Nov 15 2008
Dispatch from the Couch: Microbugging? My use of Twitter and maybe yours! Here are some guidelines!
It has been a long week. Lots of action at work and now my wife and I are just enjoying a quiet day at home with the kids, the cat and the dog. My future career goals are on my mind….
This whole microblogging thing is so new. Whew! I am getting confused and my PLN filter is getting clogged!
I went through my Twitter follower list and unfollowed a few people out there who I was not feeling particularly connected to recently. No offense. I still have your blogs in my aggregator, but I don’t want to get involved on a personal level with your life.
You see, my reason for using twitter is to enhance my professional AND personal learning network. Hey Jeff Utecht... Hey David Warlick…..don’t you think we should call it our PPLN?? Our PPLN must have balance.
This morning I read a post by Jonathan Chambers that states….
One of the problems with the modern ability to publish is that if you’re going to choose to publish a poetic journey through your each and every thought, then you may want to look at which channel/forum/genre you choose to do this with. I’d like to introduce a new word into the discussion of microblogging: “microbugging” – a proclivity to share every thought with one’s social network, as opposed to actively editing one’s thoughts in order to relay and collect useful communication.
Hmmm… interesting! “microbugging”! May I suggest some PPLN Twitter guidelines? (Jonathan goes on further at this post too!)
1. If you can’t say it in 140 characters and have a need to send multiple tweets then use your regular blog (macro-blog). Even if you have just a “few” tweets… consider my 10-20-30 rule! Shorter is probably better. Really short… USE Twitter!
2. Don’t use Twitter to send PUBLIC personal messages. Use a “D” message– direct message, NOT an “@” message. Frankly, a misplaced message in the public forum is poor form and potentially embarrassing. I have seen messages about job apps, arguements and “personal” information shared in @ messages. Sheesh folk! We can all see these messages. TMI!!!
3. Embrace the technology but don’t over apply its use. For a while my family was using twitter for everything but…. in the end we learned a well written email or skype message works so much better.
For those of you out there who are not going to follow these suggestions, well… I suspect you will end up in the filter. Sorry. No offense. I am with my colleague Jonathan. I won’t be a victim of filter failure!
Photo from cc http://www.flickr.com/photos/73514861@N00/1471007491
Technorati Tags: microblogging, macroblogging, twitter
