Twitip

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Just curious – I’m wondering how many of you still find Twitter to be as interesting and awesome as you used to find it.

For newer Twits, it may very well be. For those of us who were “early adopters”, we’ve got clearly different experiences. I remember Twitter before every television show and celebrity and news station had a Twitter account. Before every business went to crazy lengths to get followers. And before it became a place over-run with teenagers Tweeting about crazy sexual stuff. I remember when it was truly a networking place between colleagues, old and new. It was fun to go and see what some of the people I look up to in my field were reading or writing or talking about.

My personal feeling? There’s lots of clutter in Twitter these days. People who follow you in hopes of you following them back so they can increase their follower count, only to unfollow you if you don’t reciprocate, or once they’ve got you following them.

What do you think? Vote, and then discuss your answer in the comments!

The articles and posts here on TwiTip are informative and useful to for twitter users. But today I would like to do something a little different.

I have upset one of my twitter followers and I am asking for your advice.

Here’s what happened. One of my twitter followers, we’ll say his name is Tom, came across my blog and was kind enough to stumble several of my blog posts as well as re-tweet them. This sent additional traffic to my website which I was grateful for. (more…)

Image via Wikipedia

Okay so last year I ran a few posts featuring reader questions I’d received through the contact form. It was great because I’d post the question and then the readers would comment to help answer them.

Here are a few I think worked out well last year:

Answer A Reader Question: Promoting Local Events on Twitter
Answer A Reader Question: Multiple Twitter Users In BusinessAnswer A Reader Question: My Twitter Account Was Phished!
Answer A Reader Question: Top Tips
Answer A Reader Question: Twitter Bullies
Answer A Reader Question: Twitter Etiquette?

Since it seemed to be a pretty popular type of post (from both sides), AND because Twitter and social media relies heavily on helping people, I’d like to bring that back as a regular feature, so send in your questions!

Alright, folks… crunch time. The end of 2009 is near, and you know that for virtually everyone who actually celebrates one holiday or another in December, it can get crazed.

We’ve heard of surgeons using Twitter while in the operating room, airplane passengers Twittering during a flight emergency, people raising money to fight cancer… all amazing things in their own rights without a doubt.

But what about the hectic holidays? First, answer in the comments how you think Twitter can help with holiday preparations, and then vote in the poll as to if you’ve already experienced the “Miracle of Twitter” this holiday season.

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Here’s a reader question that came through on the Call for Community Content post yesterday…

Gina from Moneywise Moms (@moneywisemoms) asks:

“…I can’t find ANYTHING on the web about how to use Twitter to promote a local event. I want the quick/easy/widespread power of Twitter but without the world-wide-ness. Ideas?”

Share your suggestions in the comments!

If you’ve been to Blog World Expo (#bwe09) before, you’ll know that it’s a great way to connect, share and learn from industry experts and to meet others in your niche who make great collaborators.

I went last year, and I’m excited knowing that I’ll be there this year (as will Darren). I loved meeting all the people in person that I’ve grown to know for their online personas on Twitter and in their blogs, and can’t wait to see old friends and meet some new ones!

Yes, you read me right: Darren’s going to be at Blog World Expo.

So… are you going?

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If you are, and you’d like to meet up, catch me on Twitter (@larakulpa)!

With the recent rash of people falling victim to phishing scams on Twitter, in comes this question by a reader regarding her account being compromised.

Hi there. My twitter account was a victim of phishing. Twitter suspended my account because of it. I have sent them a request to lift my suspension but haven’t heard from them the last 5 days since I lodged the request. Any tips on how I can get them to respond to my request?

Please keep in mind that telling her to avoid clicking links or entering their info into a random site is pretty much a moot point at this time. I think she’s pretty aware of that by now. What would you do in this situation, though?

So yesterday’s post here about Twitter’s DDoS attack got a couple answers, but what was one to do with their spare, stolen, or borrowed time yesterday, when there was no getting on Twitter for any reasonable amount of time?

Lots of people were having hissy fits over on facebook. I’m not sure if was the withdrawals (which I admit, I kind of had myself) or just sheer frustration. Then facebook was being a pain in the you-know-what, so that had people more frustrated.

As of this morning, I still can’t update on Twitter or follow anyone. Clearly others can, and I’m sure I’m not alone. So while I’m trying to keep myself entertained and occupied, I figured I’d find out what you guys did all day yesterday!

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Last week I asked TwiTip readers to share their primary reason for using Twitter, and the results weren’t all that surprising:

I’m personally a little disheartened here, with the number one result being “Promoting my company/blog (as opposed to networking).” Granted, networking and learning are close behind, but it seems to me that people are more out for getting their business in front of others’ eyes as a number one priority.

Do we blame this on the “social media experts” who push the idea that Twitter is good for business, or is it more just a selfish need to try anything to drum up more clients? What happened to communication on Twitter? Look at the results for “To talk about anything EXCEPT business.” at only 9% of the answers… I was hoping that number would’ve been a little higher at least.

What do you think? Is Twitter the same as it always was, or has it become more of a place where people advertise more than they connect?

Yesterday I posted a reader question looking for your Top 3 Twitter Tips. The answers were quite varied, but here are some of my personal favorites that came in:

• Don’t tweet & drink- it is worse than drunk dialing. @recruitnik
• Engage people around you. @ reply them, FollowFriday them, talk with them. You get a lot more out of Twitter when you engage. @jbwagner
• Don’t be one of those obnoxious “auto thank you” people. @jessicawaters
• Don’t answer Twitter’s question of what are you doing? Unless you’re mega-famous, nobody care’s what you’re doing. @robneville73
• Forget “monetizing” (other things are more important – and that’s not a real word, anyway). @SpikeTheLobster
  [Though I disagree that it's not a "real word" - I do agree that it's best kept off Twitter. - Lara]
• Don’t make it all about you and your company and don’t post the same type of update over and over. @timeontaskva
• Use TweetDeck to filter your followers. @pereca

If you have more Top 3 Twitter Tips to add, please feel free to do so here or on the original post.