Yeah, I had avoided tweet-ups in my own city because A) I thought they were lame and B) I felt like the totally uncool kid that never gets invited anywhere (and this is usually true, btw).
But it was an old high school friend of mine - SSDATED - who I hadn't seen in ages and who I know is pretty freakin' awesome, and it was her own tweet-up party, so I figured, why the hell not?
Night started off slowly (was held in the swanky Glowbal Afterglow Lounge in Yaletown which is a lot different from the gay bars on Davie St I am used to frequenting) but soon I was meeting tons of Tweeps I knew from my daily Twitter feed, and meeting more lovely people as well.
I don't want to post any pictures here because I'm afraid of accidentley outing someone who wants to remain anonymous *ahem* so I'll just post this pic. It's of me. You all know what I look like.
ANYHOO - one of the things everyone was talking about that night was how they got started on Twitter, how they are trying to convince their friends to tweet, how some people just don't get it - and look, I was totally one of those people! I thought "uugh, just a bunch of status updates, laaaaaame" BUT IT'S TOTALLY NOT LIKE THAT.
Or, at least, it shouldn't be. And then I got thinking, how can people (especially those who are wary about it or not sure how to use it) get the most out of Twitter?
Here are some tips:
1. Follow interesting people - this is key. Whether they are funny celebs, up-to-date news sources, or just off-the-wall people you've never met, having an interesting feed is what will keep you reading.
2. Talk to people - if you have interesting people in your feed, best thing you can do is converse with them. This is an online community, like a large public chat room. Just by talking to people, you'd be amazed at how much you have in common with many of them. If you find the right tweeps, your time on Twitter will be much more enjoyable. Lately, I've been laughing my ass off at what's been said by some of my more rowdy friends (Boobs and the Dude, you know who you are).
3. Unfollow boring people - or people who cheer for opposing hockey teams. Basically if anything makes your Twitter experience less enjoyable, there's no reason to follow them. Tweeters who make you angry or bore the shit out of you - cut 'em loose. Other people may find them enjoyable, they just aren't your cup of tea. Too bad Twitter doesn't have the Facebook "hide" option, for those that only annoy you on occasion (like during hockey games).
4. Don't take anything personally - if someone disagrees with something you said or *GASP* unfollows you, it is hard not to feel slighted or defensive. But remember the internet attracts different people, sarcasm can be VERY hard to read at times (especially if you don't know the person well) and people unfollow for many different reasons (see above). I know I can be opinionated and I tweet too much - whatever. People can, and do, unfollow me for those reasons and others. Different strokes for different folks.
5. Retweet the nasty stuff - occasionally you may find yourself under TWITTER ASSAULT which is far worse than someone unfollowing or disagreeing with you. People who are angry/miserable enough to engage in Twitter Assault are usually the type of people who delete their tweets after too. Retweeting it says "hey, I see what you did there - now everyone else sees too." Your lovely loyal tweeps will usually jump to your defense and you'll show the attacker, hey that's cool you think I'm a ____________. Celebrities do this all the time and I think it's pretty funny. Especially when Neil Hamburger does it.
6. Retweet the funny and interesting stuff - retweeting is sharing. Sharing is caring. You like something you've read? Retweet it - share it with others, plus you credit the original tweep who put it out there. Retweets are like kisses... or some other analogy.
7. Don't be afraid to promote yourself - Twitter is one of the greatest marketing tools out there. There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of the technology and using it to help yourself out. It's also a great platform for helping fellow friends, causes, events, etc. But...
8. Don't spam people - one or two tweets about something is perfect (per day). This blog post might get tweeted via me twice today, just because a lot of people aren't on Twitter all day long and might miss it - especially if they have a busy feed. But if you mention it a lot, all the time, and especially if it's the SAME tweet... ugh, that's just akin to spam. Speaking of...
9. Block Spammers - someone replied to you that you don't know and they have an egg for a picture or a "hot" girl and are wanting you to click on a link about whatever the hell you might have tweeted about moments earlier? DON'T DO IT. Report them for Spam immediately. It's been getting worse lately it seems (least for Vancouver Tweeps), so nip it in the bud and it will help stop the spammers... until they open a new account.
