by Dan Miranda – Follow him @timecommander
Description: Twitter has become a common part of today’s online society. The problem with it however, is that we end up spending much too much time on the site and it takes away from other aspects of our life.
Twitter is an excellent site. In fact, it may just be too excellent.
The success of Twitter could possibly end up being it’s downfall. We, as a Twitter nation, have become so obsessed with “tweeting,” “retweeting,” and “direct messaging” that we fail to acknowledge any other part of our lives. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but even so, the popular micro-blogging website has only increased in traffic over the past three months and it’s not going to stop there. We’ll only see bigger – or smaller – and bolder ideas from the expanding company, but what does that mean for the user?
It means you are going to get more addicted. Don’t doubt for one second that they aren’t in their headquarters scheming and plotting. You see, Twitter is exactly like a chocolate bar – or any favorite candy of yours, for that matter.
After you take that first bite of the chocolate bar, your mouth waters, your stomach rejoices and ultimately you want more. When you’ve swallowed that same chocolate bar four minutes later. You’ve wasted your appetite on some sweets when you could have had a bowl of carrots instead. Now imagine spending seven days a week like this.
On Twitter, you post your first tweet of the afternoon and watch your followers comment back. Spending fifty minutes on the site each day, you end up wanting to see more and more. You eventually start sneaking on during work and later you stop checking your e-mail for important notifications. You’ve wasted your work day on some tweets when you could have a hefty paycheck. Now imagine seven days a week like this.
Do you want this? I sure don’t. I’m also pretty sure that the people close to you are going to notice it too. Keeping a balanced life, is sure as heck one of the most important things a person can do with his, or her, life – and if Twitter gets in the way for three or four months, it can change habits for a lifetime.
Although it seems contradictory to what I’ve said prior, Twitter can also be quite the tool when used appropriately. It has the quickness and effectiveness to make a lasting impact on worlds’ citizens. There is only one condition though… confirming that the amount of time you spend on the obsessive website will decrease a substantial amount. You want to focus on taking one bite out of the chocolate, not gulping it down like it’s a fruitful wine at WLTV.
I want you to ask yourself the following questions honestly:
1. Is Twitter the website you visit the most?
2. What is the greatest amount of tweets you’ve made in one day?
3. How do you think you can spend less time on Twitter?
The answers to these questions are vital to any Twitterer who is currently in love with their new favorite product. Remember: keeping a balanced life is the key to life success as a whole.
Don’t stop using Twitter altogether though! You may have become so obsessed with the site that putting an end to it could mean very difficult withdrawal symptoms. No, I’m not joking. When something takes such a vast part of your life, it’s hard to cope with not having it anymore. It’s the same reason relationship break-ups are so difficult for (usually) both sides. Don’t involve yourself in a direct partnership with Twitter. Put yourself in an open relationship.
Why an open relationship? Because when you’re in one your still able to go to fun places, meet awesome people, and see great things without feeling guilty about it. When you are directly connected to Twitter, you devote two hours, of your precious time, to a website that isn’t giving you much more than a few extra views on your blog.
TwiTip is a site committed to teaching the people of the blogosphere about what to do on Twitter, but, I hope, reading this showed you what not to do.
@writerdad
Staying off the website works for me. I don’t spend too much time on Twitter each day, but it is no doubt one of my most powerful tools. Apps like TweetDeck really streamline the experience and enable you to do far MORE in LESS time.
@EzyBlogger
I honestly need to spend less time on twitter…lol
Great post Dan. RT for you.
@MelvinNeo
Thanks for sharing this excellent article! I’ll tweet about it. ;p
@SappyLoveStory
I agree with this!
I’ve been on Twitter just under a year now. I’ve seen myself in the shoes of the Noobs where they don’t quite understand the point to Twitter. To now, I’m on there every day and I get excited when I have new followers. I wouldn’t say that I become totally engulfed in the website, I still have a life outside of Twitter, I just Tweet while I’m out living that life! (Even when I was on vacation, I’d post what I was up to that day, different things I’ve seen, posted pictures on Twitpic, etc.) It’s not an obsession, more like… a passion to entertain.
@peterjrday
Staying away from the site and doing other things on the computer (and at work) is fine. But I think I need to take twidroid off my G1 phone… the buzz of new tweets is too tempting! Lol!!
What kind of withdrawal symptoms do you foresee? Aren’t you being a bit melodramatic?!!
