How to Tweet Like a Human

This week, I saw interesting tweet from an economic developer. This ED professional had greeted his new follower by saying “thanks for following. If you are thinking about moving to XXX, we’d love to have you.”

While this seems like a nice enough tweet on first glance, if you think of it from the follower’s perspective, it is actually very strange.

You see, the follower had not indicated in any way that he would be moving to that location and had not communicated at all with the ED professional. He had just pushed the follow button and been bombarded with an assumption.

Here’s one problem: Twitter (among other social networks) isn’t a billboard. It’s more like a networking event (social networking…see?). And you wouldn’t go up to someone at a networking event and say “Hey! Thanks for coming. If you are here to do business with me, I’m all for it!” It’s awkward and salesy. Instead, you’d introduce yourself, ask the person about themselves, begin a sort of wooing process, see if there were ways for you to partner, etc.

So, what’s happened? Why do we not think of Twitter as a networking event, a personal conversation, a social tool? Perhaps because of all the buzz words and the hype. Buzz words that started out meaning something and now are so overused that they no longer mean anything. A few examples:

It’s Social Networking!
We’ve heard the phrase social networking so often that we forget that both those words have meaning. Being social is being conversational, being around people, connecting with them. Networking is connecting, partnering or joining together for a common purpose. Yet, instead, we use social networks like they’re a diary or a billboard—something completely about us and not about connection.

It’s a conversation!
How many times have you heard the word conversation in connection with social media? A lot, right? So much so that we stop listening.

Sure, we’re still talking to people. Sure, we’re still conversing. But it’s one-sided. We’re telling people things they didn’t ask about and don’t want to know. We’re responding to our own assumptions instead of asking why they followed us and what we can do for them.

So, what to do? Instead of tweeting (or blogging, or posting to Facebook, or adding a page to your website) based entirely on what your internal goals are, take a minute to listen. Users don’t follow you because they want to contribute to your personal goals (unless, of course, they’re your mom). They follow you because they think you have something of value to add to them. Their personal goals. Or professional goals. Or general happiness. Or clout.

It’s time to do things differently. Social media is social. It’s a conversation. It’s networking. So, treat it as such. Here are a few ways to start:

1. Listen first. If someone asks a question, answer it. Don’t answer the question you wish they would ask; answer the one they actually asked.

2. Be human. Respond to people. Connect with them. Care about them. No one develops brand loyalty for a spam bot.

3. Realize what stage in the relationship you’re at. You can say different things (in different tones) to long-time followers than you can to new followers. Just like at a networking event: if it’s your first meeting, you’ll proceed differently than if you’ve just run into an old friend, old flame, old boss or current boyfriend. All of these circumstances demand different interaction. And the online world is not any different.

Okay, go forth and be human, Tweeters.