Current mood:	bouncy
Entry tags:	social media, twitter, web 2.0

I've Become a Twitterer
I've had a Twitter account (tbc0) for almost 8 months. I tried to use it as advertised, tweeting about what I was doing. But that got boring quickly because none of my friends were on Twitter. I tried to enforce my own intended use by blocking people I didn't know who started following me. I wasn't sensitive to the way Twitter has evolved.

November 30th I got stuck in a snowstorm heading home on I-70. That's the day I discovered search.twitter.com. I found weather information that confirmed my decision to get off the road for the night. I explored with other search terms and started to see the possibilities. I learned that hashtags (Twitter user | Web site) facilitate ad hoc conversations.

During the snowstorm I caught on to how Twitter is being used. It's not just for people you already know. It's a way to connect with new people. I started noting my observations as #twittertips, and etiquette opinions as #tweetiquette.

My interests fall into a number of categories: (1) Twitter has exploded since I first joined, and a variety of people I'm acquainted with outside Twitter now tweet; (2) accomplished people I know and respect; (3) conservatives related to the Top Conservatives on Twitter (#tcot) and Rebuild the Party (#rebuild) movements; (4) Twitterers in Colorado, especially @COTweeters and #cstweetup (about half in the real estate industry); and (5) high-tech / social media.

It's also worth pointing out that one doesn't have to follow Twitterers to enjoy their streams. John Cleese and Wil Wheaton fall into that category for me. (Caution: their language is not family-friendly.) I wish William Shatner would tweet more. I also admire Chris Brogan, who "uses Twitter at volume." (tinyurl.com/followaton). When I checked today, he was following almost 23,000 (including me), had over 27,000 followers, and over 28,000 updates.

I maintain my Tweeple page at lilurl.org/mg97dg so that I can make sense of the Twitterverse.

Update 2009-04-20: Balancing Twitter with the rest of my life.