One of our most read posts is Beirut’s “Why Do People REALLY Tweet? The Psychology Behind Tweeting!” and it tends to illicit a varying range of reactions to it. Dr. Shawn was one of those people who stumbled on it and couldn’t help but call it a “load of donkey dung” but it was written in such a way that made us interested in contacting Shawn and getting him to re-post some of his articles over at our blog because he’s a man with a perspective.
It was interesting to read his blog and get an insight into how medical professionals use social media and how it’s impacting their business, communication, and how they tame s0cial media to meet their needs rather than follow the crowd when it comes to its usage. In this post he shares with us how he utilizes Twitter, and what he wants to achieve with his usage of the service.
==> Link to the original article.
* Note: If you have a Twitter, Facebook or social media related post that you think is worth republishing on Thoughtpick, just drop us an email.
As published on Dr. Shawn’s Blog:
Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy…
Grab my glasses,
I’m out the door, I’m gonna hit this city
Before I leave, I check my Tweet
For some follows back
Cause if they don’t, Then I feel
Like a total jag…
Today I noticed that, due to all those incessant follow back hash tags, a D-List porno “actor” has more followers than I by about 20,000 people. My first response was, Oh COME ON…What?” Then I had to laugh at myself, take stock of why I even cared…Do I care? Why am I on Twitter? Is it to get followers, attention, or is it for me as an outlet? If I care, why do I care? Am I really envious of a porno actors following? So I did some self assessment.
A Twitter Raison d’être
Why are you tweeting?
The first thing I decided was why I am on Twitter. I had been thinking over blogging for a while. I wanted to and had things I wanted to discuss and keep record of and share with others. I beat around the bush for some time with it. Deciding to co-author our book really gave me the push forward I needed. I spent some time researching blogs as to how people were doing them. A recurring theme while checking blogs was Twitter Twitter Twitter. So I joined Twitter to see what the fuss is about. My boys have Twittered for awhile, but joining social networking sites has never been my cup of tea as time is valuable to me and my friends and family are around me daily so the need for constant communication wasn’t important. What I didn’t expect was to see how many informative link sharing there is. Many colleagues in my profession are on Twitter sharing thoughts, medical research, informative commentary and current trends and topics. I was hooked.
I took a lot of flack at first for finally succumbing to a social networking site, but then I was inundated with the “coolness” of it all. I decided to pave my own way on my Twitter journey and began Googling topics and people I would have a direct interest in. I would add them on Twitter and one find would lead to a few more and so on and so forth. Within a week, I was fully functioning on Twitter with Tweetdeck and Twitlonger etc. I knew how to add, remove, make lists, join lists, block and recognize spam. What I missed initially was how many people follow you JUST to get a follow back or to extract your followers list as their own. So I began being more practical and observant of who I added, as to why I add them and who follows me and why. It’s very noticeable that many people on Twitter add, follow, follow back etc without ever caring who, what or why. THAT is the part of social networking I have absolutely no interest in. I only want people on my list to follow if they bring something to the table that intrigues my interest or makes my brain happy. That being the case, I will never have 15,000 people I follow because truly, that is just plain insanity. Who has time to read that? If you don’t have time to read it, why is it there? Of what significance is it to you? Those you do have an interest in get lost amongst the drivel.
The Follow-me-follow-you Game
Follow Me
When I add someone, I want them to feel appreciated; I want them knowing I read their information. If I didn’t they would not be there. So that is a fine balance for me. My life is about manageability and balance. I believe in all areas of our lives we should know our boundaries. Then we are less likely to make those in our lives, or in this case on our Twitter Favs, feel undervalued. I believe the salt of a man is his ability to provide security, love and respect to all he touches on a daily basis. That includes people you add into your life even if via Twitter. No person has to be seen to be heard. The internet taught us that a long long time ago. So in this instance, I haven’t changed or manipulated my values at all.
Would I like 150,000 followers following me hanging on my every word? Maybe, that would be kind of exciting, but I would feel guilty as it would be impossible to follow them all back. What I would like is a good number of people following me that think I have worth in my ideas, actions, and communication. Those people would be people I follow back because then we have a symbiotic Twitter relationship that only leads to positive value for all concerned. It keeps you grounded in reality, boundaries, self worth and of value/importance to others.
Adding with respect
Don't you deep inside feel that way?
I ALWAYS answer DM’s, “mentions” etc. I think that is as important as a common hello. It lets those who hear you, see you, include you in their Twitter lives know they have worth. In conclusion, I know if I wanted to disrobe and flash my junk on the internet in a movie, avatar or live cam, I would have a gazillion followers, but I chose not to thank you very much…lol I’ll chug along and add and follow and be followed respectfully forwhat is in my mind, not my pants. That ladies and gentleman is a choice I am very happy to live with.
And now, the dudes are lining up
cause they hear we got swagger
But we kick ‘em to the curb
unless they Tweet like Mick Jagger
