the value of professional conferences and how Twitter actually functions as professional development (24/7). Michael Stoner’s water cooler analogy must really hit a chord for the freelancing crowd…

By: Michael Stoner

Michael Stoner — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:03:47 +0000

I agree with you, Karlyn: it’s great for professional development. And I often say to people who ask about Twitter that it replaces the water cooler for me, since I work in an office by myself. I can have great conversations with people on Twitter: it helps me feel less isolated.

By: Rob S.

Rob S. — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:28:11 +0000

Thanks for the post I can point people to

By: Kevin Grout

Kevin Grout — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:39:15 +0000

Great post Karlyn. I’ve been struggling with the issues around ROI and usefulness in higher ed for twitter too. But like you, I’ve found for my position, it’s been an invaluable tool.

Kati brings up a couple good points too. Twitter is not, for me anyways, a tool for personal relationships outside of my profession. I use it to learn from the best and the brightest, and to share my insights on topics too.

I had a friend choose to follow me the other day. I warned her up front that the majority of my tweets would be about higher ed marketing, with the occasional NBA tweet thrown in. She’s still following me, for now

By: Kati Davis

Kati Davis — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:39:29 +0000

Next time someone asks me about Twitter I’m pointing them here.

Obviously the online types have been the first to really accept and see the value in twitter — if only more industries could truly understand its usefulness and start using it rather than just talking about it!

People have started comparing Facebook to Twitter and they really are two diff things and serve separate purposes. On Facebook, my friends (mostly from high school or college) have their own careers—almost all of the time in a completely different industry. If you want to see family/friend photos or read my pointless 25 things, friend me on Facebook. If you want to hear me spout off about SEM, usability, and general online marketing tactics (and hear the occasional random thought) follow me on twitter.

Hope to meet up with you all at a conference soon!

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:09:29 +0000

The video made me smile. Even though we were drinking, we were learning about flip cameras. Remember when @kylejames thought his gamer handle (@jameskm03) was cooler? I do, but will bet money @oprah doesn’t.

By: TimN

TimN — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:08:27 +0000

Absolutely agree! I’m hoping that after the Oprah/Ashton/Next Big Thing hype dies down, people will give Twitter a look for the right reasons: for building community, interacting, professional development … NOT for ego gratification, get-rich-quick schemes, establishing their guruhood, etc. As I always say, the main reason Twitter clicked for me was because @rachelreuben made sure I started following people who made it useful.

I make the point about networking/crowdsourcing a lot when I talk Twitter. Probably should track the number of times someone at another college — once known as a competitor, now a collaborator — has helped with a problem or idea.

By: Rachel Reuben

Rachel Reuben — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:05:20 +0000

I love this. When I try to describe why I’m so “hooked” on Twitter people, the common thing I say is, “it’s only as good as the network you create/join.” It’s pointless for people who just use it to actually post “what they’re doing” and not reply and interact with others. The latter is where the power is.

Twitter has been the most useful professional networking and information gathering tool I’ve used in my career. There are so many amazing people just seconds away who love to help – and I love being a part of that community.

For anyone reading this that has a Twitter account, but doesn’t feel hooked into a network of people, please say hi to any of us listed above, and we’d be more than happy to introduce you and plug you in.

By: Jess

Jess — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:35:25 +0000

Very much agreed. My Twitter life didn’t really begin until I ‘got it’ at a conference. Since then its taken off and become much more to me. Professional development is probably 60% its value to me. The other 40, well, is just plain fun.

Per us’, great post!