In my previous post, I began discussing one of the main reasons behind my steadily growing use of Twitter. Since publishing my views on the subject I had several encounters with various “opinionaters” that I want to address before moving on with my Why Do I Twitter Reason #2.
Let me start by saying that I feel it’s extremely important for all of us to be able to honestly share and express views and opinions and debate them objectively with one another. I think a Twitterverse filled with just a bunch of RTs and Amens would be a very boring one indeed. So, I do welcome the skeptics, the devils advocates and anyone else who can offer an interesting and substantive other side of the coin view to mix up the conversation and keep us all thinking on our toes.
Unfortunately, there are more than a few individuals who just like to lob cannon balls into the discussion that offer no constructive challenge. Instead of either asking for clarification, or stating they think there might be another side to things – they emphatically poop on others tweets without listening and understanding before speaking. My favorite example of this Twitter violation is when people lob tweets about event hashtags that they say make no sense – even when their organization is affiliated with them. This is especially blatant when they use commentary hashtags to further accentuate their elevated and elitist opinion about a group of Tweeters they have not taken time to hear and get to know. My rule of thumb: If you don’t know, ask; If you don’t agree, offer a helpful, constructive point of view. Bashing just makes you look small. Okay, now on with the main subject of this post…
(2) Reputation
There have been scores of articles, presentations, discussions on the power of personal branding – essentially building and amplifying your reputation online. I definitely believe that curating contributes significantly to reputation – after all, you are who you hang your hat with, right? A few ways curating reputation on Twitter happens:
(a) The Crowd You Keep – who you chose to follow, which ones you decide to list and retweet, link to their blogs or sites and #followfriday all say something about you. For example, I just started reading the Influencers Daily, a Twitter Newspaper of “Star Analysts” created by Ray Wang (rwang0) – this Twitterzine is filled with solid content and opinions from seasoned and well respected social veterans. Creating this resource tells me that Ray keep a sharp eye on the industry and values critical thinking.
(b) The Subject You Master – what are you known for - great insights on enterprise 2.0, search marketing, scrapbooking? Whatever your passion, take the time to pull the best of the best and add your own analysis to the dialog. Don’t be afraid to have a professional side as well as a personal one. Some Tweeps that I feel do an excellent job with this are: @pfasano @spunstephanie @iainbluett @thomasls @eric_anderson
(c) The Help You Offer – are you someone who answers questions, responds to others requests for help, promotes others causes and initiatives? Paying it Forward is something we should all strive to be part of our reputation. @jeffpulver is a rockstar here.
Are there other areas that I missed? Drop me a comment and let me know how you build reputation. Stay tuned for Part 3 – Relationships next week.
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