Twitter - Great tool or waste of time?

[Giganti]

Hi everyone...I've been tinkering with twitter lately and reserved my thoughts until I dove in to use it consistently. I have to say, I believe it's a really cool tool. I love that you can turn tweets on and off as far as receiving on your phone. Of course, I have David Allen's coming directly to my phone.:p For a guy like David who has a large following, the fact that he can communicate at a moment's notice to 1mm plus followers is a really powerful thing. I'm starting to buy in and think that twitter (and other social media) is the future of target marketing and general networking.

Curious to hear what everyone thinks. Do you use it? How often do you post? About what? Do you receive updates on your phone or just jump in on the web? Any other thoughts?

[ScottL]

What on the planet can happen that you need to be updated about it more often than a website is updated?

I'm excluding people who need it for their business.

[dschaffner]

Do you use it? How often do you post? About what? Do you receive updates on your phone or just jump in on the web? Any other thoughts?

Yes
It depends
What ever is on my mind
Web using Twitter.com or Brizzly.com
iPhone using Birdfeed

- Don

[Oogiem]

Do you use it? How often do you post? About what? Do you receive updates on your phone or just jump in on the web? Any other thoughts?

Yes
once a day or so in winter, whenever we have new lambs in spring, as appropriate for other seasons
What's going on on the farm, I keep several friends updated that way, save me time vs sending personal e-mails to all of them.
Web only, will probably go to phone once I get a new one and a data plan
I don't much care whether people follow me or not. I'm on twitter for me and a few specific people, if others find it interesting, useful or fun that's great but no biggy either way. I also don't blindly follow folks I don't find useful. Not that I don't like you but that unless you provide something useful (read fun, interesting or thought provoking) I don't follow you no matter how good a friend you are. Nothing personal just my way to throttle the fire hose that twitter can become.

[sdann]

What's going on on the farm, I keep several friends updated that way, save me time vs sending personal e-mails to all of them.


One question please. How are you certain your friends see your tweets? I use twitter to keep updated on some professional people in my business interests, but I find it impossible to keep up with all their tweets, nevermind all the recommended readings and other things they tweet about. Time and just the sheer tweeting volume forbid it. I don't even follow that many people and it's still impossible. Even the #hashtags will have too much information for me to keep up with.

I am also finding it hard to manage twitter. There is something great, but also really frustrating about it.

(It started out with one question, but I think it turned into many.)

[kewms]

One question please. How are you certain your friends see your tweets? I use twitter to keep updated on some professional people in my business interests, but I find it impossible to keep up with all their tweets, nevermind all the recommended readings and other things they tweet about.

At some level, you don't know. But then, you don't know whether people actually read your email or not, either. You really don't have much choice but to trust that the people who actually care will make the effort. (And to make the things you tweet worth caring about, too.)

And in some ways, it doesn't really matter. You've put the information out there. Some will read all of it, some will read none of it. Some will read carefully, some will skim. But if the information is out there with your name on it, it will affect your brand image in some (hopefully positive) way.

Moreover, because the Internet never forgets, the information will be out there waiting when someone needs it in the future.

I would say that Twitter works best as a narrow-cast tool, not a broadcast tool. It's great for, as one friend used it, telling everyone you know that your daughter was born. It's great for flight updates, sports event updates, and other time-sensitive but transient information. Used properly, it's good for letting friends know what you're thinking, or what you think might interest them. Overused, it's worse than spam and people will just ignore you.

Katherine

[Oogiem]

How are you certain your friends see your tweets? I use twitter to keep updated on some professional people in my business interests, but I find it impossible to keep up with all their tweets, nevermind all the recommended readings and other things they tweet about. Time and just the sheer tweeting volume forbid it. I don't even follow that many people and it's still impossible. Even the #hashtags will have too much information for me to keep up with.

I'm not sure. But the fact they talk to me about tweets when I see them in person or talk on the phone says most are reading them.

I follow 64 people. The number has been culled to be sure they post useful stuff, that I haven't seen anywhere else, that I'm interested in and that I'll have time to follow-up on. In fact I need to go weed out a few just because they tend to post stuff I've seen elsewhere.

I never use the hashtags to find stuff, too much comes in that way and I can't filter it.

I spend maybe 15 minutes a day looking at twitter and going to the links the people I follow have posted, do a quick scan and add to reading if they look good.

I could probably do better if I learned and used some sort of twitter manager SW but I just use my Safari browser, works and is fast enough for me.

[TesTeq]

I use twitter to keep updated on some professional people in my business interests, but I find it impossible to keep up with all their tweets, nevermind all the recommended readings and other things they tweet about.

I like the freedom that Twitter gives me everyday. I can discard any information without reading and see how it disappears in the past. And nobody will blame me :!: It is just an optional information that I can live without...

