The Unbearable Lightness of Tweeting

http://theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/the-unbearable-lightness-of-tweeting/385484/?single_page=true

by ThiTH • 11 years ago

37 4 11 years ago

lux2• 11 years ago

Twitter has always been almost useless as a driver of traffic for me, but it has been a good medium for connecting with people I wouldn't have otherwise on the network itself. It simply doesn't bleed into the outside world all that much.

As a networking tool however, it's been way more effective than Facebook, LinkedIn, or any of the others I've used, and I fall very much into the casual/occassional user camp.

mcdoug• 11 years ago

How? And what kind of people? Do you cold-call on reporters through it? Investors? People in your field? For me Twitter has always been a disappointment: cumbersome interface and a write-only mode where anything I say goes unanswered.

lux2• 11 years ago

I've used it mainly on project-specific things, for example reaching out to musicians, indie labels, and festivals about a music-related service. Or reaching out to other developers/startups.

It helps to follow and get to know them a bit first, too. On Twitter, you can engaging in mini conversations with just about anyone, and once you're familiar with someone you can tweet at or DM them without coming off like a cold-call. Basically, just be yourself and it works wonders.

That said, I still tend to shy away from a lot of online interactions (just look at my stunted comment history on here for example ;). Yet when I do put myself out there, I tend to be surprised at the positive response.

thelettere• 11 years ago

I'm active for the same reason as lux, but I've found that the most interesting people are the least active.

The Unbearable Lightness of Tweeting

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