Follow Friday: Twitter Blogs Worth Reading

Micro-blogging is the latest way to express yourself. I’ve read it a dozen times this week. But when I got to Twitter (and I Tweet) what I see is not micro-blogging, it’s a lot of self-promotion—micro-flogging more than micro-blogging. I’m for that. You can’t express a full concept in 140 characters, although you can do a good job of teasing an article, sending along a quote, and posting an idea.

Online, then and now

On Twitter, Fridays are the days you praise the people you like and hope that others will follow them (put them on their list of people whose comments you want to read regularly). It’s called Follow Friday.

Because Twitter allows no more than 140 characters, it’s hard to tell people why you are recommending someone.

So this week, I’ve moved my #FollowFriday to my blog. Here are some recommendations of blogs that are consistently well written and well thought-out:

Maria Schneider , or on Twitter, @mariaschneider explains about  #fridayflash on her blog today. Maria explains a community of fiction writers who all write at least one piece of fiction a week, post it on Friday, then let others know. Sure it builds readers, but even better, it builds writing muscle and self-confidence. It’s one of the few times I’ve wished I were a fiction writer, but I’m non-fiction. We build writing muscle and self-confidence other ways.

Maria  helps us, too, because she shares useful information: Here are 25 people to follow if you are a freelancer.

Here are 25 more people to follow if you are a writer who needs to figure out the ropes to make a book come together.

Ken Robert is Mildly Creative. I’ve recommended him often, because his writing is damn good. In this article, he tackles the spiky topic of what to say when people ask you to remove something from your blog because they don’t like it. I had that happen last year, and the consequences were pretty drastic for me when I refused. So I caved. I still feel ambivalent, because I caved and got the retribution anyway.

Here’s the quote from his blog post “Blogging on Eggshells.”

Please understand, it’s not my intention to offend anyone, but this is a blog about living a creative life. If I start removing anything that bugs someone, it’s tantamount to me telling you to unleash your creativity, to be authentic, and to freely express yourself as long as it doesn’t upset anyone. Goodbye, Inspiration. Hello, Puritanism.

He’s right. I’m proud of him. I wish I’d said that. Follow Mildly Creative on Twitter.

Other people worth following: Diana Adams of Adamsconsulting is a literate geek. She could bore you to tears, but she never does. Her posts are thoughtful, informative and interesting. Her website needs flash to view, but it’s graphically well-done, and her marketing makes you feel smart. All marketing should do that. Follow Adamsconsulting on Twitter.

BeCreative2Day browses creative sites so you don’t have to. And you want to follow her recommendations. Here’s an example, unique matchbook designs.  Read BeCreative2Day’s  (Cory Fausz) blog, too. The photos alone are worth it.

CopyBlogger  (Brian Clark) helps you market online. In a way that doesn’t make you want to take a shower afterwards. And he allows himself to be 3-dimentional on both his blog and on Twitter.

Alyson B. Stanfied is @abstanfield on Twitter. If you are a freelance artist interested in learning business skills, you should read her blog. Following her on Twitter is also a good idea.

Ali Turnbull is Fit to Print. You will find her links reliable, and if you are a writer, necessary. If you want to expand your general knowledge and have fun at the same time, follow FitToPrint on Twitter. Here’s why she wants to delete the word “try” from the English language.

Paul Sloane’s blog today demos why corporate brainstorming doesn’t work.
Follow Paul and his lateral thinking skills on Twitter.

Want to know more interesting people to follow? Drop by any site above and see who they follow. Smart people follow other smart people.

—Quinn McDonald is a life- and certified creativity coach. She teaches people how to write and give presentations. She also  manages four journals that travel the world. You can follow me on Twitter, too.

Image: ths.gardenweb.com

The Hyping of Twitter

Twitter is a social networking platform. Notice the word “social,” and that it precedes “networking.” Recently I’ve seen a lot of articles on  the relevancy of Twitter, how to make money on Twitter, how to judge your product marketing on Twitter, how to use those 140 characters for Search Engine Optimization, and how to be a “viral Twitter expert.”

Sign posted on Jayzooz (J. Campbell)'s website

Quit trying to make Twitter into a hyper-relevant marketing tool worth controlling, managing and becoming the major part of your business plan. Twitter is not going to make you sales because you want it to, no matter how often you Re-Tweet your own posts under another name.

Are we a culture so obsessed with consumerism that we can not, for one minute, have fun? Does every mild social chat have to have a business plan?

Please, for the gullible among you–no one can “make” your tweet, blog, or YouTube video “go viral.” It’s a phenomenon that happens when a lot of people like the same thing and pass it around. So far, it can’t be planned or forced. Don’t believe people who tell you they are so in touch with the zeitgeist that they control how “viral” works.

Even the Twitterati are obsessed. I don’t mean the “internet marketing experts” who follow you and when you click on their sites to see who they are, immediately send you a “free” link that demands registration and giving up personal information. No, I mean seemingly normal people on Twitter who are focused on getting 1,000 or 10,000 followers.

If you don’t know Twitter, you can’t possibly sensibly read that many posts, even with the Twitter dashboard to organize it for you. This is the virtual equivalent of crazy cat ladies collecting 47 cats and not neutering them.

Gathering a huge list of followers may be an ego thing, it could be an obsessive action of people who have no life, but I really think it is triggered by the part of our brain that is senselessly competitive. You know, the part that doesn’t want to win because they have trained and practiced, but rather the one that wants to win to make someone else lose. It’s the same part of your brain that tells you watching “The Real Housewives of [fill in some city here]” is culturally important.

The kids who fanatically collected Beanie Babies grew up and are now collecting “Follows” on Twitter and “Friends” on Facebook. It’s a game. It is not about knowing people or caring about them. It’s about numbers.

Shortly, these people will become your boss and raise your sales goals. If you are a writer, they will raise your words-per-hour, but insist you make all your emails no more than 140 characters long.

So all you analysts our there–stop trying to figure out how to make money from Twitter. Stop calling yourself an SEO expert and Web 2.0 marketing expert just because you spend 21 hours a day on Twitter and consider it your social life.

Some things in life are just better for being uncomplicated. Twitter is like standing in line in a supermarket. A slice of life passes you by, mentioning things. The guy in the net undershirt and inked arm-sleeves walks by, flexing to be admired. The cute chick in the Daisy Dukes walks by, working it hard for raised eyebrows. A couple holding coffee cups and a basket of  whole grain discusses locovore diets and slow food. A mom explains why the sugary cereals are at kids-eye-level to her 10-year old. Snatches of conversation, posing, preening, explaining, helping, all flow by. It’s not a whole life, but it can be interesting. It’s fun, it’s fast, it’s short and it’s a form of communicating that doesn’t allow for background, details, or much analyzing.

Let’s not try to frame it as an intellectual pursuit or a brilliant marketing tool. Social networking is not really any of that. The people posting a good read or a good lunch are just documenting their life as a form of communication. Let’s not become the snake-oil shil at the travelling circus and claim it’s a cure-all for the new economy. The economy collapsed because of greed, because we built one bubble after the next. The economy needs meaningful communication, problem solving skills, creativity and imagination. Maybe we can overhear snatches of information on Twitter, but it’s not the answer all by itself.

--Quinn McDonald is a writer and creativity coach who teaches people how to write for business and for themselves.