[NewbGTD]

Checked it out due to all the hype I was curious.

Personally don’t need it. To me its just another inbox I can do without.

If someone wants to let me know about something they have a couple of options

1. text me/call me
2. email me

Simple. If its important that you know that "thing" people will deffo take one of those options to let you know. if its not that important maybe they wont, but you don't really need to know anyway if its not important.

as far as getting my information "out there" i also take one of those two options. if the "thing" is something I want 1+ people to read I just email/text in bulk from my phone or laptop.

I think all those sites tweeter, facebook etc are mostly a waste of time.

[Brent]

Which is exactly what folks said about email when it first came out; "if people really want to contact me, they can call me or send me a letter." ;-)

Hey, if Twitter's not for you, that's cool. Nobody needs to use these tools. But they are very useful.

I learn more things through Twitter, and much faster, than I would otherwise.

[NewbGTD]

Haha i don't know what they said back then, I’m not that old ;)

But seriously, i have also really cut back on emailing to/from as well. I use it when absolutely necessary. Hardly anyone gets my address unless there is an actual need. Twitter is gone, myface, facebook. Bit scary when you first do all this because i thought i NEEDED those places but found i really didn't.

But I’m all about eliminating, reducing and simplifying EVERYTHING. Probably the best productive habit/mindset I have ever learnt.

[cameron]

Out of interest what sort of stuff have you learned about from twitter? I have the impression (based on nothing) that Twitter is just another space for people to air their vacuous thought processes. Oogiems use sounds useful

[kewms]

Out of interest what sort of stuff have you learned about from twitter? I have the impression (based on nothing) that Twitter is just another space for people to air their vacuous thought processes.


It is, but you don't have to follow those people.

The people I follow include:
* Solar industry news feed
* Red Sox game updates
* Flight updates when I or someone I care about is traveling
* Various friends -- since they are friends, I'm interested in their vacuous thoughts
* Random people who have shown they post interesting stuff, including a dog, a haiku poet, and a Mars lander.

The things I post include:
* Status updates when traveling
* Links to things I think my followers might enjoy
* Links to my own blog posts, articles, and other publicly visible work
* Occasional random vacuous thoughts

Katherine
(kewms on Twitter, should anyone care to look)

[Brent]

Out of interest what sort of stuff have you learned about from twitter? I have the impression (based on nothing) that Twitter is just another space for people to air their vacuous thought processes.

I subscribe to several tech journalists, who frequently talk about gadgets and online services. In fact, they'll often ask questions on Twitter ("Hey, can anyone recommend a great, free photo editing app for Windows?") and it's helpful to read the replies from experts.

I'm an anime fan, and I subscribe to a lot of anime reviewers.

I subscribe to a Twitter account that frequently links to space exploration news.

I'm subscribed to a handful of my real-life friends, and Twitter gives me a different look into their lives.

Just by being subscribed to a few hundred people, I hear about trends as those people mention them in their normal Twitter conversations. I heard about the protests in Iran as they were happening, for example.

[nigelle]

Hi I am new here joined now only. Now I would like to clarify my point of view regarding the queries raised by you. As per my view twitter is boring when compared to Facebook. This because in twitter user can tweet their favorites to their added friends but on seeing to facebook looks impressive by seeing the photo sharing by others and their doings and also the person commenting on each other. It looks very nice and so that most of people are prefer to use Facebook than the Twitter. At this time I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[Giganti]

First off, great dialogue on this. This is a tough one...I think twitter has significant value if used the right way...same with Linkedin and Facebook. It's like a river...you can jump in when you want to and jump out when you're not up for it. Just don't get swept up by the current.;)

Think about David Allen, or anyone else that has a significant number of followers. I believe David has approx 1 million followers. To me, that's an amazingly powerful tool to connect with people that have interest in what you have to say. Whether it's insight into David's personal life or tiny nuggets of information, he can reach 1 million people in less than a minute. He's building his brand daily and the brand of Davidco/GTD.

My final point is that it's all about content. If you're providing valuable content, then I believe it's a great tool. Same with anyone you follow.

Cheers.

[Day Owl]

* Red Sox game updates

Go Red Sox!

[kelstarrising]

Hey there

There is a great 5 min podcast from David on using Twitter if you haven't heard it. Worth a listen as it relates to productivity and GTD.

http://www.davidco.com/podcasts/play/25.html

Kelly

[Oogiem]

I subscribe to a Twitter account that frequently links to space exploration news.

Share the link please!

[mmurray]

Share the link please!

Maybe the NASA site

http://www.nasa.gov/connect/index.html

????

Michael

[mackiest]

To me at least, Twitter is just another internet-based waste of time. I suppose there are ways you can use it that are useful but I've yet to find them. "Twerminology" is creeping into our lexicon, and it's been around long enough that it's likely more than a flash in the pan.

