I started experimenting with Twitter on March 6, 2007 (I am @davidleeking on Twitter), and I have just posted my 5000th tweet! What’s that gotten me, exactly? Actually quite a few things, including friends, connections to people, and some actual work, too.
First for some normal stat type things. Right now, I have:
- 3198 followers
- been included on 250 lists (mostly on librarian, kansas, rockstar, and social media lists)
- created 4 lists of my own (that 20 people follow)
- compiled a huge list of favorites
- Also compiled 417 DMs that I need to delete but haven’t yet – most are other Twitter followers, saying something like “thanks for the follow, please click here”
But some are more relevant, like working out details of conferences I helped plan or some more personal conversations that didn’t need to be broadcast.
But how about those connections? Twitter isn’t about stats – it’s all about connecting with people. How has that looked over those 5000 tweets?
I have made some new friends through Twitter, and have kept up connections to people that I’ve met once or twice (like @shelitwits or @ifroggy).
Twitter has also given me connections to some smart “popular” people that I follow elsewhere, and normally wouldn’t have direct access to. People like Chris Brogan, Beth Kanter, and Kathy Sierra. They sometimes reply to my tweets – and in this way, Twitter has leveled out the playing field a bit. For the most part, people I want to talk to are a reply away.
I am also connected to lots of friends and colleagues, librarians, local friends and acquaintances, and other people sharing my love of social media tools.
That “actual work” thing. I have done real work that is connected to Twitter. Work that includes:
- Overseeing three work-related Twitter accounts
- Creating some goals for our primary library twitter account
- I have written and spoken about Twitter. I have given at least three presentations on Twitter, and have written about Twitter in my book and in more than one magazine article.
- When I have a work-related question? I sometimes go to Twitter first, and get quick, useful responses within minutes.
- I use Twitter at conferences for discussion, committee planning, and (of course) dinner planning!
- Remember when my library went through that book challenge last year? I tweeted the public meetings, and even “Twitter trended.”
Other general silliness, from TweetStats:
- I generally tweet in the mornings and late afternoons
- I tweeted the most during the library’s book challenge about 1 year ago
- I average 6.1 tweets a day
- I use Tweetdeck a lot
- I have had 21 twooshes (a 140-character tweet, according to Tweetstats)!
So … looking back, has it been a useful 5000 tweets? I think so. I have made some friends via twitter. I have talked to people about projects, worked through ALA stuff, and shared things that interested me. I have shared jokes, sent links to my blog posts … and had fun.
p.s. – did you know that people tweet about their 5000th tweet? I sure didn’t… !
{ 3 comments }
