Don't Be a Twitter Deadbeat

One of the Twitter stars I follow is Bob Wan Kim, also known as @journik. Bob is a web marketing, e-commerce, iPhone/Android app developer pro and investor. Great tips and links. So on New Year’s, he tweets out about an app he has that allows you to unfollow all the deadbeat “tweeple” who have not tweeted in the last 30 days. The app is at http://www.untweeps.com. I was able to drop about 300 or so from the list of people I follow.

Seeing who was on this list was a very interesting exercise! There were a bunch that were members of my IRL (in real life) network. I know them pretty well and pretty well can tell you that they don’t “get” Twitter at all. Others were time-sensitive accounts. For example, events might set up a Twitter account for communications around the event and then let it go dark after the event is over. Understandable, but I do think there should be some activity showing. Then there were others that for a while were loading up my home stream with tweets, usually self-promotional, that now hadn’t tweeted in a month, sometimes many months (try 6-9 months). More that just don’t “get” Twitter or social media for that matter. Ironically, I saw a few in the 30 days or more absentees that, at some point, had been making presentations on social media. Authenticity rules, people!

Granted, Twitter is a very different animal from Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks. It’s more like the crawling news updates or stock ticker at the bottom of your TV screen. So it does take some skill to write something that grabs in 140 characters and it takes some skill (and some awesome Twitter apps like HootSuite) to be able to sift through the streams of information. You also really need to be aware of who you want to reach and what messages trip their triggers. But I will tell you that I have located some of the most friendly, helpful, and intelligent people on Twitter than on any other social network. The value is there, but you need to know how to work it.

So how can you avoid becoming a Twitter deadbeat?

Tweet Regularly – No, you don’t have to become a Twitter-aholic like some of us (guilty as charged). But do set up a schedule for tweeting something of help or interest to your target follower audience at least a few times each business day. Then set aside some time each day to monitor responses and participate in conversations.
Realize that Twitter and Social Media are Marathons – Both Twitter and social media are long-term investments that may not see any results for months. If you try to cram your way into an audience on Twitter, you will be dismissed as someone who doesn’t play nice or you’ll just burn yourself out.
Understand Your Objectives – Many people don’t know why they’re on Twitter except that maybe someone at a chamber of commerce event told them to get on it. Lurk for a while by entering key search terms on Twitter and seeing what comes up. Is it an active crowd? What are they talking about? If the types of folks you want to meet are not active in the Twitter universe, why do you want to be there? They might be hanging out on Facebook. Simply be on the networks where your targets are.
Maintain a Year-Round Presence for Recurring Events – Events present an unusual situation for Twitter and Facebook. Should you maintain an account only around the time of the event? Or keep it going all year? I would suggest keeping a minimal presence throughout the entire year if your event is one that will be held again. Event tweets can also be handled with hashtags as opposed to official Twitter accounts.

Got some more ideas to help our Twitter brethren avoid the deadbeat trap? Share in comments.

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