7 Potholes Of Twitter
I am a huge Twitter advocate and embrace the beauty of Twitter as a tool to: network, develop relationships, find information, share information, promote your business, promote your brand, make the world smaller, minister to people etc. Although those are all good things… Twitter Is Not All Good!
What I mean by Twitter is not all good is the fact that the tool itself is great; however the element of humans using the tools can create some problems (go figure). Twitter can actually ruin your life if you don’t guard yourself and become aware of the fact that if you choose to drive down the Twitter Highway there are some huge potholes to avoid (I can’t stand potholes, they jack up your car). The potholes on the Twitter can jack up your life. Here are the 7 Potholes Of Twitter. Remember, these potholes Can Ruin Your Life!
- 1. Porn- If you find yourself being intrigued by the revealing Twitter profile pics. and clicking to learn a little bit more, this is a sign of trouble. Next thing you know that click will lead to another click that will lead to you clicking a link of a tweet that looks something like this “Check out this video of me all alone.” This my friends is the first pothole to a road that will ruin your life.
- 2. Secret DM’s- If you are married and find yourself having secret DM conversations with someone of the opposite sex, that my friends is more than a little speed bump. What I mean my secret DM’s, are those seemingly innocent conversations that your spouse doesn’t know about. Always leave your Twitter account stuff accessible to your spouse… I recommend universal passwords for both you and your spouse for all Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and Social Media accounts; in other-words all log-in and passwords are the same. I would extend that same policy for your entire household, you may detour your children from taking a wrong exit. If you find yourself remotely questioning the potential of one of your Twitter conversations or relationships; share the conversation with your spouse and block that person immediately.
- 3. It’s All About Me- Twitter can be a very competitive form of Social Media, as a matter of fact many of the new apps. or infomercial DM’s are relative to ways to increase your followers. Most Twitter users are guilty of checking their number of followers and have a desire to increase our number of followers. It’s important that the desire to increase our numbers or influence doesn’t turn into the “It’s All About Me” syndrome. Don’t be so consumed with your numbers that you get big headed and think you’re the “Big Man” or “Big Woman” on the Twitter campus. Value and respect your followers and appreciate the numbers that you have, because in Twitter World it’s not all about you, it’s all about relationships, authenticity and adding value to the Twitter Community. An easy way to check yourself is to daily recognize that your account, followers and entire Twitter Profile can be deleted with one bug, virus or error. If it’s all about you, let me just say you are one pothole error away from being ruined.
- 4. Time- It can be easy to get sucked into the Twitter time consuming capsule. Ask yourself this question “Do I find my time on Twitter interrupting my productivity time at work or becoming a hindrance to my time with friends, family, spouse… In case you are in denial, naive or oblivious to your time problem; ask the people closest to you, do they see your time on Twitter as a problem? There are many tools to help you with your productivity and potentially help you avoid the Twitter Time pothole. Here is a list of the Top 111 Twitter Tools.
- 5. Multiple Personality Disorder- Unfortunately in an online world people can develop a “Twitter Personality” that is different from their offline personality. This is a hard road to travel because you can find yourself expending energy and fueling the Twitter Personality that’s not the real you. These personalities begin to compete with one another and trouble is on the way. Ask yourself this question “Is my Twitter Personality the real me?” Be yourself and don’t get caught up in the fake Multiple Personality Disorder Game… It will ruin the real you!
- 6. Envy- If you find yourself full of Envy, as it relates to the influence that other Twitterers have then your next exit is the road of bitterness. Many times it’s the subtle statements, thoughts or comments that communicate your heart is beginning to fill with Envy. Comments like “I Can’t believe so and so has that many followers” or “Why do people follow them and they tweet the stupidest things” or “There is no way they should have that much influence” or you start referring to @guykawasaki as @girlkawasaki. You should encourage and celebrate others in the TwitterWorld who have been blessed with influence. Envy is the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius, hard-work and success… it holds you hostage. Here is a 3 min. video that I shot dealing with Envy.
- 7. CopyCat- Don’t simply copy what others in the TwitterWorld are doing, Be Yourself. Do You! It’s A Statement… Not A Question!
Share your thoughts on any of the 7 Potholes Of Twitter or add some additional to the list.