10. AND HAVE FUN - Why so serious? Twitter is a place to vent about your commute, to complain about Justin Bieber, to celebrate going for a run, for teasing Caddyshack and Bacon bots, sharing music, developing crushes, and for engaging in mindless/intense conversations... all for 140 characters or less.
24 comments:
hehe *blush* I'm glad you and I got to experience our first tweetup together...whhhaaat!?! Word. (head bob). And I love all these suggstions/guidelines...good on ya babe ;)
I love these tips! They are honest and so true - it's a refreshing perspective.
Glad you fun lady!
;)
Great post! Really great tips. In fact I'm going to retweet this thing A MILLION TIMES TODAY.
Holla, Boobs and the Dude!
Perfectly written K! Expecting an influx of your friends/readers to the stream ... all are welcome!
'Twas a great tweetup, well planned by SSDated ... looking forward to the spring/summer tweetups which will see Vancouver's beaches as the venue.
Catch you on the tweeeeeter!
Interesting comments about how to use Twitter! Thanks for sharing them.
"I felt like the totally uncool kid"
My God, if you are uncool then I guess I don't know who qualifies as cool. You are as cool as they come. You just don't know it yet. Memphis isn't as cool as Vancouver, but I do get to meet and sometimes hang with the occasional elderly celebrity, rockstar or movie star. I met Cybil Shepherd and she is indeed entertaining in person, but I can't say I'd rather hang with her or any of the rockstars I've met over you. You don't give yourself enough credit. You ARE cool. You're cool, beautiful, and young, and that beats most anything I can think of that's cool. It's like a royal flush in poker. You're cool enough. I can't get over some of the crap that comes your way on Twitter. I don't know that I've ever seen you write anything that invited a personal attack, but I've endured them myself more than a few times and I find that lately I'm much quicker to unfollow and block than I used to be. People who want to take out their daily frustrations on random Twitter people are selfish. I used to be patient with them, but after having several in a row spend their entire day attacking me I'm done with that. You should be, too. You have way more followers than I do so it isn't as if you can't afford to cut the haters loose. You've got those big brown eyes, that golden hair and that gleaming personality of yours to attact more followers to take the haters places in a heartbeat. But I do think it's funny when you retweet the crap they say to you.
And the Number 1 reason for twitter- conversations about Jurrasic park. And dinosaurs. And Gelato. And music. But mostly dinosaurs.
If I hadn't gotten on twitter before the San Fran FNM shows I doubt I would have met you- a year later and look at the things we talk about now!
heeey you!!!! a tweetup sounds fun.. these tips were good too. i'm bad at tweeting. :)
Jesus, this post sucks ass.
And Posty wins for best use of sarcasm ;{P
I just cleared out my Twitter feed with all the people I don't interact with or really read and it has made my Twitter experience so much more enjoyable! Twitter is really powerful too. You can get a lot of people behind you on important issues. I love Twitter.
this is a really good guide. I'm going to try and get into it - again. I've tried 3 times and it hasn't happened, but maybe this will help! :)
p.s. i'm glad you're blogging again
nice tips for twitter!
Would you mind terrible if I attempted to tag you for a VLog? It's not a long one and it's about regional accents. I'd love to hear you actually speak for a change. That's what this tag is all about, really. The words and questions are here. I hope you'll accept.
Oh my. talk about ass licking here.
you go on and on about having haters and get all your followers to ass lick you even more to feed your huge ego. Yet you bitched about my friend on Twitter for months on end calling her every nasty name under the sun and say that everyone who critizes you is a psycho and "on meds" or groupie stalkers, then what does that make you?!!! You forgot to mention that it's not cool to always tell lies on Twitter, which you have done ever since you surfaced on the scene. We read your tweets and FB saying that you were already on the guest list for the FNM LA shows and that was a lie as you were clinging onto some guy called Marc to get you into those shows as the band's guest list was full. Not true that Danny DeVito told you that Mondo Cane were playing Coachella as they are not, not true that Dave Lombardo told you about Fantomas because they haven't even began on anything new yet and you also lied earlier this year about knowing all about Mike Patton's new releases this year. You waited until you could find out from Greg Werkerman, but even he didn't want to reveal anything to you because like the rest of us, he is probably aware you can't ever keep your big mouth shut. No wonder Mike Patton kept his distance from that Kid Koala show. he was probably warned you were lurking, because the only reason you went was for a chance that he might be there.
songwriteR?
