Note: If you’re reading this by email, and possibly by RSS, you may want to click this link to read this directly on the blog. I have some screenshots that may not come out well otherwise; screenshots that are central to what I want to share.
Let’s talk about Twitter.
It’s a frequent activity, albeit uncommon, for people to create secondary Twitter accounts. As the linked story indicates, their reasons vary. In some cases, two are not enough and people create thirds and fourths and fifths.
If you’ve followed my recent exploits and explanations both here on my blog and in Twitterville, you already know why I unfollowed 7,000+ people and organizations and have an inkling into what I’ve done since.
One thing I’ve done a lot–and the subject of face-to-face conversations with Mike Langford and Jeff Cutler, GoogleTalk messages with Danny Brown and Alexander Howard, and Skype chats with Kneale Mann–involved building what-if scenarios to create a new Twitter account and start fresh.
The what-if scenario is now built and has a solid foundation. I’m going to use Twitter in a way I’ve never done before. Want to come along for the ride?
It’s not easy to change the status quo. You need to change your mindset.
I’ve tried. I’ve tried to challenge life, tried to construct my own path through the woods. I’d like to think it’s made a difference. I’d like to think I’m a better man because of my questions, because of my curiosities.
Ditto with online media. Ditto with Twitter.
My Twitter strategy changes right here, right now–for the better. (Or so I hope.) Neal Wiser, bless his soul, profiled me earlier this week on the right way to unfollow with class. He may be inspired to write a follow-up on the right way to reinvent yourself online.
To understand why, look at my first two tweets.
My first tweet was at 10:35 p.m. on April 5, 2007. Two years, one month, and 10 days later–earlier tonight–I wrote my second tweet:
How’s that? you may ask yourself right now. How has Ari only tweeted for his second time when he’s been blogging about Twitter since last summer and sharing screen shots of notable tweets left and right?
A very good question that is answered with four words:
Look at the username.
History
For all intents and purposes, I joined Twitter on the date above although 99.99% of my Twitter followers and blog readers never knew it. I signed up for Twitter specifically to follow the Sunday Night Film Club when I used to live elsewhere. I followed the SNFC to learn about movie times and dinner venues in case I was running late. Sean Graham controlled it, before he created his own account.
Its purpose–and my purpose–soon changed and I stopped tweeting for nearly a year.
Enter Kim Woodbridge who suggested I give the microblog another try. She said it was less about telling people what you’re doing and less about following updates and more indicative of marketing and communications, more personable, more friendly; and worked differently as it was no longer restricted to the website and mobile phones.
I heeded her advice and created @ariherzog, representative of my personal brand.
And my first account, named the same as this blog’s name, itself named after my old email address that I once had in 2001 when I worked as a freelance writer? I left it inactive and edited its bio to point people to the second account.
Fast forward to now
If you look at my Twitter bios–both of them–you’ll see updated language. Here are the screenshots:
It will take a few days of adjustments until both accounts are configured and used the way I intend, but, like the bios indicate, one of my Twitter accounts will include a lot of broadcasts:
- Blog posts I write here
- Blog posts I write elsewhere
- Blog posts other people write that I think you might like
- Blog posts that I comment on that I think you might like
- Websites that inspire me
- My activity on Digg, StumbleUpon, 12Seconds, Yelp
- Things I create on FriendFeed
- Music I listen to on Blip.fm
- Retweets of things people write that I think you might like, too
That’s not all. There’s going to be a big change. It may not be immediate, but in due time, I won’t reply to you from there. I won’t talk to you from there. I don’t think so, anyway; if anything is constant, it’s that life and change are intermingled. The way I am building this in my head, I will use that account–the one I’ve been branding myself with for the past year–to continue to learn from you and share myself and others with you.
If you want to engage with me–if you want me to reply either publicly or by direct message–you’ll need to adjust to contacting me through the one I’m not linking to anywhere on this page other than by textual reference in the screenshots.
