You Can Do Your Job Without Twitter

My increased use of social media has helped me grow exponentially in the last year, both professionally and personally. I’ve gained visibility, information and opportunities for collaboration and real live business. I’ve been able to pass referrals more easily (see URL link).

And, I’ve met (online and IRL) some great folks!

Now, Chris, what are YOUR reasons?

Because I am addicted to information. Lots of it.

Chris, ya big tease! The “I know my answers” approach is equally incensing and brilliant.

I blog because I have to get at least some of what’s flying around in my head out in the ether. (Once it’s out, at least it’s got the potential to do, be, or become something else.)

I tweet because I don’t have the time to blog 1/32nd as much as I’d like — and I can handle 140 characters here and there, on a whim, just to have some sense of action or accomplishment.

I throw my face and bio out on social networking sites because I hate to miss a party, and the Virtual Me can be in more than one place at the same time, hanging out with high school cliques, former colleagues, friends, strangers, and associates of all stripes, past ‘n present.

As for why we — the happy, blogging-tweeting-virtual-socializing collective — thrive in this environment, I think it’s for one or more of the following reasons:

-We dig random encounters.
-We’re into arbitrary voyeurism.
-We’ve got a penchant for synchronicity.
-We find it all very ADHD-friendly.
-We live by one of two phrases: 1) “Because I can” and/or 2) “Because it’s there.”

Thanks for engaging us.

Best,
Lani Voivod
Co-owner and Content Lover of Epiphanies, Inc.
http://www.EpiphaniesInc.com
“A-Ha Yourself!”

I do it because it is the only way to do Business Networking in your underwear. (That I am aware of)

@Kyle Lacy – “I don’t think you can build “social capital” without adding in the ego.”

I must disagree a bit – our friend Chris Brogan has succeeded at this partly because of his humble attitude!

And Clay Parker Jones has a great post that mentions the value of humility too: “when was the last time you said, “I hate that guy. He’s so humble”? Never. You wouldn’t say that. Because people like humble people. Humility is part and parcel of putting others first and is absolutely part of what the brand in discussion is all about.” Here: http://exitcreative.net/blog/?p=521

Certainly I could do my job without Twitter; however my job involves “relationship marketing” and Twitter is one way to build a relationship. I find now that I can follow and be followed by friends on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other groups. It’s another way to “run into” friends all over the world.

Like anything else, Twitter is part of the buffet of life, so take what you need from it and let go of the rest.

We’re like the cool kids who were using the brick phones and pagers in 1991.

Of course we can live without twitter and other social networking sites! I think it’s a good thing to get off it once in a while….and to live in the REAL world.

Socializing has taken a less personalized route nowadays. It worries me as we seem to do everything in the virtual world and it takes away the ‘human’ element.

I just hope that we don’t forget how to make friends in real life and starts conversations in face-to-face interactions.

Just my two cents :)

I cannot, in all fairness, manage an online community and wear the title of ME of user-generated content, if I am not a “user” myself. If I want to grow a community and encourage others to engage in social media AND sell my own company on the importance of getting involved and having a presence, I need to understand it. In order to understand it, I need to live it. So, I live it. I can’t help it if it happens to be fun and allows me to meet cool people along the way.

Social media allows us to easily and quickly connect with networks of friends and peers that matter to us most – and to find new ones. The media that transmit and receive information will always change, but as people who need to connect, we will always look for the next best thing to share our interests across our various networks.

Who knows? In 15 years, people will talk about Twitter the way we think of fax machines today. Regardless, the connections will remain.

-Tim Schigel, CEO, ShareThis

Twitter, among other (ok a bunch) of social networking tools, is a part of my personal learning system. I use twitter for a large number of things (see post here http://is.gd/2G9t).
I am sure I could go without my social media learning system but I have found it very helpful to keep me in the know.

Besides, its to much fun to miss out on! ;-)

It’s about relationships.

That’s what business is about, and that’s what life’s about. Trouble is we don’t have the time to support all the relationships we want or even need, which is why a whole raft of tools have arisen to help us.

Back in the day AOL’s big secret was that e-mail and chat were the killer apps, not the content stuff Time Warner added later. Same with SMS in the mobile data business, and now with tools like Twitter online.

Social Networking = Scaled Intimacy. It really boils down to that, IMHO.

Short and sweet we all love to socialize in one area or another. When you work at home there is no “water cooler”. Twitter is the place to go, you can talk about your day, pass on recommendations or just complain if need be and ultimately promote yourself.

I know we could live without these tools. The connection helps when you work from home. It replaces the water cooler banter that you would have if you had a job. Using social media also gives you feedback when you’re working on projects.

Great point. It’s funny, we all band together, but in the “outside world,” most people I meet haven’t a clue what a blog is, let alone Twitter (that’s why I’m looking forward to BlogWorld).

For me it’s about adapting to change. I’m in marketing, so I’m really in internet marketing. Outside of work I’m really reluctant to do much social media bc it’s my day job.

A friend of mine (who owns a 3D/Game-design company) asked me “What’s the point of social media?”. I directed him to your site, and started demonstrating it’s importance.
Networking = opportunity
Social = me not going nuts

That about sums it up for me.

Without twitter i would not have found this blog post, and would not be posting a comment here right now!
1. i use the social web tools for work: keep up with others in my field. Tools like twitter are a “peripheral vision” of sorts.
2. I use the social web tools to pursue interests outside of work.

You are right though, i could probably do both without these tools, but i would spend alot more time on the phone, and alot more time reading through magazines, and alot more money on those magazines, and i still wouldn’t get as much of what i need when i need it.

I think most people here have said it. But I am relatively new to the social media world and am still exploring the opportunities it presents so don’t have a specific business requirement at the moment. I think it’s all about the information as I have learnt so much from following tweets, searching blogs and talking to friends online.

I sat on my hands for this many comments (partially because I had to play Mr. Mom yesterday), but you’ve all come up with some really great thoughts and ideas on why you do what you do with social media.

My answers for myself are that the web has finally enabled tools that extend us in a way that mimics enough of a read of our character that we can do business without the boundaries of time or location, or at least that we can start and extend several of the processes of business this way.

Nothing beats face to face, but the web has brought me an endless supply (so far) of people to meet, interesting opportunities to consider, and ways to work with it all.

This is the web I’ve been waiting for, which means that the future web will hopefully carry on and continue extending the parts I think are useful.

I may be addicted to Social Media. I spend most of my day connecting with people on them and looking for more people to connect to.

And this post made me spend a large part of the day, learning about trackbacks and trying to get them to work. I didn’t quite succeed, I posted on my blog at:

http://www.consciousvibe.co.za/content/how-social-networking-controlling-my-life

and I was hoping it would appear as a ping back or link back, but didn’t (Maybe someone can tell me what I’m doing wrong:)

I agree with Chris as he said in his last comment, this is also the web I’ve been waiting for.

Hey, great posting Chris. Love the comments too. Great stuff.

I’ve looked at this from an attention and participation point of view. Media shapes and influences. Social media shapes and influences, but it includes us. Mainstream media directional. Social media is interactive.

See more in my blog posting http://conem.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/could-i-do-my-job-without-twitter/

I agree,
it’s an opportunity. An opportunity to do things better, than we had done before. It’s an opportunity to use things, that meant only fun for work. It’s an opportunity to open up your mind to feedback of others and to constant change.