Twitting (I know "Tweeting" but stay with me on this one..)

[Keith Mockett]

Thanks Paul for putting the Twitter thing up on the front page. As a Twitter skeptic I have not got into it, signed up etc and struggle to make a business case for it, from the users perspective that is, the creators of Twitter certainly got their business case right (US$700M from Apple is hard to argue with!). But what's in it for me? Being able to see a Twitter stream has helped to answer this question. Nothing in it for me (business-wise) as far as I can tell. The Tweets in the ATC one confirm it for me. Lots of (very) idle chatter that does nothing more than waste the readers time. Hence my Twitting title.

Yes you could use it to alert people to, say, new job vacancies being posted but that already happens through email alerts, RSS feeds, and in some cases txting.

I remain a skeptic!

[Paul Jacobs]

Hi Keith

I hope others will add to this discussion. I actually wanted to put http://www.tweetizen.com/ on the homepage but had heaps of technical issues. My advice to any skeptics is to start up a Twitter account and 'participate' and see how it works for you. I started a discussion on this LinkedIn group yesterday http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=1911928 called 'Is Twitter becoming banal?' I gave my take on what I like and dislike about Twitter.

[Keith Mockett]

Just looked at your LinkedIn discussion. Yes Paul, you do like being an early adopter!! But if there weren't early adopters like you then the followers (like me - admittedly a reasonably early follower) wouldn't have as much to follow, so more power to you. I guess I've only seen some of the downsides you mention and not any of the upsides, Interesting that a recent report suggested over half of Twitter signups were inactive with 3(?) months. It's the barrage of "noise" and the low quality that put me off. I'd like to think that if I make a comment/contribution it's worth my time to do it and others time to read it. Then again I don't listen to talkback radio so maybe that says something!

[Thomas Shaw]

I conducted the "Using Twitter for Recruitment" webinar the other week, have a read of the presentation slides. http://www.recruitmentdirectory.com.au/Blog/using-twitter-for-recru...

Keith, what social sites (if any) do you or the business use?

[Keith Mockett]

Hi Thomas,
I missed the Twitter seminar but will try to look through the slides. I have this site, have signed up to Paul's Tribe HQ, and belong to a couple of LinkedIn Forums, one not related to recruiting but another business interest. It's about as much as I would like to handle. Outside of that I belong to one hobby related forum. It's about time and I guess for some people whether they prefer to be social via the Internet or in person.

[Simone Baird]

Hi Keith

I completely understand what you are saying about trying to keep up with them all but they all have their own specific purpose. I belong to Linked in (plus a multitude of groups within), Tribe HQ, this site and more recently Twitter.

The one thing that I have found the most rewarding with Twitter is the learning experience. I use it solely for work purposes and if any of my friends choose to follow me, I think they'd find themselves very bored!

I have found it a great chance to interact with like-minded business people who are ahead of us generally when it comes to new processes and systems. By being able to read articles, blogs they may have written or just someone to throw ideas off, not only am I keeping abreast of changes which are coming our way but I have also had the opportunity to offer input from our perspective.

I make it a rule of thumb to read through the many alerts I receive each morning over a cup of coffee before starting my tasks and choose which ones I want to follow up on. I will then gradually go through the articles whilst having a "micro pause" book marking the important ones.

In regards to Twitter. I have my Tweet Deck open all day and will look at it probably every half hour and only read the ones that grab my attention. I try to Tweet 4 times per day to keep my followers interested in me but will not Tweet just for the sake of it.

LinkedIn, Recruitment 2.0 and Tribe HQ are looked at once per day - generally at the end of the day when I am wanting to start winding down.

In regards to being social - i'd like that given the chance to interact with people all over the world, I am now a social butterfly!

(Sorry if this reply is at all disjointed, its really busy here so this has taken me about an hour to write)!

Cheers
Simone Baird
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[Keith Mockett]

Thanks Simone, you put a good perspective on it. Using it to keep up with articles and blogs would work for me as I like reading those things. Trouble is it can sidetrack you away from work! Not sure I have enough to say to Tweet 4 times a day. You have given me something to consider. Given the volume of stuff on Twitter it's probably important to be a Tweeter rather than a Twitter!
Cheers
Keith

[Simone Baird]

Actually, for those of you that are having trouble maintaining an online social presence, this article is very good.

http://mashable.com/2009/05/14/social-media-routine/