I Twitter. Therefore I am? Twitter appeals to me, although I’m wondering if that makes me a Twit. It seems so Web 2.0 lite. Blogging has weight. Facebook, LinkedIn, they have some business attire to them. Twitter is just casual Friday, isn’t it?
I’m not an expert Twit. I still need to learn all the little nuances like the tinyurl and how to reference another Twitter account, but I’m not caring about that at the moment. Right now I am simply trying to remember to Twitter and in order to be an interesting Twit you have to leave it open and just Twitter away. I Twitter on about the minutiae of life and work, but I also post my blog urls. That’s where the tinyurl comes in handy, since each Twit is limited to 140 characters. This being Bloodhound, I’ll anticipate your question- does it bring you leads? Goggle has picked up my Twittering for a keyword of some sort and pointed someone to my home blog, so, in other words, no leads. What’s the point, I hear you asking.
There’s this movie that I adore, “Wings of Desire“. If you are not familiar with it, two angels hover among Berliners. We watch the angels watch the humans, and the angels can hear human thoughts, so we get to hear what other people are thinking. One angel decides he no longer wants to watch, he wants to participate in life- as he says “At last to guess, instead of always knowing. To be able to say “ah” and “oh” and “hey” instead of “yea” and “amen.” This is one of those movies that people seem to love or hate- it’s not for everyone. My husband, Jamie, for example, can’t stand it. To him it ranks high on the list of most boring movies he’s ever seen, and my guess is that to him, Twitter would be the same.
You have the opportunity “follow” the twits of other people, and that’s where Twitter gets interesting, or really boring depending on your point of view. Twitter asks “What are you doing?” but it could ask “What are you thinking?” It’s like being an angel and listening in on the thoughts of others. I’m following some people I “know” and some people I randomly found, and lots of news sources. There are a few other Realtors thrown in there, I’m watching them because I’m curious how other real estate agents are using Twitter. No leads, no one in my town Twits, at least no one I know of. My kids don’t Twit, what’s the point? I think you have be genuinely interested in other people to get the most out of Twitter. You have really want to engage in sharing the tiny details of what makes you you, and you must be curious about what makes someone else, someone else, otherwise, it’s just a lot of babble. Well, yes it already is a lot of babble, but if you don’t give a damn about anyone else’s babble, then it’s just pointless.
What Twitter really does for me is makes me want to find out more about people, and really engage with people, like the anegl in Wings of Desire. By following other Twitterers, I’m quickly introduced to still more Twitterers. And what are these people doing? Well, I just found out that Google is launching a social networking platform. Both TechCrunch and the New York Times reported it at the same time, and they both showed up on my Twitter page with links to the articles you see. But this is quite amazing: Just now, as I right this, I’m checking my Twitter and this is from San Francisco Realtor Andy Kaufman: “earthquake nice shaker in the mission/noe”. An earthquake! A check here confirms that Andy was Twittering in real time about an earthquake. Think about that. I hope all is well.
Now, just this very moment, with that one fragment of a thought, the connectedness of Twitter is clear to me. I should have been checking Twitter during the San Diego fires. That type of immediate connectedness and engagement is powerful in a way that email, Facebook, or blogging isn’t. Social networking between thousands of people in real time- that is the beauty of Web 2.0, and that’s why I’m fascinated with Twitter.
Sean M. Broderick, CCIM says:
I guess the old saying isn’t true.. “if you Twitter on the Net and no one is listening, it does make a sound”.. At least the Times will pick it up..
Teri, I’ll have to take a look.. Thanks, Sean..
October 30, 2007 — 10:58 pm
Thomas Johnson says:
Only twits tweet and drive. Be safe.
October 31, 2007 — 7:07 am
Teri Lussier says:
Sean- I originally looked into it as a way for a group of people to keep in close contact, perhaps with updates on a particular project, but then I noticed there are some very interesting people/ organizations using Twitter. A lot of junk is there as well, so I guess the key is to choose wisely.
Thomas- Thanks for the PSA. The only in-car Tweets I’ve seen are from people stuck in traffic jams. Now drinking and tweeting, I’m convinced that’s a regular thing.
October 31, 2007 — 7:30 am
Brad Coy says:
Twit or tweet? Thanks Teri for letting us take a look under the hood of a Realtor’s Twitter. I’ve been reluctant to give it a shot as it seems a bit self-indulgent. You know, a second rate remake like “City of Angels”. But hey, if your going to reference one of my favorite flicks in you post, I’m taking another look. I would love to see something like twitter put email to the way-side like email did my unnecessary phone calls. Curious what Google + others have in store this week. They seem to have a lot of the parts in place already. Happy Halloween. BOO
October 31, 2007 — 10:10 am
Teri Lussier says:
Brad-
>Twit or tweet?
Clever.
