Rockin' Robin

…an occasional series about new-fangled gizmos and how geezers like me use them.

@Biz, @Ev, & @Jack sent me an email about getting the most out of Twitter in 2011. So in the spirit of flattery (by “borrowing” their points), here’s my take on their suggestions.

Full disclosure: Right now, I’m probably best described as an “active lurker” on Twitter which means I look/listen much more than I tweet. I fall in the active category because I often share what I’m seeing through other channels. Sooner or later, I’ll start tweeting more but I’m still searching for my niche (and maybe it’s not really a niche but a broad-based survey of what I find intriguing).

Anyway, here are some ways to dip your toes in the Twitterstream.

Follow your interests. This is a big “duh” in my book but I’m not the one worth a gazillion dollars because I invented Twitter so it’s probably worth repeating. You may think you should only follow folks who are part of your professional world, but, hey, lighten up. You’ll check Twitter more often if you’re following one of your passions. Don’t feel bad about following @Paula_Deen or @BigMama and I won’t tell if you decide to follow @aplusk even if I don’t (six million others follow Ashton Kutcher, why shouldn’t you?).

This also gives you the opportunity to hear what folks that you don’t have direct access to are thinking. I don’t run in the same circles as @SteveCase, @RickWarren or @BillGates but I can follow them. I’m not sucking up when I say that Steve Case is probably the best Tweeter I’ve seen so you should check him out. I can also unfollow folks without guilt if I think they’re tweeting too much (like every eight seconds but I’m not naming names) or too self-promoting (again, no names). They don’t care whether I’m there or not and it’s not as personal as deciding to unfriend on Facebook.

Get specific. Sure, look for people and orgs that you know or who are experts in your space(s). I follow @vppartners, @DonorsChoose and @ShareStrength along with a bunch more because of my work with nonprofits, but I also follow @mashable and @appstore for my gear girl/tech side, @GrammarGirl for cranky old English teacher tips, and @WestWingReport to know what’s going on at the White House without the wonkiness.

Use the lists feature if your interests, like mine, are all over the map. I’ve set up lists for education and medical tweets and I probably should slice and dice my followers even further but the serendipity of the timeline appeals to me so that’s the way I’m scanning most often.

Don't panic. I find myself checking Twitter instead of other sources (both traditional and online) when I want to know about snowstorms or world events or breaking news. @capitalweather has been my go-to source for all things weather in the Greater Washington Region this winter and their forecasts are much more measured than the weather guys on TV—the right approach for this snow weenie. When Representative Giffords was shot in Arizona, I followed it on Twitter, not TV. My church @SouthviewChurch tweets schedules and resource info (although I need to encourage more of my community of faith to start following!).

Return to Twitter. Well, this doesn’t exactly translate for my purposes since Ev, Biz and Jack are obviously building their company. But it is a nice reminder if it’s been a while since you looked at your account or you’ve never had one in the first place. It took me longer to “get” Twitter than it did Facebook so you’re not alone if you tried it and didn’t like it on your first go-round.

Chime in to tell me the folks you think are great at Twitter and leave them in the comments. I’m always looking for other interesting people. Oh, yeah, speaking of self-promotion, find me @cecollins.

PS – If you’re of a certain age, the title of this post will now play on an endless loop. A lesser known fact is that my middle name is Robin….yours in over-sharing, c