I've been suppressing the urge to write this post for a while now. It's not that I don't love Twitter (I suspect my wife is a few days away from scheduling my intervention); it's just that I'm saturated by it. It's not the tweets themselves, but the incessant whining noise made up of every second-rate media personality in the world "discovering" Twitter on a daily basis and every self-declared "social media guru" regurgitating the same How to Twitter post a thousand times a week.
So, why am I still writing this post? I'm writing it because I've experienced something with Twitter that I don't hear many people talking about. The real power of Twitter isn't in easy mass-marketing, driving a few more links, Diggs, Stumbles, or Sphinns, or even in branding and making a name for yourself. The real power of Twitter is in transforming online connections into real-world relationships. For me, Twitter has become the most powerful tool at my disposal to bridge the professional/personal gap and drive offline relationships. If you haven't experienced this, let me share a few tips (and a story or two):
(1) The Mundane Matters
It's easy to make fun of Twitter for the constant life-streaming, but I think it's one of Twitter's greatest strengths and the key to why Twitter makes the boundary between professional and personal so easy to cross. As you notice your professional contacts talking about their kids, being home with the flu, having a bad day, etc., it's hard not to relate and feel like you know them a bit better. Of course, that's a two-way street. If you're sincere, it's a lot easier to start conversations with strangers on Twitter than on a platform where a professional obligation is implied (like LinkedIn).
(2) Harmonic Convergence
Twitter is not only a great place for keeping tabs on your local scene, but it's also great for letting you know when people are in your neighborhood. A while back, I saw a tweet from my favorite itinerant SEO, Pat Sexton, that he was in Chicago for an event. Now, if you don't know Pat, you have to understand that outside of conferences, he's a hard man to find (mainly because he lives in a remote hut in Hawaii and only talks to monk seals). When I noticed Pat was in Chicago, I replied back on Twitter, and found out he was just a few blocks away. Two hours later, we were catching up in a local bar. Without Twitter, I would never have known he was just down the street.
(3) Cross the A-List Chasm
Everyone seems a little bit more human on Twitter, and this has a way of leveling the playing field between the "A-List" and the rest of us. Of course, that doesn't mean you should follow every industry celebrity and virtually foam at the mouth every time they tweet, but there's nothing wrong with sincerely replying to a big name when you have something relevant to say or re-tweeting them when you think it's worthwhile. Of course, like any networking activity, it's easier if the A-Lister is only one or two steps removed from you, relationship-wise. Eventually, you may get a reply or two, and down the road, some real opportunities.
(4) Round Up a Posse
One of my first experiences with bringing Twitter relationships into the real world was also one of the most powerful. Before last year's SEOmoz advanced training, I sent out a couple of tweets saying that I'd be in town the night before and asking if anyone wanted to grab some dinner. With little or no effort, I managed to round up a group of 6, most of whom I'd never met before, and we accidentally bumped into 3 more folks from the seminar. Not only did I get to meet new people, but this little group became my unofficial conference "posse," rounding up other new people and making the networking experience one of the best I've had at an SEO event.
I should point out that I'm not naturally inclined to do this sort of thing. I'm a bit of a wallflower, truth be told, but the personal nature of Twitter and the low risk of sending out a tweet that goes unanswered made a potentially awkward situation easy. I used the same tactic at PubCon last year, and had a similar positive experience, meeting another group of new people that I previously only knew online.
(5) Don't Be Shortsighted
With time and patience, these online-offline relationships become cyclical. Once you meet someone in person, you return to Twitter knowing them a bit better – they're more likely to reply, retweet, and generally engage with you. This can be a powerful cycle, turning people you might only see once or twice a year at conferences into people you correspond with on an almost daily basis.You'll miss out on all of this, though, if you take a short-term view. Instead of obsessing about getting out today's link, or pushing for a reply or retweet, take the time to get to know people. Real opportunities come from building real relationships, and Twitter is a uniquely powerful touch point in that process.
Thumbs up for the use of "Harmonic Convergence".
This was the best Youmoz post I've read in some time. Although it's quite simple and I guess one could argue, common sense, the examples you've shared really do demonstrate what is compelling about Twitter.
