It’s my birthday!
No, not the anniversary of the day I was born, although I’m still happily accepting gifts.
I’m 4 years old!
I would like to celebrate the day by sharing with you four things I’ve learned during my four years on what has become my favorite social medium.
1. The most amazing people are on Twitter.
I really don’t understand anyone who isn’t on Twitter. There is just no better way to network online. There aren’t many days that pass when I don’t engage in some way with Margie Clayman, Doug Rice, Bruce Sallan, Brian Vickery, and Daniel Newman, who, by the way, also invited me into my first tribe (12 Most!) on Triberr. Don’t even get me started on Dino Dogan! That man cracks me up!
My Twitter relationships have resulted in a lot of offline networking opportunities too. I can’t remember the last time I went to a city and didn’t meet up with someone who I met initially on Twitter. I talked productivity in New York with #prodchat leader Ray Sidney-Smith, publishing in Dallas with Chris Westfall and media in Chicago with Susan Crowell and Brian Steffen. I would be remiss not to mention Twitter friends who visit Oklahoma (most recently, Sean McGinnis) and friendships built upon via telephone like those with Ellen Bremen, Jodi Okun and Mack Collier.
I’ve met so many amazing people via Twitter that I debated whether to name any of them here because I knew I couldn’t name them all. Let me just go ahead and tell you all that I think you are simply fabulous!
2. You can get any question answered quickly on Twitter.
This actually happened earlier this week. I posted a question:
What’s the symbol called in a name when the a and e are pushed together? Also, how do you make it? #phdchat #phdproblems
— Kenna Griffin (@profkrg) March 26, 2013
And within seconds I got this response:
@profkrg it’s a grapheme … accessible using AltGr+z on a modern US-International keyboard bit.ly/11Ig5xC
— billiegirltoo (@billiegirltoo) March 26, 2013
And then a helpful follow-up, just in case:
@profkrg Did you get an answer to your Æ question?
— Cindy Scheopner (@Scheopner) March 26, 2013
I have yet to ask a question on Twitter that someone didn’t respond with an answer. And, trust me, I ask a lot of questions.
3. I love Twitter chats.
If you follow me, you know this is true. I’m a huge learning nerd. There isn’t a single chat I attend that I’m not exposed to a new concept or a unique way of thinking. Some of my favorites are #blogchat, #prodchat, #muckedup, and #wjchat, but the truth is that I could find a great chat to attend any night (and most days) of the week. Chats are one of the ways I’ve met so many amazing people.
4. Twitter is so much better than TV.
People ask me about the time I devote to Twitter. It’s actually pretty simple to understand. My husband is a heavy TV viewer. I don’t really enjoy watching television, so I spend my downtime online hanging out with a few thousand of my favorite friends.
Thank you for indulging me on my birthday. I was like some (many?) of you when I joined Twitter—I really didn’t see the point. Four years later it’s my favorite online medium.
Are you using Twitter? What’s your favorite thing about the social media platform?
MargieClayman says
profkrg I’ll be sure to check it out 🙂
profkrg says
@MargieClayman Thanks, Majizzle. I remember how I used to watch you in my stream when I first joined Twitter. I would think “Wow! She knows everyone!” You would come into #blogchat and spend like half of the chat saying Hello to everyone!
MackCollier says
Congrats on four years! Here’s to 4 more, and see you Sunday for #blogchat 😉
profkrg says
MackCollier Thanks, Mack! How long have you been on Twitter? You’re one of the first people I met via Twitter. And, of course, #blogchat was my first chat to attend and the first one I integrated into a course. Lots of love for you, darlin’!
jeresponderay says
profkrg Very wise & very positive. I agree that one can meet many fascinating people on Twitter; but I’d have say also one can meet crazies
profkrg says
jeresponderay thank goodness I haven’t really had that experience.
Kellyvhs2x4jij says
55PJS http://t.co/pbVh9MUJEv
profkrg says
MargieClayman Thank you, Majizzle. You’re fabulous!
MargieClayman says
profkrg back atcha lady 🙂 Glad I know you!
JM_Grants says
Happy Birthday! I completely agree with your take on Twitter. I recently realized that I had given up most of my ‘TV’ time to be on Twitter, too. I love connecting to people who share my values, who inspire met and who, without Twitter, I would not meet otherwise. I really treasure these connections and see each one as a gift and a blessing. Thanks for the great post.
profkrg says
JM_Grants Thank you so much for reading and commenting. Twitter is so much better than TV, in my opinion. It’s just fun!
KDillabough says
dshiao profkrg Thanks!
dbvickery says
Not sure if the Triberr commenting took my comment.
I agree with your post, Kenna. I do not come across an Oxford comma sighting that I do not think of sharing with you!
