Late-night DMs with a Self-Proclaimed Twitter Newbie

Wrapping up my digital ablutions one recent evening, I received the following direct message from a self-proclaimed Twitter newbie.

{New to Twitter} (Handle omitted)
I'm fairly new to Twitter and am trying to figure out the benefit of tweeting every few minutes. Help me out? 12most.com/2011/08/31/12-…
31 Aug at 21:48


I didn’t think much of it and was about to move on from the myriad static that nightly fills my inbox when I was struck by what probably should have been immediately obvious… The reference to tweeting every few minutes was apparently directed at me?!

Needless to say—immediately and irrevocably energized—I had to, at the very least, see who had ventured to, so impudently, tread on my insanity.

Indeed, my newfound “friend” was, by all appearances, new to twitter.

87
Tweets

25
Following

21
Followers

2
Listed

And so, in a tweaked, all night coding-like theta-state with best intentions, my reply began…


TOGOMedia
{New to Twitter}, TY for your comment and I had previously read your post. IMHO effective tweet frequency is related to the no. of people you follow.
31 Aug at 23:51


TOGOMedia
What may seem like many tweets to you (following <50) may not seem like many to someone following >1000.
31 Aug at 23:53


TOGOMedia
Personally, I follow more than 8000 tweets/hr. or ~200,000/day as do many if not most of my followers.
31 Aug at 23:55


TOGOMedia
For most of my followers, therefore, I tweet approximately 1 time for every 100 tweets they receive in their timeline. It's all relative.
31 Aug at 23:59


TOGOMedia
I apologize if this is a bit overwhelming at first. I appreciate your post and agree with much of what you wrote. :-)
1 Sep at 00:00


{New to Twitter}
You're the 2nd guy today to tell me that, if I follow thousands of people, somehow I won't be annoyed by tweets from them every few seconds.
1 Sep at 00:08


{New to Twitter}
This is not sharing of valuable info, it's some kind of big circle jerk. I'm out. Don't need the game. Have actual work to do.
1 Sep at 00:09


TOGOMedia
Kim, I'm sorry you feel this information isn't valuable. You, yourself, indicated you were new to Twitter. Perhaps, you should not judge so.
1 Sep at 00:17


TOGOMedia
Also, & pls take this the right way, using language like "circle jerk" with someone you do not know in a DM is really not professional IMHO.
1 Sep at 00:19


{New to Twitter}
Just trying to figure out how following thousands of people who tweet multiple times a day, filling my Twitter feed with messages...
1 Sep at 00:21


{New to Twitter}
...some of which I am supposed to actually read, is manageable/beneficial. I'm a newbie, so you tell me how this is helpful.
1 Sep at 00:22


{New to Twitter}
Excuse me... I should have said a huge, time-wasting game created for people to amuse themselves in front of each other.
1 Sep at 00:23


TOGOMedia
Glad to. :-) You must use tools (many available) and Lists (Twitter feature) to group tweets so that you can utilize them effectively.
1 Sep at 00:24


TOGOMedia
I disagree. Twitter is an extremely powerful marketing engine with a significant learning curve.
1 Sep at 00:26


TOGOMedia
Twitter also allows for real-time relationship management with clients/customers in a way that no other medium, that I know, can.
1 Sep at 00:27


{New to Twitter}
So, I need to follow thousands of people and arrange them in such a way that I don't have to actually interact with them. Awesome.
1 Sep at 00:28


TOGOMedia
Again, I don't think it is appropriate to judge so early in your Twitter experience. Here is a good place to start: http://t.co/DmxHdNx
1 Sep at 00:31


TOGOMedia
As with all customers, some are more important to interact with than others. You must identify which are the most critical to respond to
1 Sep at 00:32


TOGOMedia
i.e. The ones that have a timely problem, question or issue, then, take action to help.
1 Sep at 00:33


TOGOMedia
Or, Twitter can be an outbound sounding board for news and information on a specific expertise such as yours—marketing.
1 Sep at 00:34


TOGOMedia
You "follow thousands of people and arrange them in such a way that" you know who to interact with. I guess the glass is half empty. ;-)
1 Sep at 00:36


That was it. I have not heard from our friend, {New to Twitter}, since that faithful evening but certainly hold no ill will. I continue, however, to wonder in amazement from where such disdain for the unknown is dredged.

I cannot help but recall the words of John Cage who said, “I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.”

While I do live in desperate fear of a few old ideas, I believe, as with so many ideals, we survive on a balance of the old and new—kept safe by the tried and true, effective by the nervy and new.

In the end, finding that balance… that’s really what I do.

Mark
TOGO Media
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