I'm glad you wrote this piece Pete, because I've been staying away for the very reasons you pointed out early in the post. Maybe I'll hop back on and start using Twitter almost soley as a precursor to meeting new friends and business associates.
On a separate note, I can't believe you met Pat Sexton at a bar. What are the odds?
Well, there are A LOT of bars out there. It's finding the one he's in that's the tricky part :)
hahaha! Well I don't think apologies are necessary. I surely didn't expect you to list everyone! Just me. And you've fixed that.
PS. I also expected a ribbon, or nice badge too :)
oh drats....For some reason this looks like I'm replying to Sean...got my reply in the wrong place.
When I was in Amsterdam after A4U, I used the combo of twitter and the iPhone to locate people. So its not hard to stalk people on twitter...
Ha Ha. I liked that comment Dr.Pete. You have got a great sense of humour too.
I agree with you completely, Dr. Pete. Many of my friends and family are skeptical of just how much of a relationship you can have with people online, but you really can. How much you get from Twitter depends on how you act on Twitter and the kinds of people you follow.
I know you doubt the value of Twitter, Sean, but I got a brisket out of it so it must have *some* value!
You can't argue with brisket. I've gotten at least one free beer out of Twitter, which is, after all, the official currency of SEO.
" I've gotten at least one free beer out of Twitter, which is, after all, the official currency of SEO." I thought it was a glass of wine I have been cheated! I shall report this to Twitter... it's all I can do
Hilarious, thanks for the laugh Dr. Pete.
Oh great, another "how to use Twitter" post.
Wait a tic - this one's actually good.
Every time I catch myself thinking Twitter is a waste of time something happens that changes my mind instantly.
Like with anything it's important to temper use. Twitter will become just another multi-tasking nightmare if you let it.
I might add a #6: Being there at the right moment. I actually landing a contract not long ago by being on Twitter the precise moment someone needed to make a referral. Of course it helped that I wasn't a stranger, but sometimes just being there to "raise your hand" is powerful.
I expect regular YOUmoz posts moving forward, Pete.
That's a great point, Mike - it's amazing how often we talk to a prospect either slightly too soon or just a little too late. Keeping tabs on people in nearly real-time can be a serious competitive advantage.
Dr. Pete...I could not agree with you more. The relationships that I have been able to build have by far been my biggest benefit gained from Twitter. As one of the people you met at PubCon I totally agree. Last year when I went to PubCon in Vegas I knew nobody. When I got there I got to meet some of the people I'd connected with via Twitter and instantly made some great friends! Instead of being at a gigantic conference all alone, I was there hanging out with and meeting new interesting people. Most all of which I consider friends to this day. Those relationships have become invaluable to me! Not only are they extremely helpful and always willing to assist, but they're a heck of a lot of fun as well!
I have to apologize for not listing out all the great people I've met in point (4). I figured the extra 17 pages might scare off all the readers. Of course, you're in my Top 5, Kristy ;)
I built many many relationships on SEOmoz, and successfully migrated these over to twitter over time, while at the same time made loads more.
Its been a tool for my questions getting answered, getting a laugh when I need one, sourcing information when necessary, keeping in touch with people, sharing ideas, and as you rightly point out, migrating them to real life.
I'm a little late to the comments here, but Dr. Pete, I couldn't agree with you more. I get annoyed with the self-proclaimed gurus, rock stars and mavens who use Twitter as "content syndication" (hello? can you say broadcast media?) and not as a conversation and networking platform. I'm also starting to see a trend of some Twitterers - who I consider colleagues - using it as a popularity guage. In essence, the conversation, and some respect, has been lost.
But on a more positive note, just yesterday I was checking out my Tweet cloud one one of the various Twitter analyzers and I would say the top 5-10 "@inserttwitternamehere" people were friends/peers I have never met in real life, only via Twitter, and now on phone, email, FB, email, whatever. Twitter introduced us. And we are already making plans for the next event. I recall a year ago meeting you virtually via Twitter, then in person at SEOMoz - I already felt "introduced".
I have mentioned this before, but there has not been a more useful, helpful tool in my time-starved work day. But it's a tool, it's really the people behind the tweets.
