It would definitely be impossible to keep up with hundreds of social sites – its hard enough to keep up with just a handful lol. The key is to pick the networks that work best for you and get as involved as you can.

You soon come to realize social networking is not as we think we know …. As in its ALL about people views on the world outside or inside for that matter … but a point well over looked by many myself once included is! … you have to care you cant visit other social networking sites and buzz read over the posts you have to care yes don’t pre-tend to care you have to feel like part of the process and really care ….

By joining a community you have to communicate does not sound too hard to do …. Well I recon if you want to really get into this as a marketing concept imagine having 100s of social networking sites that have the possibility to bring 100s of eyeballs to your site opportunity or whatever is your bag … then communicating might not be as easy as it sounds … back to my new members area got some hard reading to catch up on … so how do we do that Again Jack???

All my best to you and your twitters
Phillip Skinner

I just wanted to let you know I just wrote a new article called, How to Make Your Blog Better – Part II: 6 Benefits of Stumbling.

I linked to your blog again!

It will post at midnight 5/2/2008, AZ time

The only real downside I see is the potential to get sucked into a neverending “live chat” and allowing that to kill your productivity.

After all the creation of these sites like Twitter is for social networking not all out marketing. They’re are quickly turned into publicity mechanism by marketers, businesses, politicians, etc.

The free spirit side of me says keep it personal and fun while my marketing side say I should be social marketing not chatting. I try to strike a balance and not think oh-how can I get my link in this tweet. That’s not my cup of tea.

That written, Twitter has had a positive business impact for me already. Someone tweeted that they needed a guest blogger to write about web redirection. I replied. I wrote a piece for his popular blog. Giving me exposure and picking up opt-ins for my new link redirection site. All because we tweeted. So Tweeter has worked for me as a business tool.

I noticed you weren’t Tweeting as much and wondered why, now I know

Actually its because I’ve been sick I love Twitter and dont plan to stop using it at all. I’ve just been busy with other things during the hours I have been able to work the last couple of days. That’s all!

These are simply my personal evaluations after using Twitter for one full month – and my concerns. I think its smart to jump in and really get a feel for how it works, and then make decisions on best use for what you want back out of it.

You said in one of your comments “Agreed. And sadly Twitter has changed my perception of certain people in a few short weeks… after ‘following’ them elsewhere for years.”

I know what you mean, just today I “unfollowed a few people.

So thank you Lynn for setting the standard of where it should be.

I follow A-List Marketer “X” and read through 100+ tweets from them in the first week. I followed them because I love their product/blog or whatever. In 100+ tweets they never mention that, but instead tweet about how drunk they are, how stupid someone else is, what they are watching on TV, etc. And they never respond to replies. Obviously I unfollow when I realize there is no value in those tweets for me personally.

No big deal since I have that option. Again, sharing this to help others consider best use of Twitter and also analyze the ROI …

Hi Bob,

I dont think I kvetched (?) “unactionable tweets” in general. I stated what I prefer and also said I really like a good mix of conversation, announcements, tips, etc. The mix being the key.

I think its ‘cool’ knowing where people are and what they’re doing at any given time. That is actually the true purpose of Twitter.

This morning I logged in with my “hello world” tweet, answered questions, announced a local meetup, offered some tips & let people know what I was doing. That’s a decent mix, and is the kind of thing I like to ‘follow’ as well.

My point with this blog post was not to ‘kvetch’ on anyone at all. But rather to suggest you approach Social Networking with a purpose and not just get sucked into a 24-hour chat room.

Considering I recommended Twitter as a valuable networking tool to other online business owners, I thought it good measure to discuss potential negatives – particularly when time management is one of our biggest issues

I loved your reply on Twitter by the way, lol – but you’re not contributing to my ‘time suck’. I truly love meeting new people and engaging in productive relevant conversations. I do apologize if I gave any other impression.

If you’re tweeting that you woke up at 6:00am and enjoying a cup of hazelnut coffee, don’t you invite tweet responses to that?

So you shouldn’t kvetch about people sending you un-actionable tweets!

I follow all your tweets, and am fascinated with your use of twitter because you send the most personal tweets of the handful of people I follow. And then I read this post from you!

You portend my future in a few months when I feel like I’m drowning in tweets and wonder how best to manage it. In the meantime, let me know when you switch to Irish Cream!
-Bob