My Twitter Birthday – A Time to Reflect, Review, and Retweet

It’s my birthday and I’ll hashtag if I want to.

In reality, my first Twitter-versary was back on April 6th.  I was just a bit preoccupied breaking the next billion-dollar company at the time, and couldn’t properly celebrate.

Yes, Twitter itself is almost 4-years old now, so I did arrive fashionably tardy to the party.  After signing up for Facebook, I got too comfortable, and became a relatively late adopter with most of the social media platforms that followed, including Twitter and LinkedIn.  Sure, I was acutely aware of Twitter’s presence last Spring, but everyone was by that point.  My professors were probably retweeting Shaq before I even created an account (bear in mind, when I first joined VaynerMedia, I got called out for using my cell phone’s most advanced feature, the built-in voice memo app).

Just like everyone else, my early tweets were self-centered and uninspired, but thankfully, my recent exposure to Twitter and social media in general has given me a greater perspective on its environment and functions.  The rest of this post will be comprised of quick observations and things I’ve learned over the past 13 months, regarding everyone’s favorite real-time micro-blogging platform.  In the spirit of the theme, no bullet will be longer than 140 characters.

• Follower counts don’t always tell the whole story. The follower-following ratio is a much better predictor of a quality tweeter… or spam

• My favorite thing about Twitter is that it forces you to be succinct – whether or not this will make kids better writers tomorrow remains to be seen

• Twitpic or it didn’t happen! Photo-included tweets are the best – it’s like I’m there, or something

• Ubertwitter and Tweetphoto links open in my browser instead of in my desktop client – I hate that and will be less inclined to click

• Yes, there’s a character limit, but don’t abbreviate everything – most will be able to decipher, but why make it so much harder to read?

• If it’s a little long, use 2 Tweets =)  Longer than that?  Write a real blog post!

• Having said that, please refrain from tweeting in rapid succession… for your followers’ sanity’s sake

• Twitter’s Trending Topics seem a little too easily gamed – is it a representation of Twitter’s pulse as much as it is a celebrity obituary tracker?

• While it’s a Twitter staple, and great in theory, I’m skeptical of how sticky #FF endorsements really are – personally, I don’t love ‘em

• Hashtags can add value to your tweets, especially for gatherings. Sometimes they’re overused but at the very least, they’re a pleasant #changeofpace

• Protecting your tweets will limit your experience on the platform – fewer people will follow you and your posts won’t show up in search.twitter

• Twitter won’t make you rich automatically, or find you customers, or create brand equity.  You do that.  All it can do is help

It’s been a blazing fast first year, and though it took a few months to get my feet under me, I’ve gradually become comfortable incorporating Twitter into my day-to-day routine.  What are some things that you’ve noticed about the Twitterverse?  I’m sure some of you will disagree with a couple of my points, but seeing as how it’s my birthday, I plan to simply ignore them (whoops that’s Facebook).