And Twitter/FB/Google+ gives me my news – and opinions on that news! Then there are the great long-form editorials that show up as RSS feeds.
Thanks for including me in your post, and have a great Easter weekend!
profkrg says
dbvickery Damn Oxford commas! 😉
You’re fabulous, Brian. I’m really glad we “met.”
Kenna
KinderSwagCA says
OrganizerSandy Wow! Inspiring view on Twitter, actually! Great words of wisdom! Happy Easter!
socialping says
SocialMediaSean We agree with all of those!
SocialMediaSean says
socialping 🙂
SuzanneP says
I have to play Devil’s Advocate here. I’ve discussed my luke warm feelings many time before on my blog – I can take or leave Twitter. (Actually, when I was working full time, I was happy to not feel I had to be on Twitter at all because I was too busy to bother.) I know it’s a thing to have, and it’s a great communication device, but I think it really boils down to how you use it. I started my account about 4 yrs ago too and I have way, way too many people on my timeline. Most of it is book promotion or links, and while some is interesting, I tune out really quickly. When I use Twitter a lot, it’s once a week maybe. The rest of the time it’s sporadic. I talk to the same handful of people off and on but not to much extent.
Sometimes people will respond to questions, but not always. Chats are fine, but I never really know the people, so I get overlooked a lot. I’ve seem people using chat tags to form a clique that loves to bash other writers as well. Not a nice place to play.
I’ve met some nice people on there, but I’ve run into some really nasty ones too. I would be more apt to meet up with someone I know in real life from my Facebook friends than anyone on my Twitter.
I’m glad it is there to go to, and I’m glad it exists. I see and hear people rave about Twitter, and how it makes them happy to chat with people there but I’ve just never fallen in love with it.
profkrg says
SuzanneP I encourage you to give it a strong chance. A lot of what you’re describing above sounds like me when I first started using Twitter. Overall, I just didn’t see the point. I was an unknown, which resulted in that left out feeling. Now that I have more control over it and use it more readily, I find that it’s my favorite place for engagement.
Of course, you don’t have to like it if you don’t want to. 🙂 What works for one person may not work for another.
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Kenna
edstackartist says
TweetSmarter Very True!
Art_Donovan says
KenHerron profkrg Twitter is the rage,It’s used wrong. People Don’t carry the conversation. They just tweet for fame in one dimension
KenHerron says
Hi Donovan (Art_Donovan)! I see #socialmedia as a giant paintbrush. Some people use it to create art, some people use it to create doodles.
profkrg says
@Art_Donovan KenHerron I don’t agree that people don’t carry on conversations on Twitter. Most of what I do there is conversing. It’s not at all one-sided for me. Perhaps it depends on the user and their followers?
LsDiamondRing says
TweetSmarter Happy 4th birthday.
TweetSmarter says
LsDiamondRing That wasn’t our article! (We’ve been on Twitter over 6 years.) 🙂 But Thanks!
Tracy_Nang says
SteveCassady profkrg nice topic. 😉
BruceSallan says
Professor, I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments and I’m honored to be included among your good Twitter friends. What makes OUR relationship even better – to me – is that we respectfully disagree on many things but still adore one another. THAT is the way public discourse should be. We don’t call each other names except in jest. What is D.C. worked like we do? Wouldn’t that be nice? Wouldn’t the world be a better place.
BTW, you did lose the Journalism debate and you’re gonna get CRUSHED on our Good and Evil (blog) debate…Xoxo….
profkrg says
BruceSallan Yes, like we disagree that you’re wrong and I’m right, even though we both know that’s the case.
Why don’t the politicians just ask me what to do? I would tell them.
Thanks for keeping it fun, Daddy’O!
Kenna
SelfStairway says
I’ve only been using it for around two months and I’m already seeing how amazing it is!
My favorite thing about it is the fact that you can engage in a conversation with ANYONE. One of my biggest inspirations, James Altucher, holds a weekly Q&A every Thursday afternoon and I always get a response back from him. When else would I get a guarantee reply from my inspirational figure?
profkrg says
SelfStairway This is an excellent point. Twitter is a great place for engaging with people who you wouldn’t have access to otherwise.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Kenna
patricksplace says
williamshaw09 Thanks for the RT
Sean McGinnis says
Happy birthday Kenna! I agree with you about the overall awesomeness of Twitter. That said, it seems people are must less interested in engaging there than they used to be. I seem to get MUCH more personal engagement on Facebook. For example, when I ask a question on Twitter, I get barely an answer. But, when I ask the exact same question on Facebook, it will turn into a whole discussion with many different viewpoints. Any thoughts on that?
profkrg says
Sean McGinnis I don’t really have that experience on Facebook. I have a “personal page” and a “fan” page for my blog. My personal page is just friends, family, pics of my dog and kids, blah, blah, blah… You know, you’ve seen it. I can’t really judge engagement there because my mom always likes me, right? There isn’t much engagement at all on my blog’s page. I’ve attempted to create more opportunities for discussion, but most of them fall flat. That’s not my experience on Twitter at all.
