Do You Twitter? Do You Need to Twitter?

I forget when I first heard of Twitter, but I signed up and quickly lost interest.  With a 140 character limit, I could not IMAGINE why anyone would care about how I spent the mundane parts of my day.

Rewriting the htaccess file for yet another client as I trudge through the endless process of updating their WordPress installation to the most

Oops… no more room.  Maybe I’m just too chatty to use Twitter.

Most importantly, I couldn’t imagine getting anything of importance DONE if I tried to Twitter about it.

My closest Twitter moment was when the Space Shuttle had to be rerouted on it’s landing and passed over my house.  The sonic boom was incredible and once I’d met and talked with my neighbors about it, I went in and posted probably the only “relevant” Twitter post of my Twitter career.

Not only have I not been able to get “into” Twitter… I just haven’t been able to get inspired to “follow” anyone else’s Twitter.  I know that when I say, “I just don’t have time”… it usually means I can’t see any reason to do it.

There… I admitted it.  Twitter just doesn’t strike me as a productive use of my time.

I ignored Twitter and Twitter ignored me.  Then came the SXSW 2008 conference and top bloggers began Twittering about what was going on and suddenly, everyone wants to talk about Twitter.

I’m reminded of the scene from Zoolander:

Mugatu: SHUT UP! Enough already, Ballstein! Who cares about Derek Zoolander anyway? The man has only one look, for Christ’s sake! Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? They’re the same face! Doesn’t anybody notice this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!

My feelings exactly regarding Twitter.  Micro-blogging!  WTF?  Blogging restricted to 140 characters or less… WHY?  Please… someone… tell me… WHY?

When you promote your Twitter… Are you saying, “Hey, I’ve plenty of time to micro blog about nothing… follow me on Twitter.”

(HORROR!!! I just logged into my Twitter account and I have followers!!!  WTF?   I had to have my password emailed to me as a reminder because it’s been so long since I’ve used it!)

Thankfully, I’m not alone.  Mark posted “Twitter is Stupid” over at Courtney Tuttle’s Internet Marketing School.  Since he broke the ice, I don’t feel nearly so alone.  Mark writes:

A noteworthy blogger talks about how he loves twitter, but then he disclosed his traffic sources: Google – 42%. Twitter – 1.87%. I think that pretty much tells the story.

Go build some links.

Thank you Mark!!!

I truly thought I was the only one…. I truly thought maybe someone had been slipping crazy pills into my morning coffee.

As for the limited number of Twitter followers… sorry to disappoint you with the lack of updates in my life.  Rewriting htaccess files just isn’t that glamorous.

Comments

  1. M Erick says:

    Just forget it, Twitter is not for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I doubt for many others!!!

  2. I agree, I can’t believe that anyone would be interested in what I do or that I would think that I do something so important every moment that I need to tell anyone about it.
    BUT, I just started twittering and I mentioned some words like I now accept Johns Hopkins insurance and Johns Hopkins stared following me. I twittered about how I am now treating someone with PMS and some OB-GYN in Texas, yes, Texas started following me. Where will this lead? I don’t know and I don’t know what I may twitter about now, but I do remember someone telling me about something called “the bread crumb trail.” Ring any bells? This is just another trail and it may only get a few bread crumbs, but it may lead somewhere.
    Tell them about finding the problem with my blog and how we saved it. Just say something to stay current and someone somewhere will figure out how we can twitter more effectively to market ourselves.

  3. Simeon – Welcome to the conversation! You’ve taken yet another step towards “leaving breadcrumb trails” and making even more connections – which may NATURALLY lead to more business for your practice.

    However, I’ll warn you and all the other “Tweople” that trying to use Twitter to “cash in” is a VERY bad practice. Like you said – talk about how you’re solving problems and it will work for you. Try to “sell” people and it won’t.