I started using twitter in September of last year, and I intuitively followed everyone back who followed me. This seemed polite, and as a new user, I knew that I was appreciating every follower.

Once some of the Twitter big shots linked to me, I gained several hundred additional followers quickly, and I dutifully followed all of the non-spammers back in return.

I Was Doing It Wrong

Once I was following around 900 people, the signal-to-noise ratio had taken a turn for the worse. I didn’t recognize anyone, most of the tweets weren’t relevant to my interests, and the sheer volume was obnoxious.

Mixed into that crowd were some people I wanted to get to know, but it was a challenge to try to keep tabs on them. I used TweetDeck to create some smaller, more selective groups, but that workaround was limited.

The benefits of Twitter as an easy way to connect to people were lost because there were too many people too fast.

How I’m Doing Twitter Now

Having come to the realization that I needed a smaller-scale approach to Twitter, I began unfollowing people, striving to trim down to only a couple hundred people. I did this despite knowing that some would have their feelings hurt, and I don’t like hurting anyone.

Most of these people are great, and I’ve exchanged messages with more than a few of them. Understand that there’s nothing personal in that decision; it’s just a question of how relevant your updates are to me. Note–I did not say how relevant you are to me.

To Follow Or Not

Whether or not I follow someone is often a matter of whim. If the person’s tweets are just the right kind of funny to me, if we have something interesting in common, or if their updates strike me as particularly compelling, I may follow.

If there are too many updates or I discover that I was mistaken about our common ground, I might unfollow.

In the end, it was a question of too much too fast. I may get back to 900 people at some point only more slowly and in the future. For now, I’ll almost always respond when someone talks to me with an @reply, because while it may be that not everything you say is relevant, that doesn’t mean that nothing you have to say is. And my email is in plain sight for anyone who wants to connect that way too.

Make sense? Nothing personal at all, and if you need anything, just @ me.

1. Accessible from everywhere (in the cloud)
2. Infinite space with no clutter
3. Bookmark things according to tags so it’s all searchable
4. Ability to share bookmarks and have them shared in return with select people
5. Be able to point clients/peers/friends/family to an entire category of your bookmarks as a resource (ie. blogging basics or grammar tips or networking or whatever)
6. They now are at delicious.com rather than del.icio.us which was just too cumbersome

I’m no power-user, but I am a user now, and that’s why. This post is in response to Karen’s request that I convince her to give it a chance. Karen, by the way, is a Twitter friend (@wisekaren). Twitter skeptics, you’re on notice.

The first time your boss comes into your office and gives you grief because it looks like you only did 7 hours of work yesterday, you’re going to make sure that never happens again.

And then, suddenly, behold, the timesheets show everyone working 12 hour days, and all the data in the timesheets becomes instantly bogus….because you’re feeding it data that is meant to get your boss to stop bugging you, not accurate data.

This probably also has some application for those of us who pay attention to our metrics on blogs or Twitter or anywhere else, really.  Do you really want comments and followers, or do you want readers and engagement?

****UPDATE****

This cartoon nicely shows the flip side of the coin. Conveniently ignoring metrics altogether is a bad idea as well.

This is a screen shot showing the keywords people have searched recently to arrive at my blog (click to see a larger version). At this rate, I should be showing up on lexusponies.alltop.com any day now.

Usually, they rub me the wrong way, but this one is almost offensive.

I’m pretty sure that getting a pony as a child is some sort of archetype for being a spoiled brat. But ON TOP OF THAT, Lexus decides to throw in a heap of “rub-it-in-her-face” with the little girl next door.

“Remember that girl?!” Lexus asks us. “Now she drives a Lexus. And she didn’t work for this one either. Merry Christmas.”

Anyone else feeling warm and fuzzy?

Not really, but I’m sure some have misunderstood it that way (a too perfect irony). His actual point is that the shorter the delivery of the message, the greater the chances that a reader will get it wrong.

Misunderstanding gets easier as you move from Books -> Essays -> Articles -> Posts -> Tweets.

The obvious reason for this is that there is less space to work with, less space to explain, but there’s more to it than that.

The shorter the medium, the more it lends itself to cursory readings. I’ve never tried to glance at a book and then suppose I know everything it is trying to say, but I do it all the time with blog posts and Twitter tweets.

So the shorter mediums face a two-fold challenge: It’s saying less to people who are listening worse.

*****UPDATED*****
So I think Seth and I are wrong, or at least, I’m wrong. It’s not that the shorter mediums are inherently more likely to be misunderstood, it’s that they are worse at communicating complexity.

Since Twitter is almost never used for complex ideas, it probably has a smaller chance of being misunderstood. That being said, if anyone tries to use Twitter for a complex idea, send them to what I wrote above.

Branding Isn’t About Logos

A brand is just the collection of all the perceptions people have about something, and branding is about influencing those perceptions. Her work history, her choice of words, her clothing, her hobbies–these are things she pays some attention to, and it all affects how she is perceived.

In other words, everyone is already doing personal branding. Most just aren’t doing it well.

Approaching personal branding more deliberately helps improve the odds that the perceptions of others are 1. accurate and 2. favorable.

Avoiding Bad Hair Days, Food in Your Teeth

People Google each other these days, and what they find affects how they perceive you, whether you have built something for them to find or not. If you haven’t looked in the mirror and made some adjustments, you might just look like a mess. You definitely won’t look your best.

A blog gives you more control over what comes up. A well-written blog helps even more. If it’s got a nice design, killer content, and a community, then that says something powerful.

Everyone Wants a Good Reputation

It’s not just about blogs and Google, though. It’s anything that influences perception. While you don’t have to be governed by what others think, you should spend some time representing yourself the way you want to be represented. It’s not smoke and mirrors or LinkedIn or a fancy resume–it’s making sure people know about your best.

My Sony laptop, however, strives to get me to type in a cutesy typed-out drawl by dropping the “g” off of words that end in “-ing” when I type them quickly.

So, if I’m ever typin to you and it seems like I’m tryin to represent my heritage by leavin off the “g,” please remember that my keyboard is wired that way. I am not.

We clear, y’all?

If, however, you come across an annoying use of the “2.0″ designation, feel free to leave it in the comments. It doesn’t have to be universally annoying–just annoying to you.

Web 2.0 might qualify in my case.

When those we know only through our computer are in peril, there is a tremendous feeling of weakness and helplessness. If we are close with the person, it can be utterly jarring, at best.

Thoughts and prayers for Kathleen and for her family, and if anyone is in or around Anchorage, Alaska, please check the appropriate channels to see how you can help.