Do you think it’s possible that you’ve reached some kind of critical mass in following/followers that’s created this change?
Kenna
Sean McGinnis says
profkrg Sean McGinnis Like anything, I think you get out of it what you put into it. And I’ve changed the way I use Twitter – much more of a “publishing” platform for me these days. But if I post some sort of general question, like the one you highlighted I rarely get much of a response (if any). If I post that exact same question on Facebook, it will invariably lead to a robust discussion (on my personal account).
Again, I think it relates to how I now use Facebook. Two years ago I didn’t use FB for much more than connecting with old classmates and family. Today, its MUCH more of a way for me to connect with people in my network and profession – so I post a lot of stuff related to SEO, web design and work related stuff there.
profkrg says
Sean McGinnis I have wondered if I should change the way I use Facebook. It’s obviously quite informal and I may find greater engagement on journalism-related things on what I now consider my “personal” page. However, since our family lives about two hours away, I hate to give up the amount of life sharing we do there.
What made you change the way you interact on Twitter? You were one of the people who I remember as being quite connected there when I first started using it. Was the change planned or just something that “kind of happened?” Perhaps you “grow out” of certain social mediums?
Kenna
Sean McGinnis says
profkrg Sean McGinnis The big change for me was when I stopped using the #UsGuys hashtag as my personal version of twitter and started using lists instead. I couldn’t stomach some of the drama within the tribe and was using lists anyway, so my time there began slipping more and more.
I really do wish facebook had a more intuitive way to build lists so that you could use it for BOTH family/friends and professional. Unfortunately that’s just not the case. Google+ had a lot of promise with circles but the user base isn’t there and even so there are limitations. I’m not at all a fan of the way the circles work. They may be helpful for noobies, but I’d prefer a vastly different interface as a power use.
profkrg says
Sean McGinnis The people always ruin social interactions. 😉
susansilver says
Of all the social networks, Twitter is the only one that comes naturally to me to use. I don’t mind that sort of short snappy conversation. You can put a lot of feeling into 140 chars and it is kind of fun to find new ways to use it. Still think it is the best network for news, if you are willing to sift through a few clunkers.
profkrg says
susansilver I agree that it’s best for news, both dissemination of and identifying. I also think we’re still discovering all of the Twitter-related possibilities. Obviously, I’m a big fan.
Thanks, Susan, for reading and commenting.
Kenna
bhannan says
I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m about to celebrate my 5th birthday. I admit it has been a slow boil to both comfort and value for me but in the last year or two, I’ve hit my stride. I remain mystified by those who refuse to participate. It’s here to stay – like ATMs. You’re a fool not to use it. The access it provides to the broadest range of people everywhere and information, as you say, is unmatched. Thanks for the post.
Marguerite_HBC says
ShellyKramer MeghanMBiro profkrg all true. I posted it to my Facebook page! Snicker!
ShellyKramer says
Marguerite_HBC Haha! Good move.
Marguerite_HBC says
ShellyKramer I am having a hard time convincing the writers I know on my Facebook page to make the move to Twitter. Intimidated? or busy.
SarahRobinson says
ShellyKramer MeghanMBiro profkrg Wait. We were supposed to learn something while we’ve been here? No one told me that…..:-)
profkrg says
SarahRobinson ShellyKramer MeghanMBiro You don’t have to learn anything, but perhaps it will happen on accident?
SarahRobinson says
profkrg ShellyKramer MeghanMBiro Well…I’ve been here more than four years. I’ve learned that johnhaydon doesn’t wear pants. 🙂
profkrg says
SarahRobinson ShellyKramer MeghanMBiro johnhaydon Pants are a bit overrated, I guess.
Darrenvgo9kvucw says
SEOvibes http://t.co/D3nT78QLFJ
billiegirltoo says
profkrg aww. thanks
profkrg says
billiegirltoo No, thank you!
billiegirltoo says
profkrg can i ask you a question via DM?
profkrg says
billiegirltoo of course!
NYFarmer says
scrowell profkrg DairyCarrie ThomasTimmons I find myself attending functions where at least one twitter friend shows.up, very nice.thing
RevaLabriola202 says
NYFarmer The Hottest girl of All-Time http:/bit.ly/10E8ooT
seanmcginnis says
profkrg Youbetcha! Great chatting in person. Hope we can do that again soon!
profkrg says
rsidneysmith you are so welcome!