In March I wrote about my efforts to jump into social networking on Facebook. I compared it to walking a tightrope across the ocean.
Now I’m tackling Twitter (twitter.com/veronicatabares), and have found it’s pretty much like jumping off a cliff. I’d better learn to fly pretty fast, or I just might regret it.
I’ve had a Twitter account for a couple of years but it was extremely lame. I had twelve followers, and I followed about nineteen people.
So a couple of days ago I decided it was time to get my act together. I prettified my Twitter page and contacted an acquaintance who said she could help me find a few followers to get me started.
After a day she contacted me to say I now had several thousand followers. I thanked her and went to take a look.
Sure enough, I had thousands of followers, and as I watched the number kept inching higher.
Nettiquette (or should I say twitteriquette) requires me to return the favor and follow my followers. So I began the tedious process of clicking on each follower, reading about him/her, and following the ones who seemed appropriate for me.
After about an hour I looked and found I had only followed about 150 people. At that rate I’d be spending weeks just following.
So I took a short cut and randomly followed the next 50 people. Then I turned off my computer. I was done for the day.
This morning I opened my Twitter account and found some very suspicious feeds. It took very little checking to discover that one of those last 50 people I had randomly followed was a very bad choice. I blush just remembering the posts I read.
So it is back to the slow and steady approach. I will check each and every person I follow from now on.
I plan to reciprocate with as many of my followers as I can, but it might take me a while. As of this morning I didn’t have several thousand, I had many several thousand of followers.
Gulp!
I wonder how many of them are real people?
I guess I’d better start flapping my arms. It’s time to learn how to fly around Tweetland.
I was researching personal Twitter experiences for a 'how to' article I am writing. Actually more of a 'what not to' I guess. Don't feel bad about your experience with the slimy underbelly of Twitter. I suspect yours is one I can add to the row of ticks next to the number one caution as what to watch out for.
I'm now taking my time, following only those people with common interests.
Still, every so often, another "bad" tweeter sneaks in.
I guess it's just life on the Internet.