Is Twitter more for the person writing posts, or for the follower reading the tweets? I can’t quite get my head around it yet, I suppose there would be an intersection of the two or even a synergy at best.
Yesterday I met someone that came up to me to tell me that they ‘follow me’ on Twitter, and after a quick blush and a smile I blurted out ‘why’? I was flattered, and then curious….why do people follow each other? Was she really interested in what I had to say? That made me question and reflect on what I’ve recently put on Twitter…was it worth reading? Did it make a difference to me or to anyone else?
Which lead me to my first question, is Twitter for the use and pleasure of just dumping thoughts into the Universe or is it there to help others, empower and hopefully impart wisdom in a particular area? I suppose it’s different for every individual, I know that many people use it commercially to get exposure for their business venture or website…that’s generally obvious and after awhile followers just tune out. There are of course ‘people’ that I follow just for updates and information on products, but they are branded with the company logo rather than a person.
Who do you follow, and why? What makes you like Twitter or alternatively, ask what is the point of it? I suspect you can get out of it what you want with a little work at pruning the people you follow so that you get exactly what you’re looking for. My favourites are the people that post links to short articles or blogs that I can read through in 60 seconds or less, basically a sound bite. Thank you to those who use Twitter to inform!
So, where does this leave me? After meeting Dulcie yesterday, I now feel I have an obligation to include some content in my tweets that will empower and be a benefit to others. In turn, I suppose this will lead to other genuine followers interested in the same topic, and out of it, I’m sure there will be commercial gain one day. Until I actually have something to ‘peddle’, I hope that whatever I take time to tweet about will make a difference to others, and in the end, isn’t that what most people aspire to, to make a difference? (I hope so).