With all of the tools out there now that can magically get you 5,000 followers, I'm hoping the whole follower count obsession finally ends (but I honestly doubt it). Personally, I'd rather take the quality over quantity approach, and I can't keep up with thousands of people anyway, so following them all back is just an empty gesture.
Agreed... I was just thinking about this last night. A more useful metric would be a count of ACTIVE followers, or followers who've actually replied or DM'd you. The quantity might come in handy for some internet marketers who'd rather tweet about their ebook instead of emailing their list (trust me, they'll do both), but for the rest of us concerned about networking and relationships it has little value.
I think it depends how you define "personal relationships" - are these rl childhood friend types or are these people who work in the same industry who have become friends through online collaboration?
The succes stories in the comments are folks that have turned industry people into social+industry people.
I find it incredibly hard to be "professional" on twitter and also to just be me in the way that I can connect with my friends. For me, running work and play together in Twitter is just too much mental stress.
And im going to have to decide which one to follow (work or play) or just give up on twitter. Running 2 twitter accounts may work but I dont think I could be bothered - id rather spend that effort elsewhere.
Maybe "peers" is a better word - these are industry people who I've become friendly with. I think being a business owner has loosened up my definition of friendship a little. There are a handful of very close friends I've known for a long time (in my case, mostly from college), but I'm a lot more open now to making new friends, whether it's through work, the industry in general, friends of my wife, etc.
Personally, I find it easier in some ways to let the line between business and personal blur a little. I genuinely like people and have always enjoyed getting to know clients, partners, etc. Maybe it's a personal preference/habit, but I find it makes for better working relationships.
Maybe its just me - but I dont believe in crafting my behaviour with either my peers or people I will / potentially work with. Its a core aspect of my personality - and I dont think being genuine is unprofessional, at least not in our field.
But again that may vary based on peoples perceptions.
Haha, well im sure we will meet at some point (londonseo.org?) and you can tell me if you think me expressing my natural candor would be good for my continued employment ;)
Ive worked with many fellow South Africans in large corporations. We are often disliked because people dont "get" how open and brash we are and they just think we are rude; we have to change to fit into a European model of whats correct and appropriate.
There are cultural differences that I have to adhere to. Im all for people just being themselves, and in SA thats very much accepted, but in corporate life in Europe you have to conform to different norms to some degree.
A normal conversation with a mate would seem way out of line if read by someone in the "industry".
Im sure there are people who can juggle both, but there are probably also going to be people who get burned trying to juggle both.
I HATE TWITTER!
It's amazing that folks don't catch on to this very simple thing, after all, in sales, online socializing and in daily interaction - the whole point is sharing and getting to build relationships. It's what develops friendships, working relationships, clients and partners.
Albeit I think there are too many people on twitter that speak their mind or tout every single nuance of how flatulent their 10 year old dog is... there is a time and a place and arguably, a pace, for which these messages can certainly help others get more personal with you.
Forums and blogs achieve a similar end, but not at the rate or opportunity that Twitter and Facebook afford due to its bevity and "live" nature.
Good post.
As perhaps an "almost-old-dog who doesn't always like to learn new tricks" I just haven't been able to get motivated to try out Twitter, let alone some of the other social networking sites. I know, I know ... shame on me.
However I have been thinking that if nothing else I must try it, for various reasons, to learn about it, etc. The information you shared here makes me feel more "comfortable" in doing so. Thanks Dr. Pete ;)
I think this post has convinced me to switch to Twitterism.
Touché Trebek, touché.
Great post and I have experienced much of the same. Impromptu morning group #positiveposse have become great friends and building relationships and projects with them.
Twitter has given me great new friends from all over the globe. Incredible.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Jim Hunt
Thanks, Pete.
I was moved and read this with please!
It's an interesting angle on Twitter. We are so busy these days that we can't find time for normal human relationships and this is really a pity.After all, Internet is a great way to meet and befriend people whom you would never meet in your life otherwise.
A Thumb up from me.
Good stuff Pete. I've been one of the many who've been turned off by twitter lately due to Celebrity spewage. Between this video and your post, I think I'm cured. I can return to tweeting as normal.
Thanks Dr. Pete!
Hey Dr. Pete. It's not only about the people that you might meet, there are whole new communities of people who have found an expression and are able to make friends all over the world.