@bizcoachdeb
Just a terrific reminder of better time management. I find the conversation just irresistible and catch myself laughing during “non twitter” times about someone’s comment or something I read. I find that turning it off, though, really does help me geet other work done – and I reward myself with some “twitter time” when I’ve hit some work goals over the day. After all, some of my best ideas come from the inspirations of others there
@rjudas
Great article. I just beginning to replace Google searches with Twittersearches. Maybe I should rethink this strategy.
@goddess_dix
I am procrastinating by reading this post on avoiding twitter procrastinating that I found on twitter. Har!
@protweets
The key for the best Twitter ROI (Return on Investment) is to treat it like any other information service. Technology goes from a broadcasting paradigm to a very focused laser-like niche.
Look at how we handled previous communication milestones. The telephone went from a party-line where you talked with your neighbors to a link to specific people (your friends, family and businesses) to an even more focused speed-dial list. E-mail went from an oddity to mailing lists to shooting quick questions to specific people. Web browsing went from idle ’surfing’ to visiting communities to narrow searches for information.
Twitter will follow the same path. What began as a contest to collect the most followers (no matter how far-flung the connection) to creating “groups” of similar users to searching for comments regarding specific events.
Anything can enable procrastination – it is not the technology, but the personality – however, technology can evolve to limit enabling the procrastinator.
@Madcom
Very sound advice! I shall take it after I have finished on Twitter.
@lookwebdesign
Yes I agree that Twitter is brilliant, for me the way I control the tweets is the key. If I disable Twitterfox then I can be working happily without distraction, perhaps just checking Twitter ever couple of hours. If I have Twitterfox on then the distraction (and impact on goals I have set myself) is noticable.
I think it is like most things in life… everything in moderation.
@hyermish
An easy way to make sure that you don’t suffer a Twitter Hangover is to set a kitchen timer, either real or on your desktop. When you leave something like TweetDeck running all day, the notifications BEG you to dawdle. I set my timer for 10 minutes and I dive in and work as quickly as I can. I check in before working, right before lunch and then one more time about an hour before the end of the day when I’m sorting things out for the next day.
I break the rule for after hours tweeting – sometimes you can make fast friends when you get a good dialog going.
@protweets
A good way to prevent excessive Twittering is by following a rule for e-mail. Instead of letting a Twitter client constantly tempt you, set aside a time to Twitter, then turn-off your client and get to work. This way, you indulge your desire to chat with followers, but do not infringe on more productive tasks.
@marshall24
All too often I find myself reading a huge amounts of Tweets, not necessarily on twitter.com itself, more usually via a client such as TweetDeck.
The trouble is that twitter provides a constant stream of links to worthwhile articles, blog posts and or some other media that boosts procrastination. So it is not necessarily Twitter itself that takes up your time it the content that is found via twitter. Maybe.
It is in my case anyway. For example, aside from writing this comment, I have a 15 websites open in my web browser, 12 of which I have visited because of a link on Twitter.
@protweets
Twitter is fast becoming unmanageable for users, making one-way conversations such as “follow this great link” the norm. Two philosophies are quickly developing about the best way to use Twitter. The most-heard camp is that everyone should follow everyone, resulting in a flood of links and messages humanly impossible to follow. The second camp is becoming more vocal: become selective about whom you follow, allowing you to retaining Twitter’s early popularity for interesting conversations. If someone devises a way to merge those two competing philosophies, Twitter will move to the next level. But left to languish in its current form, Twitter will be last year’s phenom as people move on to the next communication tool, whatever that is.
@twitstore
On Twitter, everyone wants to be Moses. Followed by many, follow few and yes, preach the 10 commandments. Ay, The promised land, here I come.
Seriously, build a brand. Best Example is – Twitip.com
All this Twitter chatter the herd engages in will get most of them – Nowhere!
@kurtavish
I spend about less than an hour on twitter per day. Mostly about retweeting cool tweets and also tweeting my mind out.
@doc_twtr
I don’t know if I can ever eliminate twitter as a form of procrastination but this is definitely an eye opener thanks. I’ll follow for sure.
@digitalArtform
Great post; I should sign onto Twitter right away and tweet the link to it.
@samt_101
Some people love Twitter, but some don’t. In fact, Twitter is virtually unknown outside of your little social media echo chamber.
All I’m saying is don’t follow the herd and you might just come up with something cool. There are vast numbers of people online that can become part of your audience, but if you are drinking too much Twitter kool-aid (for example) you might make an incorrect assumption about what “normal” people want or prefer.
@rpk2006
It is a great app. but at present not for me. Use it only when you know how you can benefit from it. Don’t follow the herd.