Look at some of the twitters I follow- there are some fascinating things going on. But when I saw Andy’s real time tweet about the earthquake…That floored me. I’d never thought about the implications for something like that. Then following the Tiny Jesus, tweet after tweet came in about the quake.
I first considered it for use- like you suggest- instead of email or phone calls. But’s difficult to get people to take it seriously- the name I suppose.
It does appeal to me. YMMV. Let me know what you think, and give it a chance to grow on you.
October 31, 2007 — 10:37 am
Brad Coy says:
>But’s difficult to get people to take it seriously
I know what you mean. I showed my broker my Facebook page the yesterday and he laughed at me. A few of my clients are on there as well as probably 10’s of thousands of local homebuyers in my area. But it’s probably a waste of time… right?? Kid stuff. I feel skeptical myself, with a lot of the new Social mediums. But hey! people are picking up the technology very quickly and connecting with one another. Early adopters should follow their curiosity. Check out Scoble’s post on the “twitterquake” interesting stuff.
http://scobleizer.com/2007/10/31/twitterquake-sitting-with-techmeme-during-earthquake/
October 31, 2007 — 11:59 pm
Art Blanchet says:
Hey, I Twitter, but infrequently. As for Brad’s quote “people are picking up the technology very quickly and connecting with one another” – the “connection” is the part I’m unsure of. I think the uniqueness of it wears off after the first 10 million people or so, and we’ll move on to soething else. I suppose a superficial connection is better than none at all.
I started fooling around with this http://jott.com/, but like everything else, found it didn’t quite fit. Lots of applications and ways to jott (phone, email, blog, etc), but I don’t see the social part. Maybe I’ll re-examine the Twitting.
November 1, 2007 — 9:29 pm
brad@sfres.com says:
>I suppose a superficial connection is better than none at all.
I respectfully disagree. If there is any question we have a collective consciousness, the internet is physical evidence of it. New media + social networking is shifting the paradigm in how we communicate and connect and it’s still in it’s infancy. It looks as if Google + friends might even have an idea what this means. (Open Social anyone??) It’s easily dismissed.. my goodness, MySpace looks about as useful as a coloring book to me, but I suspect there is something deeper going on there. After the fallout of all the lame startups and greedy interlopers I see a new horizon of communication; superficial in ways.. yes, no doubt, probably in too many ways, but meaningful in ways beyond our imagination. Just my twi cents.
November 2, 2007 — 11:00 am
Teri Lussier says:
Art- how did I miss you?
I’m on the learning curve here myself. But what I see happening is, like anything else, you get out what you put into it.
For me, I’m in Dayton Ohio. There are not a lot of people out here I can share twitter and jott, and even blogging with- I can’t even discuss it with them because they have no clue about it. I crave, I’m desperate for, the connectedness.
And I watch my kids. That generation is in constant contact with each other. My Space, txt messaging, cell phones…It’s ongoing and continous and it’s transparent. My son plays X Box live with people across the country- it’s a game, but it’s serious business as well.
There are pros and cons to everything, but this is the way it is. There is no going back.
And Art, I’m following some people on Twitter who are really exploring all the possibilities out there, all the possible applications for this- Scoble and Brogan. What they are finding and commenting on will be improved upon, so you will be using this technology eventually. Maybe not in this form “Twitter”, but in some form you will be using it. Soon, I imagine.
November 2, 2007 — 11:47 am
Teri Lussier says:
Brad-
I hadn’t thought about the “collective consciousness” of the internet. You might be onto something; what I do think, or hope anyway, is that it will force the cream to the top much more quickly than in the past.
November 2, 2007 — 12:03 pm
Brad Coy says:
Interweb attrition 1.0
wiping the “froth” clean from the face of RE
November 2, 2007 — 12:56 pm
Andy Kaufman says:
Thanks for the mention Teri.
I’ve been drinking the Twitter kool-aid for the past few months and I’m super happy to see the RE.net finally start adopting it. It’s been fun getting to know you and the others, 140 characters at a time.
If you’re thinking about giving it a try, but are still on the fence, I invite you to give it a chance.
If you need more info, Daniel Rothamel wrote a great post a few weeks ago that you may want to check out. http://agentgenius.com/?p=239#comment-656
Have a great one!
Andy
http://twitter.com/andykaufman
November 5, 2007 — 10:57 pm
Hunter Jackson says:
I absolutely love twitter now. I must admit, I did not get it first off, but now I love it.
June 10, 2008 — 4:36 pm
Teri L says:
Hi Hunter-
I need to update my thoughts on twitter. I guess I’m the opposite of you- I thought highly of it at first, now it’s a very time consuming distraction. I’m still trying to work out how to use it productively. I hope to find a middle ground somewhere but so far that hasn’t happened.
I’d like to hear about your experiences with it as you use it more.
June 11, 2008 — 1:35 pm