Scott Porad

Recently, I have started using Chrome as my regular browser.  When it was released originally, I used it as my default browser, but then I switched computers and got in the habit of using other browsers.

One of the things that I’ve really come to like about Chrome is the address bar.  Unlike IE, Safari or Firefox, Chrome doesn’t have a separate search box—if you want to search, you just type directly into the Address Box.

This is a huge usability improvement.  As a user, when I want to find something in my browser I don’t have to think about where I want to go—Address Box or Search Box—I just start typing.  It’s like Chrome has turned the Address Box into a command line.

With that in mind, I thought, “What else could I do from this command line?  I wonder if I could send a status update to Twitter?”  And, the answer is yes, I can!

In Chrome, this is done by adding a Search Engine, although we’re not really searching…we’re populating the Twitter status update field.  (Click here for instructions on how to add a search engine.)  Here’s how you do it:

• Click the Wrench
• Click Options or Preferences
• Click Basics tab
• Click Manage (which is next to Default Search)
• Click Add
• Enter the following values:
  • Name: Twitter Status Update
  • Keyword: tweet
  • URL: http://twitter.com/home?status=%s
• Click OK and close out of all the dialog windows

Now, here’s how it works: simply type “tweet” then a space and your status update, like so:

then press enter, and Chrome will load Twitter in your browser with your status message.  To complete the update without having to take your hands off the keyboard, simply press Tab and then press Enter or Return.

Suddenly, Chrome has become even more usable because through “Search Engines” I can use the Address Box as a command line for any web page that uses a single querystring parameter.

UPDATE: This same thing can be done in Firefox by adding a “keyword” to a bookmark.  I bet it could be done in IE and Safari too, but I have not tried.

I basically have one thing in mind when I use Twitter:

Listen to what people are saying, so I can help them out if I am able.

Actually, I suppose I have that in mind all the time.  But, it comes to the forefront when using Twitter because the tools (i.e. the different Twitter clients and applications) are still so embryonic, and often make it so difficult.

The introduction of Twitter Lists is a major step forward, in my point of view.  Lists allow me to create different listening contexts which reduces noise.  In other words, when I am listening to my “friends” that’s different than listening to “social media opinion leaders”.

That being said, at the moment there are a few features that would make Twitter immensely more useful to me.  I’ve listed them below in order of priority.

Feature Request #1: Follower Stream

At present, the basic usage model for every single Twitter application is to show the tweet stream of the people I follow.  That is, it shows my followee stream.

However, the means for listening to my followers are really limited.  I can either follow them all back (which I don’t want to do…because they might not be someone I want to follow), or I can very manually listen to their tweets by viewing each of their Twitter pages individually.

What I would like is an app that shows the stream of the people who follow me—my follower stream.

As far as I’m concerned, I feel like this is a major deficiency in the clients available.  If any client—twitter.com or otherwise—introduced this feature, then that app would instantly become my client of choice and I would most likely become it’s loudest evangelist.*

Feature Request #2: Question Filter

I take a lot of pleasure in helping people out, especially by answering their questions.  I think it it would be awesome if there were a Twitter app that showed me a stream of the questions that both my followees and followers asked.  In addition to just looking for question marks, the filter would have to look for key phrases as well.

(Someone suggested using Twitter Search for this, but that doesn’t work because I want to search only the tweets from my followers.)

Feature Request #3: @reply filter

When looking at another users Twitter page, e.g. http://twitter.com/<username>, I want a checkbox that filters out any @replies.

Why do I want this?  When I’m perusing someone’s tweet stream, I’d like to quickly be able see the things they said “out loud”, as opposed to the things they said “to someone”.

Feature Request #4: Increase the DM Character Limit

Why are DMs limited to 140 characters?  In my view, this is just silly.  There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to send someone with whom I have a mutual following relationship a message longer than 140 characters.  At present with the limit, at some point the conversation just ends up moving to e-mail which is inconvenient.

Feature Request: Yours??

Those are the things I’d like to see from a Twitter app.  What would you like to see?  Please, leave  your ideas in the comments.

