By Phyllis Zimbler Miller
Twitter is about conversation – really. When I first joined Twitter I didn’t understand this concept and had a hard time figuring out how a conversation could take place in the midst of what seemed like controlled chaos.
But just like learning a new language means that at first you do not understand anything and then eventually you catch on to what is being said, you must be patient in order to learn the language of Twitter.
One barrier to having good conversations on Twitter is probably the same inertia that can throw up barriers to whatever we are considering doing: We haven’t done something that way before.
Facebook and LinkedIn are easier to join in the conversation because they both have several “threaded” functions – functions where you see the first statement and then the following responding statements all clumped together.
Yet once you crack the Twitter conversation code, it can be very invigorating to participate in the conversation flow.
Of course, perhaps the most intense conversation experience on Twitter is to take part in a tweetchat – a real-time Twitter conversation on a specific topic. (It does help to be a fast typist.)
If you are relatively new to Twitter and haven’t yet figured out how to take part in the conversation, spend time “watching.” Then, when you are ready, reply to people whose tweets ask questions that you can answer or reply to people’s statements on which you’d like to expand.
© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is co-founder of www.MillerMosaicPowerMarketing.com. Her new
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