Twitter can be an amazing, valuable and fascinating tool to create and consume content. It can also be overwhelming, a time-suck and completely distracting. Here are some tips on how to control Twitter rather than having it control you.
1. Rather than using Twitter.com, use a tool such as Tweetdeck, HootSuite or Seesmic that makes it easy to create multiple columns that display your live stream, @ messages, direct messages, as well as a variety of keywords. This makes it easier to get a quick snapshot of what’s happening rather than having to waste time scrolling through Twitter.com.
2. Rather than having Twitter on all day, which makes it easy to continually check it, fire up Twitter only when needed. For example, you could give yourself four small windows/day to see what’s happening. You will be amazed to see how little you miss Twitter when it’s not running in the background.
3. Remember that Twitter isn’t about how many tweets are created a day. Instead, focus on quality rather than quantity. Keep in mind the three E’s for social media: engage, entertain or education. If a tweet doesn’t meet one of these criteria, don’t tweet.
4. Try not to use Twitter as a micro-diary that provides a detailed account of what you did throughout the day. Not everyone needs to know everything about what you did, where you went and who you met.
5. Limit the number of people that you follow. Maybe a “sane” number is 100 rather than 1,000. Again, it’s quality vs. quantity – something that was emphasized to me recently when someone mentioned they believed Twitter will go away because there’s too much noise.
What are your suggestions to control Twitter?
4 Comments
Hi Mark–
I like your suggestion to limit the followers in order to cut the noise. Also, the three e's are very helpful as a guide and 'screening tool.'
It's such a vast, never-ending stream of communication that it creates overwhelm, but like you advised, it's up to the individual to control Twitter, not the other way around.
I'm going to go edit some followers right now…
.
Thanks for the tips
~Linda
Great tips; especially number 5. Followers should be chosen based on their value to you.
One thing I did to cut down on Twitter overload was create an "A List." That's really what I call it!
I've added the "best" of the Twitter accounts I follow, and excluded those who tweet too much or repeat themselves, but I can't quite bring myself to unfollow. I follow the A List most of the time I'm on Twitter and just peek in at the other accounts when I'm looking for something particular or want to catch up.
Good post! I've applied 4 of the 5 suggestions consistently – very valid points. I'm working on that 5th item – I definitely don't auto-follow and make a point of following those who have interesting posts and engage in conversations with others. Aiming for quality over quantity definitely makes Twitter more useful to me.