* – I favor web-based apps over desktop clients.  I use many computers, and I don’t want to have to install something on each of them.  In fact, lots of times I’m using computers that don’t even belong to me, so by having everything on the web, I can sit down at any computer, anywhere and instantly have the tools I need.

Below is my presentation (very brief…sadly, my time was cut short) at #140conf LA about Seven Things that Influence Whether or Not I Engage With You on Twitter (including a bonus 8th item from Robert Scoble!)

Drew Olanoff has cancer.  You can visit BlameDrewsCancer.com to learn more about Drew.

In addition to cancer, Drew also has the username @drew on Twitter.  To raise money for Livestrong, he decided to auction off the username @drew figuring that some wealthy person named “Drew” would want to buy it.

To make a long story short, here’s what happened: Drew Carey said that he would buy the name for $100k.  Then, he said that he would donate $1 to Livestrong for every person that followed him on Twitter by the end of the year…up to $1 million.

The video below from Drew and Drew tells the whole story, but in the meantime here’s what you can and others can do:

1. If you’re not already signed up for Twitter, go to http://twitter.com and sign up.
2. Then, go to http://twitter.com/drewfromtv and click the “Follow” button at the top of the page.
3. You’re done!  Drew Carey will donate a $1 to Livestrong for your efforts.

It’s just that easy…so easy, in fact, that you might want to tell all of your friends.

It drives me batty when people explain that Twitter is like Facebook except only the status updates.  That is such a hideous explanation.

Yes, that is true, but one giant difference is that Twitter messages are completely out in the open whereas Facebook status updates are a) only shared with friends, and b) imprisoned within the walls of Facebook.

Along those lines, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the actual words “social media”.  What is social media?  What do those words mean?  Let’s break it down:

• The word “social” talks about the relationship or connection between people and/or groups of people.
• The word “media” is the plural of “medium” which is the means by which something is transmitted.

In our lexicon, we think of media as transmitting content.  So, in sum, “social media” is a form of content transmission that occurs between people.

Think about the implications of that for a second…social media is putting the power of transmission in the hands of the people.  That’s a very powerful idea.

So, lets go back to my original point: in some sense both Twitter and Facebook are social media because it is person-to-person transmission of content.  However, I would argue that Twitter is a more pure social media because the content is transmitted openly…to all of society.

I spend a lot of time focusing on the people who follow me on Twitter.  They’ve given me the gift of their attention, so it would be disrespectful to do otherwise.

Everyday, at least once, I peruse my new followers to see who they are, and to engage a bit with each of them.  Below are a few observations about that, and some tips on what might cause someone like me to engage more with someone like you.

1.  Twitter is social which by definition means it’s about human interaction.  If you don’t look like a human, it’s unlikely I’m going to feel compelled to interact with you.

• Your avatar should be a picture of YOU.  Not your company icon or some random photo.
• Preferably, your Twitter username should be YOUR name, or a nickname, as opposed to your company name or something generic.
• At least ONE of these these things need to be about YOU.  Let me show you some examples:

GOOD:

GOOD:

GOOD:

BAD:

From these, I know at least one thing personal about @micah, @davemcclure and @pistachio.  But, I’m not sure who this person @breakingnoose is, so as a result I’m not really inclined to try to engage with them.

2.  Along those lines, let’s talk about your bio:

• Use your real name, or at least pseudonym.  If you don’t want everyone to know you’re Samuel Clemens, then go by Mark Twain.  But, remember, Mark Twain was Mark Twain to everyone…he was the person, just using a different name.
• This is especially important if your Twitter username isn’t your name, or at least a human name.  For example, @pistachio puts her real name in her bio.
• In your bio, you MUST have a link to a web page. Ideally, it would be a web page about you–a blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Profile, etc.  A company is okay too…just something that is going to tell me something more about you.  If there is no link, then my engag-o-meter sinks quickly.
• As far as your actual bio text goes, I don’t pay that close of attention, although I prefer a sentence as oppose to a listing of buzzwords.  “Social media marketing productivity coach guru ninja rockstar,” is pretty bogus and you know it too.  Be authentic.