The last thing I need is more distraction!

[Brent]

I subscribe to a Twitter account that frequently links to space exploration news.
Share the link please!

Finally found it! @SpaceflightNow on Twitter - http://twitter.com/spaceflightnow

[Oogiem]

Finally found it! @SpaceflightNow on Twitter - http://twitter.com/spaceflightnow

Thanks, I'm following for a while to see if I enjoy it as much as the quick review of past tweets.

[MijoroJordan]

Twitter is good for reaching out to companies you wouldn't otherwise be able to contact through email or phone, listening to celebrities prattle on about themselves and listening to non-celebrities prattle on about themselves as if they were celebrities whom people wanted to be updated about.

As far as making your own tweets? It's only worth it if you're a celebrity, or are trying to bill yourself as a self-help guru. Twitter loves self-help / marketing gurus.

[vishvijay]

Definitely not waste of time these websites became the life line of person .they will keep connected with rest of the world so, it is not waste of time.

[kelstarrising]

With anything like this, people need to clarify purpose. Why are you doing Twitter? Or Facebook? Or Email? Or having that department meeting? If you're not clear about purpose, it will seem like a scattered waste of time.

[MijoroJordan]

With anything like this, people need to clarify purpose. Why are you doing Twitter? Or Facebook? Or Email? Or having that department meeting? If you're not clear about purpose, it will seem like a scattered waste of time.

Very much agreed. Twitter has some uses, but they aren't the reasons many (if not most) people are on twitter.

[abhay]

I was there on twitter since April. Tried to see what value it can offer me and what purpose could it serve me, and finally concluded that it does none (to me, at least as of now). I removed myself from twitter (and also orkut for same reasons) just this Saturday.

[jennytg3]

It's important for me to be on Twitter for my job and retweet interesting info so that when I on occasion retweet relevant things for my clients, I'm actually communicating to a decent group of followers. I also follow people who follow me, out of courtesy, although then I have to wade through a malestrom of info.
My problem is that when checking my twitter account I constantly get distracted by other interesting people, articles, etc. and then am off down a rabbit hole of unproductivity. I do need to be exposed to these ideas and articles as it gives me ideas for things to do with my clients, etc, but I get so easily distracted by the latest shiny object that I seem to go all day without billing anyone.

This happens with websites too - I'll go to look up a fact for a press release I'm writing, see another article that might be useful for another client, then down the rabbit hole I go. I return, completely forgetting what I've been working on. Repeat about 100 times and that's my day. Any ideas for someone with the attention span of a gnat to effectively manage Twitter (and for that matter, Facebook and websites)?

[abhay]

It would require a habit change. And GTD facilitates this by giving you the ability to capture. Whenever you come across any link that may be interesting, you can bookmark it (I have a bookmark folder called INBOX for such purposes which I process during my daily processing) and decide what to do with it later. Many times what initially seemed interesting turns out to be somewhat irrelevant (although interesting!), and the second thought allows you to simply delete the bookmarks. For others you can add scanning or reading actions.

Now the real problem is to be aware that one is being dragged away by the links and break the habit. One way I have found helpful is to visualize, say for a few seconds once or twice a day, how you will do it. Visualize for example, that you have seen an interesting link, but you are dragging it to the inbox rather than clicking on it, saying to yourself that right now you are doing something different.

In addition, considering the three types of work namely predefined, as-it-appears, and defining-your-work, twitter is better considered as the third one and include it in processing. Definitely not as-it-appears. Somehow it's in the nature of the internet to distract us all, perhaps because of the sheer volume and connectedness of information.

I got the above visualization idea after listening to the "Making Change Stick" audio from GTDConnect when I used my trial membership. This audio has changed many things for me.

Regards,
Abhay

[Oogiem]

Matt Deatherage has an interesting commentary on Twitter in the latest MacWorld magazine. Not avail on-line that I can find unfortunately. Basically he uses twitter but for very specific stuff with a very select set of followers. His twitter stream is private and he limits who he allows to follow him so that the stream continues to have value to him.

Very interesting viewpoint, I highly recommend looking at the article if you can find a copy of the mag.

[jennytg3]

Thank you, Abhay, that is a super helpful suggestion. I will try that!

[kelstarrising]

We will be doing a Webinar in March on GTD Connect called "Productive Use of Social Media" that will look into this whole issue further.

We will be posting registration for it this week on the home page of Connect.

For those of you that are not GTD Connect members, you can still register as a free trial member (as long as you are a trial or regular member when the Webinar occurs.)

You can also join Connect for just a month for $48, then cancel before the next renewal. We don't make canceling difficult, honestly. It's as simple as sending us an email (connect@davidco.com) or calling us (805-646-8432) one business day before your renewal billing date to cancel.

https://secure.davidco.com/connect/

Cheers,
Kelly