I was talking with Marc Meyer yesterday about this post, and the conversation expanded as it often does. And I tweeted this–

@Marc_Meyer: Good thing we don’t have reticent personalities.
about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to Marc_Meyer

–and he replied–

@dariasteigman: Reticence and social media are like oil and water…
about 2 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to dariasteigman

But are they?

I have a good friend who’s very reserved when you first meet him. But once he gets comfortable, he opens up and his personality comes through. He’s on Twitter, but he’s not in his comfort zone yet. So his tweets have this formal, wall-between-you feel, and I haven’t figured out how to help him break through.

It’s no surprise that many of the people I interact with on social networks are naturally conversational. But what happens when you aren’t? Can you teach someone how to open up online?

Photo by TAHANI al oSiMiY (Flickr).

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Have you ever gone through Twitter withdrawal?

I’ve been a bit quiet the last two weeks, and really didn’t mind being mostly offline. But solitude only lasts so long. So I officially re-energized today with what I termed my “social media catch-up morning.”

Friday’s my least productive day for traditional work, so I figured I’d put it to good use digging into my RSS Reader and reengaging with my Twitter community. It’s been a great way to remind myself why I love Twitter:

1. Conversation. Well, duh, you say. But apparently lots of people on Twitter have few followers and talk to even fewer people. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage people.

2. Listening. The Twitterverse is a very organic space, and you can learn a lot about who people are and how they interact by following them for a little while. Many of the people I follow are broadly in the communications world. Yet I know who likes football; who prefers wine, beer, or tequila; and where some of you spent your Xmas break. People are sharing pieces of themselves every day; you just have to be listening. There is also amazing knowledge sharing taking place; I could get lost spending time just following links.

3. Connectedness. We all recognize that Twitter is a great source for breaking news, whether it’s a tragedy (#Mumbai) or a celebration (#inaug09). But it’s also a great resource for reaching out through our expanded networks. I was reminded of this earlier today when Katie Adams sent out a tweet looking for a contact at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. I immediately retweeted it, and it was then retweeted by two more people. Within about 5 minutes, that message had reached about 4,000 people.

4. #followfriday. For the uninitiated, #followfriday is a way for you to give a shout out to people you find interesting, fun, provocative, or otherwise worth getting to know. More than that, it’s a terrific way to make new connections. I’ve met some great people that way, including several just this morning.

My #followfriday list for today included Linda Jacobson, Kim Wells, Marc Meyer, Jeremy Meyers, Charity Hisle, and Adrian Pittman. They make my list for three key reasons: they’re smart, they’re engaging, and they’re authentic.

Which brings me to #5…

5. Authenticity. When you’re conversing in 140 characters, it’s hard to keep your mask on for very long. Twitter’s a great way to filter out the authentic from the disingenuous. It becomes a trust barometer of sorts, a way to jumpstart relationships that may start online but then filter outward and offline.

Have I left anything out? Why do you use Twitter?

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

Whenever I talk about social media, I invariably get asked two questions:

• How do you find the time? [and]
• Is it worth it?

I’ve been thinking about the question of time a lot since reading Marc Meyer’s Let’s Focus post earlier this month. He got me thinking about how I balance my social media engagement with my client work, traditional business development, workouts, family, friends, and the ebbs and flows of daily life.

My social media strategy has been to pick and choose the forums that work best for me. As a result, I’m active on LinkedIn but barely have a placeholder page on Facebook. I try to write at least three blog posts weekly, although my creativity drops when I’m slammed with client work. I started by reading and commenting on a handful of blogs, and have been adding subscriptions into my Google Reader at what some might consider an alarming rate. I try to do most of my blog reading in the late afternoon, leaving my mornings free for more core business activities.

And then there’s Twitter. If I came to the micro-blogging site later than most, I was lucky enough to join the party after the conversation had heated up. I love Twitter for the stream of conversation, the connectedness. I’ve added those I follow gradually, enjoying the ability to recognize their voices and understand the texture of each one’s unique contributions. It’s rare that TweetDeck isn’t running in the background, even if I’m only eavesdropping intermittently during much of the day.

Which brings me to that second question: Is it worth it? If you’re reading this, you probably already know the answer is of course it’s worth it. Social media is important to me because I’m learning each day from smart people like Chris Brogan, Jason Falls, Lee Odden, Geoff Livingston, Ann Handley, and all the others who generously share their insights and challenge us to think about how we, too, can contribute to the conversation.

Perhaps one day I’ll discover a new business partner on Twitter, or someone who finds me on LinkedIn will become my client. But I’ll leave the broader discussion about metrics and ROI to another day. For me, social media’s great value is the ongoing interaction with all of you–my readers, my friends, my colleagues, my peers–and the new conversations yet to begin.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.

I’m constantly amazed by how many of my communications breathren avoid the blogosphere with excuses like “my clients only care about traditional media” or “I don’t have time for that.” Well, you’ll have plenty of time soon enough if you miss out on a business opportunity because you didn’t spot a trend or fail to alert a client to what’s being Twittered and blogged about her company.

The conversation is happening. Are you going to join?

If you’re still waivering, there’s a great post on ReadWriteWeb discussing why more people should be reading blogs at work.

In my next post, I’ll tell you what I’m reading.

©2010 Independent Thinking. All Rights Reserved.