GOOD:

BAD:

3.  Say something.  I’m more inclined to respond to someone who tweets their thoughts as opposed to simply retweets what other people say.  This is not a strict rule.  Retweeting does give me some insight into who you respect and what thoughts you value.  Same goes for people who tweet quotes and links.  However, just like in real life, people who don’t occasionally have an original thought aren’t very interesting.  Again, make it personal and human.

4.  By looking at a) one page of tweets, b) your bio, and c) your background image I can tell if you use Twitter to engage with others or simply to promote yourself.  I’ve written before how the fact that Twitter is yet another broadcast medium isn’t very interesting to me.  What makes Twitter transformational is the two-way conversation that it enables, and I find people who use it that way interesting.

5.  Speaking of background images, to me this is one of the easiest ways to tell if you’re a self-promoter.  If you have spent a lot of time making a beautiful background that promotes all your virtues then I feel like you’re in it more for you and less for the community.

6.  Tweet reguarly.  If you only tweet once ever few weeks or months, that tells me you’re not really engaged with the community.  Now, that’s completely fair because you may be a listener.  But, if you are only a listener, then you’re also a lurker and that’s sort of creepy.  To a degree, you have to be part of the conversation.

7.  Unlock your profile.  If your tweets are protected, it’s really hard to engage with you.  If you link your bio to a web page about you, then it gets easier, but lots of times people who protect their tweets don’t do that.  That just sends me a message that says, “I’m not interested in letting you know me,” which is fine, but understand the implications of that.

Are any of these hard-and-fast rules?  No.  But, as I participate in the community, these are things that I’ve noticed influence whether or not I engage with you.

For awhile now, I’ve felt like there is a problem when someone follows me on Twitter.  The act of their follow is a tremendous compliment, but it’s too easy for that compliment to go unacknowledged.  I felt like I wanted a way to acknowledge their follow genuinely.

In addition to somehow expressing my gratitude for their follow in a genuine way, I wanted to get to know the person a bit too.  If I were at a cocktail party, and a circle of people were standing around listening to what I was saying, I would introduce myself and ask their name.  Why should it be any different in the giant online cocktail party known as Twitter?

Many people acknowledge a follow with an auto-DM response.  And, many, many people think this is lame.  I considered using an auto-DM response to a follow with my contact information, along these lines:

Thanks for following me.  If you ever want to get in touch, you can reach me at http://scottporad.com/contact

but I decided that was cheezy.  Plus, if they really wanted to contact me, it isn’t all that hard to do so through Twitter.  And, that didn’t really tell me anything about them at all…it just told them more about me.

For about the last week, I’ve been trying something new, and it’s been working well, so I’d like to share with you:

• A few times a day I visit my follower list
• For each new person follows me, I click to view their tweet stream.
• I read a page or two of tweets.
• I may follow a link if they’ve shared one.
• And, if I find something that is interesting or engaging I respond.
• However, I don’t say “thanks for the follow”…I’m not responding as a thanks for their follow.  I’m responding because they’ve said something that has engaged me.
• Sometimes these responses lead to conversations, sometimes they don’t.

I have to tell you, this feels really good.  I feel like I’m developing a real, genuine rapport with people who were kind enough to follow me, and I feel like I’m getting to know them a little too.

I’ve been enjoying it so much, that I’ve been thinking of building a special tool that will make the process more efficient.  Twitter doesn’t really have smooth UX for this type of thing, so a single-task tool could help.  I thought it would be fun as a project to learn how to use Google App Engine, but I don’t really have the time right now.  If you’re interested in building something like this, send me a note and I’ll share my idea with you in more detail.

In response to my post yesterday on How to Get More Followers on Twitter, Kevin Dugin tweeted this my direction:

I had never thought of it that way, but that’s just about exactly how I use Twitter.

I start each day by looking at my mentions, and replying to anybody who has effectively sent me a note.