Not to poke my nose in the usual drivel, but IASIP actually was supposed to do a Coachella appearance. Word on the street is they will still be there, however it now looks as if the cast will be just attending. I also heard Lombardo's views from somewhere else as well.
I've liked your blog for a long time K, but I have to say that maybe you shouldn't publish these kinds of comments from "Anonymous" anymore. These people are sick with jealousy and bring too much negativity to your blog. I know you're proving a point that you have nothing to hide but you should know no one takes them seriously anyway :) let's keep things positive!
Oh thanks anonymous, you're good for a laugh. Way to go Lusty, you single-handedly prevented Mike from going to see Kid Koala. You're more influential than we thought! hee hee
I find it disturbing that individuals like anonymous hide by not using their real names. If someone wants to spew negativity they should at least post their name or they do look like a jealous bully!
http://bit.ly/hg6c5A
Great job Karina! This post is a fun read and the twitter tips are useful.
Wow Anon! You're anger and bitterness against Karina is so nuts and completely misinformed.
First of all, when you are put on a guest list, you never know for sure that you've made it onto the list until you get to the door. Often close friends of artists, who are supposed to be on the list get left off accidentally. This happens for various reasons. An assistant gets the list wrong, a page goes missing. This does bot mean Karina lied. In the case of FNM LA I was supposed to be on the list. I wasn't but made it in by "clinging" as you call it to a wonderful generous lady. So before you spout your hate I suggest you gain a bit of understanding about the way these things work.
Danny Devito did not say Mondo Cane would be at coachella he said that Always Sunny would be there. And for all intents and purposes I'm sure he meant it. But things happen during negotiations, and sometimes acts plan on a festival date and it falls through in negotiation. So Karina didn't lie.
Dave Lombardo only said that he had laid down some tracks for new Fantômas, that Patton will put electronics over. He never said that Patton was actively working on Fantômas. So again she didn't lie.
I read Karina's interview of Greg Werkman, and as far as I could tell he was very revealing about Patton's upcoming projects. He said that he was working on 7 records. Then he gave a good number of examples.
Lastly, again you claim you know Patton's deepest thoughts, and why or why not he attends a show. Again I call bullshit. You know nothing of the sort. Nor do you know Werkman's thoughts. I suggest you stop your hate campaign because the more you hate on Karina the stronger she gets. The truth of that is undeniable.
It's sad that this happens when one person goes for her dreams and does well for herself. That other people can't be happy for her. They wallow in jealousy and bitterness.
I also hope nobody in the band sees this. All they want to do is make music and put on a great show where everyone has fun. I'd never want a band member to know about this ugly jealous side of fandom. Music should bring peeps together. People who contact band members and try to sabotage relationships, are the most pathetic useless kind of fan.
as if Lusty gets haters! How could any possibly have ill-will towards the person that has shared her FNM experiences with all of us... FOR FREE. Down here in Australia, I am thankful for the updates and everything, thanks for sharing your stories and for giving us the BEST FNM interview EVER!
:)
@liggydd
hey there anonymous! Was that you marking off names on the guest list at the palladium then? No, didn't think so. And seeing as I WAS at that aftershow, and talked to Lombardo myself, I can verify that what Karina posted was true, he said the same to a number of people.
You are a small person to hide as you do, but continually pop up with your vicious crap. And I'm 98% sure I can match your IP address to one of your various emails since you keep popping up everywhere talk of Patton seems to be. You think we don't know who you are, nor don't know the crap you post on your own twitter. As ever, you are a giant hypocrite and a pure waste of time.
Grow up, or go away. Or both, preferably.
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