Why Are You On Twitter?

Erik lives in Marion Indiana where he recruits for Indiana Wesleyan University,and works with their Social Media Initiatives. He also cohosts a weekly podcast “Social Media Serenity” at http://socialmediaserenity.com Find him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/erikjfisher

Why are you on Twitter?

The most common answers fall somewhere in the realm of the following:

• Mini blogging

• Macro Texting

• Chatting

• Self-Promoting

• Marketing

• News Aggregating

• Spamming

Whatever your reason or motives, it’s a waste of time if no one reads what you write, right?

If your going to share, it makes sense to do it right. Sometimes the original writer gets it perfect and a Retweet, official or manual, will be just fine. Let’s move past the discussion of what method of Retweet is best, and on to an altogether new discussion.

What if the best way to share is to actually write your own tweet? Actually pull us in to the tweet by writing it well, and sharing it to your unique audience. The original tweet writer or blogger may not have packaged their ideas in a way that would draw in your followers, but if it’s something your interested in, perhaps your followers would appreciate seeing it, through your eyes.

Before you cry foul, let’s clarify something. I don’t count this as stealing or repurposing the content. It’s being a content curator. If the content you are pointing to is good, then it will maintain it’s own stickiness. Remember, something drew you to that content originally, and it was compelling enough to persuade you to share it.

If you write a tweet well, or Retweet a well-written tweet, it’s passing on a referral. You’re driving traffic to the originators site, how can they complain? I’ve found many blogs or websites that I’ve subscribed to as well as people to follow and interact with on Twitter due to others Retweets.

The best way to share is to use a URL shortener, and send a compelling tweet. You know your followers, and the reason they follow you, or at least you should. I polled my followers and those I follow that people follow me to hear about Tech or Social Media news, productivity tips, humor, and authenticity. Their words, not mine.