A good example of this is the pet community. The number of dogs and cats that tweet is incredible. (Who would have thought that they would be able to without oposable thumbs.) The People (or should I say pets) have founds ways to help one another and share information. I've been a fly on the wall at a couple of the #pawpawty that have been thrown. They have a blast.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that although Twitter is great for all the reasons that you mention, it's even better than that.
I'm not sure I'm 100% convinced of the business value of networking with other people's pets, but I'll try to keep an open mind. So far, the ROI on my cat has been disappointing ;)
Twitter can flood a lot of good inquiries. We tweeted for Company Formation and got paying clients instantly. we are now planning to tweet for more product categories and will keep you guys Posted!
Definitely a great tool to keep up with the people we meet with in conferences.
@Pete - I couldn't agree more. @aaswartz and I (@steffanantonas) discussed this topic at length on TwitterTalkRadio. Converting online relationships to offline ones quickly is THE power of Twitter. It's all about accelerating serendipity in your off-line life. Great post.
i like this article....
Nice article. I think i'll start to use twitter more often :)
I completely agree with your views here, Dr.Pete. No one really speaks about how useful twitter is to develop a better rapport. I have got the rapport of some major SEO gurus through twitter which was very useful for my career.
Thanks for the great article and I am happy that your Youmoz article is promoted here to the Seomoz blog.
Just found this post - you described some of the great points in use of Twitter. Connecting with people in the real world is definitely a benefit and having that relationship with them online enhances it. Your comments on taking the long view toward building a relationship is a sublte but important insight. The offline connection builds the online and vice-versa. I understand/appreciate the tweets better when I know the person.
I agree also, twitter is quite powerful although it doesn't really help SEO?
(Edit: Link removed)
i think twitter helps most with your online presence/reputation its like a central place that you can use to direct people to all your online activity im often surprised by the number of clicks i get on the many random urls i throw up on @cartercole (sorry for the shameless spam). i really agree with point 3 cuz im totally following matt cutts and number 2 happened to me the other day, i tweeted that i was watching farscape and in a min my friend was knocking on the door. he just began his twitter life a day ago and "didnt get it" but when he showed up i was like dude you just proved twitter worth by taking action on one of my tweets. obviously twitter has some use because so many people are using it
I too have met wonderful people on Twitter. Unfortunately not in person yet, but I do hope to one day. This includes you Dr. Pete!
I was hoping to make it to the upcoming Seattle conference but my passport app was denied due to a frayed birth certificate (border laws change June 1).
Soon virtual friends, soon goshdangit!
This is bad news!!!! :(
I was really hoping to get to meet you in real life *pout*
Hi Pete, your post is a great piece of information on Twitter. i am new to seo and was wondering how is twitter related to it. if we can meet people and grab some opportunities or get business out of it is fine but i reyally dont understand how Twitter helps me in my seo activities.
Excellent post --- and to think that I almost didn't bother to click through from my iGoogle because I, like you, have gotten sick of Twitter related articles. I am definitely glad I did though. Very nice job of explaining some benefits to Twitter that I hadn't ever really heard expressed before.
still trying to get into twitter but havent really caught on to it yet. will have to set aside some time to look into it more.
I agree totally. Taking time to know people is the most effective way to get benefits from Twitter. Sadly, there are a lot of people who seem interested only in gaining a big number of followers, but it is not make much sense if there are not much interaction.
Very nice.
In addition to Twitter, it sounds like a lot of your "real world" meetups were also dependent on mobile technology as well.
It's funny, but the mobile aspect has really only happened recently. Most of my initial experiences with Twitter and forging relationships were through the plain-old desktop. I just pre-arranged the meetups. Of course, it helps that I work from home and am online all the time.
very good post, and everything you have mentionned is more than true (to my point of view). Especially #5 : whatever relation you have with someone, if you speak to them per phone, or write via Twitter, getting to meet the people face to face will increase this relation and make it more personnal. Twitter is a great tool to get to know more people (not just on the web but in real life as you mentionned), and that's where the power of social media is all about!