One account will be my branding and sharing channel.
The other account will be my communications and customer service channel.
If I can’t find the strength in me to delete @ariherzog (which many people suggested I should have done when I unfollowed them), I will do the next best thing.
I will use this reinvented account to talk. Really talk. Have deep conversations, using the full character limitations of Twitter, to engage with people where my goal is to make money. If I can’t make money tweeting, then I’m sure as heck going to try to make money as the result of tweeting. I’m willing to bet there are people out there in search of my consulting, speaking, and/or writing experience. I’m willing to bet there are people I can talk to who I don’t know yet because I’m following the wrong people.
So, I will follow certain people and organizations from @ariherzog to learn from in an effort to better brand myself and share myself and learn from them; and pass those lessons to you. But I will engage people for networking and collaborative relationships–the fodder beyond branding and into strategic communications–from the other account, the reinvented account, the account where from I will write. Do you grasp the relevance of the name of this blog, now?
My Twitter foundation is built. The next phase is to build my house. But two years, one month, and 10 days later, I think I know how to do it: tweet by tweet.
Photo credit: badboy69
Related posts:
- Twitter Grading Over 30 Days
- Analyzing 365 Days of Blog Visitors Yields Facebook Censorship On Top
- GMail Suffers 2nd Outage in a Month
Comments:
Ari Herzog is an online media strategist and Newburyport City Councilor-Elect.
978-558-0008
ConvoTrack
{ 14 comments }
I like that you keep experimenting, makes things interesting. I’ve enjoyed just seeing what you come up with so I’ll definitely be following your other account
Professor Mikey´s last blog post..May 15th – Blog about Palestine Day
Imagine a world without experiments. How mundane!
I like the idea of having one account for conversation and one for rebroadcasting your output. I’ve seen a couple of others doing the same thing. Of course it really depends on what people expect from you and what value they seek to extract from their relationship.
I’ve got two accounts and now I’m seriously considering using the one with my real name as a place to shove blog posts and more too. Someone might actually find it the easiest to subscribe there.
Whatever you do remember it has to add value to your life as well.
Todd Jordan´s last blog post..Social Networking Rehab: 28 Digital Days
I’m puzzled but it’s probably because I’ve only had one meal and it’s 1:24PM on a Saturday.
So is the broadcast T account going to be AH or AW? I’ll subscribe to both and probably be able to figure it out after another snack. But just figured I’d ask.
I LOVE that you’re shaking things up and experimenting. As I’ve told the classes I teach on using Twitter for Business, “Twitter might be gone tomorrow so don’t use it as the end-all to your communications. Make it a support vehicle and one channel in which you converse with consumers.”
Best,
Jeff
Jeff Cutler´s last blog post..Three Social Media Tips from Willie Wonka
Ari,
I’ll be interested to see how this works for you. I approach Twitter from a completely different angle – so its fascinating to see someone experimenting with gaining value from the service in ways I’d never attempt (mostly because thats not what I’m about). Good luck! I will echo Jeff’s comment tho – which one do I subscribe to? Or both? I’m not completely sure what you’re wanting us Ari followers to do.
If you want me to answer the ubiquitous Twitter question, “What are you doing?” so you can follow along and maybe learn something or retweet it, then you want to follow @ariherzog as you’ve been doing all along. The other account won’t be retweeting things.
If you want to know what inspires me, follow who you already are.
Ultimately, the way I envision this today, I’ll only “reply” from one account, but you don’t need to follow that account for I’ll be monitoring and using both. That help?
Ari,
I always enjoy watching your experiments — might as well let you invent the wheel and then just go for a ride on the newfangled thing, right?
I don’t agree with you having a broadcast-only Twitter account though. Using Twitter as a broadcast medium seems to defeat the social-networking side of the service. Twitter is about the conversation, and if one of your identities refuses to engage in that conversation, then what’s the point?
