image courtesy of photobucket
Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not implying that one is better than the other. Rather, I believe blogs can complement twitter and vice versa.
One of my favorite people on activerain, Gary Woltal, wrote a post about twitter on March 7th -
Why You Won't Find This Cowboy On Twitter (Yet)
At the time, I had had a twitter account for more than a year, but I was on the fence at best. I had about 200 followers on twitter back then, and I believed with Gary that twitter was a time waster. Fast forward to April 21. Yesterday I passed the 1,000 follower mark on twitter. I follow twitter on a program called TweetDeck, which allows me to categorize the people I follow. I don't have to be glued to twitter - I can visit it as I please, and take what I want from it.
I met a 13 year old boy named Jason O'Neill and interviewed him for a blog post -
13 Year Old Temecula Boy Makes His Mark With Pencil Bugs
This young man is truly an inspiration. I have connected with Pat Kitano and Kevin Boer and have begun taking webinars with them on how to integrate social media - blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter and more - to build your online referral network.
I can't write a post like this on twitter. You're limited to 140 characters. I can, however link to this post with a single tweet and thus instantly expose it to potentially millions of readers.
I see tweets from people like Dustin Luther, Ardell Dellalogia, Teresa Boardman, Todd Carpenter to name just a few. I heard about ReBarCampLA on twitter and because of that experienced a great day of learning and saw fellow rainers there like Ginger Wilcox, Laura Monroe, Marlene Bridges, Ricardo Bueno, Jeff Turner, Jeff Dowler and many, many others.
The beauty of twitter to me is its immediacy. I would have to search for hours here to find what I can find there in seconds. On the other hand, I can do things here I could never do there. That's my point... each complements the other. Do you need twitter? Maybe not. Is it worth checking out? Absolutely. Let me know what you think. You can follow me @TomPlant.
P.S. Follow @nik_nik and you'll be introduced to Nicole Nicolay
Murrieta Real Estate Expert – Tom Plant, REALTOR® - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Active Rain Ambassador (951) 907-9701
It would be my honor to show you the incredible Temecula Valley, a place I’m very proud to call home.
Hi Tom~ Gosh now you have me wondering what tweetdeck is..... I am on twitter but haven't really figured it all out yet...I am going to have to find you now....
Hi Tom: I am still learning ways to integrate twitter. Somehow AR and FB are keeping me busy. Have you gotten any direct business from twitter? Just wondering.
I love activerain but i think there is a place in my life for Twitter too. I joined twitter because i can link my activerain blog straight to my twitter. The best of both worlds.
Vickie - By all means check out TweetDeck. For me it made all the difference. Let me know if I can help you figure it out.
Joan - It's a lot to juggle, but twitter is just another tool. No direct business yet, but I've expanded my referral network and have no doubt it will lead to business.
Aaron - I'm sure there is. The ability to post a link to your blog on twitter and the number of potential additional readers is mind boggling.
I have Tweetdeck but have not learned how to make it work for me. I sure would like to see someone to do a good tutorial on this.
Just as I introduced twitgoo to my twitter, there is a tweetdeck as well?:) 24 hours seem not enough
I don't think Activerain and Twitter can even be compared. They're completely different products. One's blogging platform and the other is a "status" platform where you're just leaving a thought. If I had to vote one off the island, I would vote off Twitter as I can write so much more and generate so much more on AR.
Different things, I agree. Twitter is like the billboard, and Active Rain blogs are like the store itself. All communication, though!
Ann - I'll see what I can do. It's really a great tool.
Donna - Thanks for your comments. The point I was trying to make is each service can add benefits to the other. I can do an in-depth post her, and then point to it on twitter this easily - "twitter vs. activerain - new blog post is up: http://bit.ly/15jog" thus exposing it to so many more readers. I'm not advocating one over the other. I like both.
Li - Great analogy. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Joanna - Twitgoo? I'll have to check that one out.
Tom, that video by Nicole leaves me absolutely speechless! When's your video going to be posted -- I'm sure there's a Little Feat song for you to rock out to!
Tom
It is amazing watching the Tweekdeck while one does paperwork. I do like all the linking on Twitter, not to say it lets you get to know the personal and real side of people.
Tom
Brian - She is one of a kind. I think I'll spare the world a video like that. Thanks!
Tom - I love that aspect of it, too. You just catch what you can, when you can.
Hi Tom...I hope when you say the gloves are off that in this instance you mean we're all going to get along. As you said they are both places we should be.
I can hardly say I'm on Twitter as I have only tweeted a couple of times in the past several months sinece I signed up. I still don't get it and I haven't taken the time to try.
Shame on me...and I'm trying so hard not to be an old fogey.
Kate
kate - You are no old fogey. Yes indeed, I meant we will all get along. I didn't "get" twitter for almost a year and a half.
Tweetdeck is cool! I just installed it. Thanks, Tom.
Maria - It makes a huge difference, doesn't it?
Hey Tom - I'm just now learning AR and now here comes Twitter, Facebook and so many others. I have joined Facebook but not sure I get it. Probably won't go to Twitter, can't keep up with what I have. I guess I'm an old Fogey.
HI Tom: I've had an account on Twitter for some time too, plus Facebook. I can't even keep up with Active Rain, let alone these social networks. I guess I just don't get twitter and I heard a news report today that a lot of people are actually dropping out after a few months. Seems to me, it's just too time consuming to try to keep up with all these networks. I'd much rather be out and away from the computer and "twitter" in person. LOL
Ceil - You're no old fogey. Twitter isn't for everyone. It took me over a year to figure it out. Stick with what you love.
Donna - You're not alone. For me I had a lightbulb moment where I "got" twitter. I think it's a great tool. Use what works for you.
I do twitter very little but I have signed up for tweetdeck. I don't really understand it though. I have got to get educated on it! Sounds like you know what you're doing. Maybe we will get some referrals from it.
Thanks for sharing this post!!!
Regards,
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