I began using Twitter primarily as a way to GET information, rather than put my stuff out there. I followed all the people in SEO and online marketing that I recognized and then found more potential followees (did I just coin a word?) from their retweets and recommendations. I Tweet occassionally but monitor Tweet Deck constantly.
Every day, I get several pieces of information that are useful in my career I otherwise may not have discovered. I look at networking, marketing my own stuff, and even meeting new people as purely secondary pursuits on Twitter. Does anyone else use Twitter in this way - just following industry people and using it to find new links, tools, and info?
- Evan
Anecdotally, I think quite a few people do. I've seen a couple of articles recently from people suggesting that Twitter is replacing RSS feeds for them. I'm not quite there yet, but I can see the point they're making.
nice points, i think its interesting that people you are friends with on other medium such as facebook are less likely to engage with you on twitter because my tweets arent personal focused they are more focused on seo, marketing and analytics...
twitter is a great way to engage with bloggers who dont typically have time to reply to a long winded email, but can give you the heads up on a new post. Working building a friendship they may even start to ask your advice on topics they are researching to see if you know any recent posts on that topic or if that is something you would find interesting...
so you can build your reputation by assisting a popular blogger and they are usually quite supportive overtime by retweeting you own blog posts and even linking back to your posts/blog from theirs overtime.
When a couple of my long-term, personal friends joined Twitter, it was actually a little odd, because the vast majority of people I talked to were industry people. Now, I basically have three distinct groups: (1) industry folks, (2) Chicago tech folks, and (3) long-time friends. Somehow, it's managed to work itself out, though. I think the nice thing about Twitter is that you can ignore what's not relevant to you.
Is is an excellent post! I have the same experience. Twitter helps me to connect with people in the real world. For instance I meet Morten Lund (@ML) yesterday in Berlin. He was there on short notice. Without Twitter I would never have known.
Terrific post, Dr. Pete!
I listen to friends and colleagues dis Twitter all the time and I just shake my head and smile. Like you, I have met and engaged with and learned from and just enjoyed from a personal standpoint many different peeps within the Twitterverse. Many of those have morphed from the social media realm to not only friends in real life but colleagues in real life. I've hired art directors, SEO geniuses, web designers and PR peeps ... all people I didn't know before I engaged with them on Twitter and all who add immensely to the arsenal of services that I can offer to my marketing biz's clients.
And not one of those people sold themselves or their services to me whilst engaging via Twitter. It was all a result of relationships that developed, bonds that were formed, trust that was established and a genuine desire to take a "relationship" formed online to a real world situation.
The coolest of the cool - and beneficial to me personally, my business, my clients .... borders and geography no longer matter, and working with talented and interesting people just got a whole lot easier.
What's NOT to love?
Twitter is more personal than anything thing I've ever used online. It allows me to converse with like minded people and to even meet them in person.
Twitter has emerged in such a poerful tool today that everybody is talking about it now. I won't be surprised it it gets into Alexa top 5 soon.
The best thing with twitter is that you can follow the important person in your life and see their daily tweets. This doesn't only let you know them better but also help you get motivated.
I love this tool.
The best thing about Twitter is its power to rank in search engines too, I have seen some crazy serps results for twitter properties created by me.
Great post.
I watched something recently on the gadget show comparing twitter and facebook and which actually allows people to form offline relationships better than the other. Twitter got a far better attendance, see the link below:
https://fwd.five.tv/videos/social-networking-part-3
In recognition of your post, Ive updated my footer to include my twitter account, although i must confess Im kind of still in the dark about this. I mean it makes sense, Im just struggling with the whole "why" question...
Absolutely agree with this post. Twitter allows me to routinely get help from industry gurus on all sorts of issues including web analytics, customer analsytics as well as SEO. People seem to be more than happy to help. I guess its the 140 character limit enforces informality and quick responses.
Jim.
The obssession with Twitter followers will continue for some time since Twitter just got sucked into the mainstream this year. Eventually, that will fade and real conversations will become the true, real currency that continues to keep your followers interested in you and your tweets.
I read this post because i saw it on Twitter.. :) Good points in the article. My friends love to dis Twitter because they see it as a forum for Ashton Kutcher and to talk about what you ate for lunch. I just started using Twitter to network and have already met some great people in my local area in Portland, OR. https://twitter.com/PureSolutions