It’s as if I run into a set of twins at a bar. One of them is conversational, engaging and a joy to chat with. The other is is interested only in talking about what he wants to talk about and doesn’t let others get a word in. Sorry, but I’m buying the first twin a drink and asking him to sit down at a table, leaving his loudmouth brother at the bar to bother others.
Take a look at the number of people who either manually or automatically opted to follow @ariherzog. Would you be surprised many 5% of that number (if that) have replied or retweeted me in the past month? What does that say about Twitter as a conversational medium?
That’s why your follower numbers are silly.
And that’s why I’m changing things up. You don’t have to like it–but disagreement implies there is one way to use Twitter, which is clearly not the case or I’d be on the receiving or retweeting end of 100% engagement which is not true.
Further, using your logic, if I combed through the folks you follow on Twitter, I presume there wouldn’t be any media empresses like Oprah or CNN anchors like Anderson Cooper? Because both are only broadcasting.
By contrast, you have no problem following Oprah’s executive producer, Sheri Salata and Anderson’s producer, Jack Gray, who each retweet and reply. Right?
Is that what you’re saying?
I tend to agree with Ari Adler. As a read-only news source, I think Twitter makes for a poor information control tool which can possibly draw viewership away from one’s website – especially if it is successful. Otherwise, having more than one responsive Twitter account just does not make sense. In addition, unresponsive accounts sometimes attract unwanted, public responses which cannot be easily handled from the designated non-interactive account. It could create a PR mess, in my opinion.
I also think that employing a simple news-flash page of some kind on one’s website is much more attractive because it can offer immediate content not limited to 140 characters, less a link – and a click. I think to improve one’s brand, one would do better to concentrate on providing good, first-hand and real-time content – with or without links – and strive to be responsive to one’s audience regardless of the size. Personally, I think finding a manageable niche on the “long-tail” rather than marketing to everyone makes more sense. But then, I’m an amateur.
As Adler says, Twitter is conversational. Right now, the currency of “followers” reminds me of a CB radio fad from a few decades ago. I am optimistic. As Twitter settles into its useful place in social networking, more and more incredible, interactive tools will surely emerge – breaking down even more silo walls with implied transparency.
D. Kellus Pruitt
Never a dull moment with you, good sir.
I think your idea of running two Twitter accounts is kinda cool. More and more people are using the service in place of an RSS feed, so if they want information on just what you’re up to or reading, they can grab it from there.
And hey, no-one actually needs to follow you – it’s all choice, so saying that “broadcast is wrong” isn’t taking in the fuller picture (imho).
There are many ways to use Twitter, but only one Twitter Rulebook – everything else is up for grabs.
Cheers for being you, Ari.
Danny Brown´s last blog post..In Case You’re Interested…
Looking to see where your journey takes you next Ari. I’ll be listening, reading and trying to catch up
.
Stuart Foster´s last blog post..Community Blogging @ Scribnia
Hi Ari – I think you give me too much credit but thanks anyway.
It’s an interesting experiment and I hope you post a follow-up article about how this works out for you. Personally, I don’t think I could manage two accounts – well, I know I can’t because I have another one for a different site that is very neglected.
Kim Woodbridge´s last blog post..5 Most Popular (Anti) Social Posts of All Time
This does sound like an interesting experiment. I personally think that there are lots of people using social media similarly – one account for their brand/business, and another for personal use with family and friends, that stays out of the limelight. A followup is definitely warranted.
~ Kristi
Kikolani´s last blog post..Wedding Photos and More at SoulmatesWedding.com
Ari, you are one hundred percent correct. Without experimentation nothing can be learned. I liked the way you channelized your twitter accounts accordingly to your posts and brand. This seems to be quite interesting. If it worked greatly then I think we can apply the whole concept to the entire social networking system. I am sure just like me others are also eager to follow your footsteps. This is just another great post of yours. Do let us know the aftermath.
New from Girish@Car Rental Auckland: Rugby World Cup Car Rentals
Comments on this entry are closed.