I’m finally getting it… I think

A couple of months ago I signed up for Twitter at the recommendation of a friend – @Candid.  His pitch: “Twitter is like a mini-blog where you can post short blurbs.”  I’ve publically blogged off and on for the last few years, but stuck mostly to internal stuff at work.  So, I figured it might be a way for me to ease back into blogging.

At first I thought of Twitter as sort of a lazy way to write about something without putting a lot of effort into it.  I played around with status updates like a few of my friends did, but nothing really special.  As the days passed I would exchange a few messages here and there with some friends from work and post a bit of nonsense, but really nothing more than that.  All of that just wasn’t satisfying enough.  I had heard so much about Twitter and what a raging phenomenon it has grown into, but I wasn’t seeing it.

Well, that all started to change a few weeks ago when I started to follow my good friend, @paconmiller.  Paco is one of those guys that seemed to take off on the bandwagon.  I mean, before I knew it his followers were beyond the scope of people he knows on Facebook or here at the office, and he was starting to post all sorts of links to various news posts and blogs.  It didn’t take more than a dayto realize that his tweets were personal and very passionate.  He was definitely into this.  He was on a mission.  I knew that I couldn’t really connect with his passion myself, but his example defintely had me wondering what I could do with Twitter.

Somewhere in there I began to follow @zappos.  I believe it was right after he came to town and met with some executives here at Better World Books.  There’s a guy that needs no introduction and if you know anything about his company, then you know that they’re 1) big, and 2) a leader in customer service.  So, I’m following this guy that’s got a massive number of followers and I decided to step up to the plate and respond to one of his messages.  [Anyone that knows me can tell you that I'm not terribly shy - or I try not to be, at least.]  I was stunned that he actually responded.  Not long after this I stumbled onto some article posts that mentioned Zappos and their phenominal customer service integration with Twitter.  What?  How could they pull that off?  My curiosity was growing.

As I started coming across more of these blogs or interviews, I began to notice a trend.  I know, I know.  For anyone reading this that’s been on Twitter for any significant amount of time, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Well, duh!”  Yeah, me too.  Anyway, this is when my eyes opend up to the “real” world of Social Media.  I’m not talking about the hype and buzz-words about it, or the self-centerd, selfish interests it can serve.  I really started to re-shape my ideas of Twitter, and all Social Media for that matter, and how it is already having a huge, positive impact on the world.  I won’t even begin to say that I’m an expert on this subject, but I will say that I believe I see the bigger picture here.  With the help of my friends like @paconmiller, @zappos, and others, I’m learning how to be a contributor and not just a watcher.

So, where is all of this taking me?  Frankly, I don’t know.  Right now I’m still in my “discovery” phase, but not without trying to give something back.  For everything that I’m learning, I’m trying to find ways to promote “good things” online.  Yeah, I’d like to build my list of followers so I can get a rough idea of the direct impact I can have, but that’s not really my main drive.  As for what the “good things” are that I’m going to promote… I’m still working on that one.  Right now I’m trying to help others open their eyes to the real value of Twitter as I see it can be.  And if that’s all I do – crusade others to be involved in this revolution medium – then I’ll be perfectly fine with that, too.

The bottom line is that I’m chosing to do something with it.  How about you?

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