Finding Your Twitter-Life Balance

Initially, I was a Twitter critic and definitely one of the site’s biggest skeptics.

I was reluctant to become part of a group where I was referred to as a ‘tweeter’ and forced to integrate words like ‘re-tweet,’ ‘overheard,’ and ‘tweeple’ into my standard vocabulary. I couldn’t open my eyes wide enough to see why anyone would want to read, seemingly useless, messages squeezed into 140 character statements. I didn’t see the value in the site, nor could I ever imagine benefiting socially or professionally from sending mass text messages around the world to people I had never met.

After months of holding out and refusing to partake in the unknown, I fell into the inevitable peer pressure of the social media world. It was a Sunday afternoon; I was sitting on the couch quietly enjoying my daily dose of Facebook stalking, when I broke down and began tweeting my little heart out. I fell in love with the endless amounts of information that were magically refreshing every 5 seconds without even having to move a muscle.

Months later, I am now posting on average 15 – 20 messages a day; and inhaling most of the world headlines right from my home feed! However, like many other twitter virgins, the most daunting task in getting started was figuring out how to get involved with the 45 million other users who were already well on their way to becoming viral sensations.

During my Twitter journey I have discovered a few ways to make the transition from thinking in 500+ characters down to 140; as well as achieve a balance between tweeting and keeping up with my ‘real life.’

1. Find a Twitter application to stream your tweets.

After a few months of using the Twitter.com site, I found that it wasn’t providing all the features to make my tweeting experience the best it could be. I didn’t like the formatting of the site and having to click back and forth between profiles was taking too much time that I didn’t have during the workday.

There are several sites that offer a much more organized and fluid Twitter experience than the actual site can offer. Two of my favorites are HootSuite and TweetDeck. Both do a great job at sorting out which tweets are mentioning me specifically, where my direct messages are going and even gives me the opportunity to see daily statistics about who’s reading my tweets and when.

2. Schedule a few hours worth of information.

Like many of you, I don’t have the luxury of sitting on Twitter every minute of the work day, constantly monitoring my tweets. So in an effort to juggle my work life and Twitter reputation, I have started to schedule a certain amount of information to tweet on its own. For example, every morning as I’m clicking my way through Google Reader and desperately trying to keep my Nutella croissant from smearing on my blouse, I make note of a few headlines that I know my followers will find interesting. I then schedule the links to appear at various times throughout the morning, allowing me to keep my boss happy as well as continue to contribute in other conversations throughout my feed.

A few sites that I have found helpful in scheduling my tweets are Hootsuite, Twuffer and Tweetlater, now known as Social Oomph

3. Create Twitter check-in times.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the influx of information and find yourself wasting hours of your day following Twitter threads and links. On top of scheduling my tweets and organizing entertaining information for the day, I also try to have a set time when I’m going to check in on my feed. Scheduling a check-in time allows me to ensure that I am attending to my feed often enough, but not too often that I’m irritating my followers.

4. Don’t be a virtual ogler.

Nobody likes to be stared at in real life and it certainly isn’t any different in the land of tweets either. Engage in the conversations happening in front of you and jump into the mix head first. It’s great to re-tweet other’s information, but don’t forget to give your thoughts as well. Everyone on Twitter is there to network and learn something new from somebody else, so don’t be afraid to reply to someone even if you don’t have a prior connection. After all that’s how all great Twitter relationships begin!

5. Participate in Tweet-ups.

Twitter meet-ups have constantly come to my rescue as I travel my way around the world and inevitably find myself in situations where the people I know can be counted on one hand. Tweet-ups have proven to be a great networking tool and have paid off exponentially in securing job prospects and opportunities. If you have never attended a Tweet-up I highly recommend it! If you can’t find one that you want to participate in – start your own. Invite a few of your followers or even open it up to a larger group of people. Either way it’s a great opportunity to meet a few new contacts and bridge the gap between virtual and real life friends.

If you are based in Melbourne then TweetUpMellers @tweetupmellers has a fantastic group of people. It’s a mash up of social networking,  delish food indulging provided by The Social, Windsor and some cold drinkies!

Tagged as: balance, hoot suite, schedule, tweet ups, tweetdeck, Twitter