Matt's Musings

Amusing Myself With Twitter

I had to check my blog archives to see where I’d mentioned Twitter previously and came up with just two occurrences. The first mention was in June 2007; the second one in December 2008.

That first occurrence was within an article I titled, How I Found You Online, where I marveled at the different ways I discovered people via the internet. At that time, I relied a lot more on forums such as Digital Point and Sitepoint as well as social media sites including BUMPzee, MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog to connect with people. Back then, I was a new user on StumbleUpon and was still stopping in on MySpace on occasion.

But it was my last comment that brought a smile to my face, particularly my comment about Twitter:

I plan on joining LinkedIn eventually, but I think I’ll sit Twitter out.

Yes, it just took me just seven words to explain that I wasn’t planning on using Twitter, likely for the reason that I saw no point in using it. After all, Twitter was only a silly way for people to send one liners to each other all day, right? Who had the time for such nonsense?

Well, things certainly do change in the world of social media as I am basically forum free these days, choosing to meet up with people through their respective blogs and key social media sites. Yes, I even connect with a handful of people through email, but if you’re looking to IM me, that won’t happen — but feel free to send me a tweet!

It must have been an article I read, such as Mihaela Lica’s very first article on Sitepoint titled, “Twitter’s Little Known SEO Value,” that piqued my interest in Twitter. I’ve been following “Michi’s” writings for several years now and her candid explanation of Twitter caused me to revisit the site, digging a bit deeper to see what it is all about.

I joined Twitter long ago, have posted a bunch of links in the in the interim, but my network wasn’t much to brag about. But, this past week I invited a number of people to connect with me via Twitter, tripling my contacts and putting some life in my exchanges with other members. That move brought in a number of high end users, professional tweeters who add interesting stuff and make Twitter worthwhile.

Sure, there are some people who seem to be having conversations with nobody but themselves, but I’ve also come across a handful of really good articles that I probably wouldn’t have found had I not started using Twitter. In those cases I’ve read the article, posted a comment and, in a few situations, shared that information with someone else.

Mihaela’s article is a good read, making no silly promises that Twitter will do something that it won’t. But it was her last statement that I found most interesting (and true) — If you can make people come to your site via Twitter, then this is an SEO advantage you cannot afford to miss. – something I am taking into consideration as I tweet may around the site.

Oh, by the way, if you want to follow me on Twitter please click on the little tweety bird and you’ll be brought to my profile page for a connection.

Share and Enjoy:

Tags: Digg, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mihaela Lica, MySpace, SEO, social media, StumbleUpon, tweet, Twitter

SEO Tools, Social Media | Matthew C. Keegan, 28 Jan 09

By Jena Isle, January 28, 2009 @ 9:57 am

I don’t find twitter too very useful and more so when there was news that people were able to scam it. But I’ll connect to you anyhow. Happy twittering.

By MattK, January 28, 2009 @ 10:08 am

Thanks for the connection, Jena. We’re now following each other on Twitter.

I hadn’t heard about problems with Twitter other than the usual spammers who could be the scammers you are speaking of. It wouldn’t surprise me as I find that there is a cohort of sharks on social media who try to weedle in and befriend people in attempt to steal their identity or create some sort of other mischief.

I’ll be on guard for sure. Thank you for the warning.

By Vlad Zablotskyy, January 28, 2009 @ 11:00 am

Matt,

I believe we followed each other since the time you have joined Twitter, and I am very exited to see you becoming more active.

Twitter is really great tool for networking purposes. I keep in touch with several affiliate managers, other affiliates and even some clients via Twitter.

In fact it some times serves me as a tool for discovering news. For example, Mahalo was one of the first US websites to report on hostage situation in India (Mubai)- I discovered that news following Jason Callacanis. In fact, if my memory serves correctly, Mahalo reported on the news way before any TV networks.

Also try to use following tool http://search.twitter.com/ – while not perfect searching tool it can be great to see what people are talking about. Try searching for your Twitter user name.

I have also noticed that Google Alerts began to include posts from Twitter, nice thing to know for an Internet Marketer.

Vlad Zablotskyys last blog post..What Do You Know? The WordPress 2.7 in Ukrainian Already Exists!

By MattK, January 28, 2009 @ 11:06 am

Thanks for the solid bit of information about Twitter, Vlad. I had no idea that it is so effective in connecting people. For a long time, I viewed twittering as a waste of time.

It is good to see that Twitter can be used to search for people and topics too. Sometimes, I want to find what a person has to say about something, but I’m not sure where they are blogging or working. I think with Twitter I’ll be able to hunt some folks down and expand my network.

As always, I appreciate your advice as well as your friendship.

MattKs last blog post..Will BYD Be Able To Deliver?

By Mike, January 28, 2009 @ 11:50 am

Well I finally took the plunge and signed up to Twitter the other day and have already picked up a couple of articles I probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise so that’s the good side of Twitter.

The bad side, however, is being deluged with poorly targeted marketing tweets. I’ve stopped following a couple of people already because they seem to view their Twitter profiles as some kind of infommercial channel.

By Mihaela Lica, January 28, 2009 @ 11:51 am

Thank you for the honorable mention, Matt. I hope your twitter activity will be as rewarding as mine. I am also glad I know how to follow you now.

By MattK, January 28, 2009 @ 12:38 pm

@ Mike: Agreed, Twitter has some good stuff along with a lot of advertorials. Just this morning I had the same person notify me that they were following me via Twitter, but they were selling some sort of Blackberry add on too. I finked on them to Twitter.

@ Mihaela: I blame you for all of my tweets! Seriously, good work you’ve been doing over at Sitepoint. You write well and explain everything in simple terms. Just what this simple minded guy needs!

By amrita@web hostingdubai, January 28, 2009 @ 11:50 pm

Twitter is really great tool for networking purposes.Thanks for the solid bit of information about Twitter. thanks for nice article

By MattK, January 29, 2009 @ 5:01 am

Thanks, Amrita. Just yesterday I reconnected with an old friend through Twitter. I’m not sure we would have found each other elsewhere, but there he was twittering away. Very helpful tool, one that can consume a lot of our time!

By ladies tee shirts, January 29, 2009 @ 11:05 pm

Nice on the link to the sitepoint article I just checked that out and it goes along with what I’ve been saying for sometime now.
By Bhajans, January 30, 2009 @ 4:30 pm

I find facebook more interesting then twitter.

By banbarak, February 2, 2009 @ 7:06 am

It allows me to follow and spot trends as they are developing. Twitter can help me create something that will solve problems.

banbaraks last blog post..Acupuncture NYC to help you stay fit and healthy

By MattK, February 2, 2009 @ 8:50 am

Banbarak, I think you’ve offered the most compelling reason why Twitter is so useful — you can keep your pulse on trends and respond accordingly. I’m being a bit more careful who I befriend as some people push nothing but advertisements while others impart information that is enriching and valuable.

The random thoughts of Matt Keegan, writing style.

Amusing Myself With Twitter

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