Then, I browse my stream and if anybody I follow has said something for which I have an interesting response, then I’ll send them a reply.  I might also do a little re-tweeting if I like what someone has said.

Next, I tend to check in with my RSS reader, and if I read something moving, I may tweet a link to it.

And, finally, when I write a blog post or tumble something, then I do a little self-promotion.

(Done in moderation, I think self-promotion is acceptable.  I’ve noticed recently that all some of the people I follow do is promote their own stuff.  I don’t think I like that very much.)

That being said, I think The Law of Thirds is a good rule of thumb for being a good citizen of the Twitter community and will result in a growing set of followers.

Yesterday, I listened in on the Chris Brogan and Peter Shankman confernece call, aka. #broman.

At one point, a caller asked the question, (paraphrasing) “for a newbie to Twitter, how do I grow the number of followers I have?”

Peter answered by saying “tweet interesting things”.  His position was that by tweeting interesting things, people will want to follow you because you have something interesting to say that is worth giving some attention.

In my view, that isn’t the right approach.  First, if you’re a complete newbie with no followers, then you’re just tweeting into an ocean of emptiness.  As they say, if a tree falls in the forest…

Second, the whole point of social media is that it’s a two-way conversation.  To simply get up there on this new soapbox called Twitter and start broadcasting is counter-intuitive to me.

In my experience, the best way to get more followers on Twitter is to start interacting with people that you follow.  Talk to them.  Respond to their tweets.

When they tweet “Good Morning”, then tweet “Good Morning” back to them.

When they ask a question, reply with an answer (if you have it).

When they make a statement, respond with your thoughts (if they’re genuine).

In other words, be a freaking human being and treat the other people on Twitter like humans.  Treat your followers like real people, not like numbers.

By doing that, you will be creating real social connections which are far more valuable than a gajillion followers.

You should sign up for my RSS feed which you can do by clicking here. Subscribing to my RSS feed will save you time by pushing my blog directly to you, and ensure that you don’t miss anything important.

I disagree with Steve Gillmor’s recent essay, Rest in Peace, RSS, that declares RSS is dead.  There, I said it.

Now, it’s scary to say that because Steve Gillmor is a legendary tech journalist whom I respect tremendously.  For me to even assume that I know 1/10th of what Steve Gillmore knows in his pinky finger is audacious.  Nonetheless, I think he misses the mark.

To summarize, Steve says that he’s completely abandoned his RSS Reader (Google Reader) and now gets his information entirely from Twitter.  In short, this is the money line:

Twitter, not RSS, became the early warning system for new content.

Well, yes, that is correct: Twitter is currently the best early warning system for new content.  Once upon a time, RSS played that role, but Twitter is faster at getting it out there now.

However, in my view, to say that RSS is dead is misunderstanding the inherent value of RSS.  First, with RSS I don’t miss anything because it’s all there in my reader.  With Twitter, if a tweet with a link to a blog post flows by while I’m out of town, then I’ve missed it.  Second, Twitter doesn’t push actual content, it pushes headlines and sound-bites.

In my mind, here’s the analogy: Twitter is to RSS as the newspaper is to news magazines.  In other words, Twitter is to RSS as The New York Times is to The New Yorker.[1] I subscribe to both (seriously), but value them for different reasons.  I will miss a story or two (or two hundred!) unless I read the NYT religiously every day, and the stories will become dated.  On the other hand, I pretty much catch every story in The New Yorker and they are far less perishable.

All that being said, Steve is right that RSS is no longer the early warning system for new content.  However, that doesn’t mean you should abandon RSS–not all content is about immediacy.

RSS and Twitter are just tools for consuming information, and what’s important is to use those tools appropriately.  In fact, I think you will be making a mistake if you do abandon RSS because there is plenty of great information that is just as valuable tomorrow as it was today.

You should sign up for my RSS feed which you can do by clicking here.  Subscribing to my RSS feed will save you time by pushing my blog directly to you, and ensure that you don’t miss anything important.

[1] – Perhaps a more apt analogy would be that Twitter is to RSS as network TV evening news is to The New Yorker