I think that many people (myself included) that share sites like Twitter at conferences inadvertently do our attendees a disservice. In the effort of attempting to demonstrate how wonderful, simple, powerful and dynamic it is, we make it seem much more effortless than it really is.

For example… How many times per day do you see somebody say, “Give a shout out to the people in Nepal who are attending my presentation about social networks about using the Luge to teach physics!” And then 30-40 people reply with a hearty “Hello”. So attendees believe all it takes it to toss a tweet out there, and dozens of responses will pour in.

What isn’t necessarily shown, or may just be glossed over, is the fact that it takes TIME and EFFORT to gain a few hundred followers. And without having a critical mass of people to message out to, your odds of getting a response from a general tweet are VERY small. If you have 40 followers, more than likely none of them are actually online at the same time as you. And even if they are, who knows if they’re checking Twitter? And even if they are, who knows if they’ll see your tweet? And if they do, how many people will see it and ignore it, versus will see it and respond?

For example, if I send out a “Please give these folks a shout out” tweet, I expect maybe about 30-40 responses on a typical school day during normal hours. If it’s a weekend, or in the evening, you can cut that number in half. I currently have about 5000 followers. So at best, that’s less than 1%. At that rate, if you have 100 followers, could you realistically expect an instant response from even a single person? I’m not sure… It depends on who is following you.

That’s not to say that everyone should run out and get more followers. My point is simply, things aren’t necessarily as rosy and simple as we may make them seem during presentations.

I can’t tell you how many times I see a Twitter newbie who has under 50 followers throw out a request like, “I’m trying to find schools that have updated their AUP this year. If you know someone, please tell me.” Then when they don’t get any responses, they get frustrated and may wind up quitting. While I can’t address what may be an issue with persistence, I do think that person has set themselves up for failure.

I really do think you need to follow/be followed by about 100 people at the least for Twitter to begin to be valuable. If you have a dedicated, highly focused group, that number may be smaller, but in general I think that’s a fair ballpark. If you have less than that, you need to be much more aggressive to get responses.

A few suggestions for people who are new to Twitter or have relatively small audiences right now.

1) Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with putting a message out there multiple times. If you’re worried about looking like a spammer, reword it. Mention that your STILL looking for information. But it’s entirely possible that people didn’t see your message. So give them another chance. And yet another.

2) Ask some people directly to respond. If you send a tweet that includes @TheirUsername, more than likely they will see it. It may take a day or two before they look for personal replies, but most people WILL see it. Unless they have fairly strict privacy settings, it should work. So if there’s someone you think might be able to help you out, send it directly to them by using this feature.

3) Reach out to the hubs in your network. Let’s face it, some people have more followers than others. Maybe they do a lot of conferences, maybe they just have too much time on their hands. Regardless, they may have a longer reach than you do. So contact them directly and ask them to retweet it for you! I’m extremely grateful to have the audience that I do, and I’m happy to share them whenever someone asks. By doing this, you maybe be able to ensure that your request has been seen by a few thousand people instead of a few dozen. Doesn’t guarantee a response, but it does give you better odds.

Of course, the best solution in the long term is to build up your own community. The only real way to do that is to maintain your own presence, to reach out to others, and to follow people and give them the chance to follow you.

For those of you that do present sessions including Twitter, do you see the same thing happening? Is it just me or is this something you’ve experienced yourself? And if so, how do you address it?

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Kellie80
10/20/2009

Thanks for posting this. I think sometimes Twitter can seem like a clique into which one isn’t welcome. Many of us stay in lurker mode because we don’t get anything back when we do tweet — but, just “hearing” the conversations going on can lead to growth, even when you aren’t actively part of the conversation.

Wesley Fryer
10/20/2009

I definitely agree that directly asking someone publicly by sending an @reply is a good way to get a response. I respond (at least at this point) to all the @replies I receive, and it is easy to retweet questions if its appropriate. This is a way someone’s question can be readily amplified to larger audiences, and it can be a good way to address the issues you highlight here.

concretkax
10/20/2009

Thanks for bringing this up. I agree that speakers often set up unrealistic expectations for twitter. It took me 2-3 months to build up to 100 followers. Of course, I could have been more aggressive, but I am not an outgoing person and I lurked for quite awhile. I wonder if personality(introvert vs. extrovert) affects how quickly you build a PLN?

I also think people should be taught that they can jump in and out of the twitter stream. I was obsessive about reading every tweet when I started on twitter and this made me want to keep the number of people I followed low. After I realized that twitter was a tool to be used on my terms I increased the number of people I followed and started to “get” twitter more.
concretkax´s last blog ..Wood chips

Martin Jorgensen
10/20/2009

I completely agree … my followers are an amazing group of professionals, willing to respond at a moments notice. Problem is as you say, many of them are out and about in the world much of the time, and only a small percentage will be available to a shout out. That’s ok, I’m happy to ask twice, or three times … and I’ll always do a morning and night tweet about a new blog post when I put one up.

Great idea approaching those with larger networks to RT your requests, will have to give that a try!

The best way to build your PLN of course, is to be PART of the conversation and contribute as much as you can. Reap what you sow.

Steve
10/20/2009

@Kellie: It’s like any other group. People know each other, and when there’s a group that are actively chatting with each other, it can seem like you’re an outsider. You aren’t, it just takes time to develop a new relationship! And that goes both ways

Trouble is, when you lurk (nothing wrong with that), you may ‘watch’ someone for several months. Then when you go to interact with them, they may seem like an old friend to you, whereas you may be a total stranger to them!

The social dynamics of Twitter can be fascinating…

Steve
10/20/2009

@concretkax You bring up some great points. A lot of people get discouraged by Twitter because they do tend to get overloaded. And while it seems silly, I think many people do feel a little guilty when they miss tweets from people, and consequently feel obligated to read every one. Obviously, this just isn’t sustainable.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!

Sean
10/20/2009

using hash tags is also a good way to increase you likelyhood of getting a response. I follow two hashtags and regularly respond to people whom I do not follow. I also use hash tags to ask questions when I’m not sure if my followers will be able to help me out.

Also for me my followers tend be be split evenly living in North America, Europe or Australia/Eastern Asia which effectively reduces my chances of getting a quick response.

Tweets that mention If you Tweet, will anybody hear it? - Teach42 -- Topsy.com
10/21/2009

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Robin
10/22/2009

To be most effective Twitter has to be just one piece of the overall picture of what you are doing online. Community participation, blogging, twittering, etc. Whether you are a novice or more experienced, the more venues in which you give and take the more meaningful each will be.
Robin´s last blog ..Beyond Power Point

Terry Freedman
10/23/2009

reat post, Steve: I am all in favour of anything that encourages ‘newbies’ to persist. A few things to pick up on:

1. Sending out the same message at different times is fine simply because of the different time zones. I often tweet an important message 3 times a day, once for fellow Brits, once for folk in the Ameircas and once for colleagues in the antipodes. Nobody has yet accused me of spamming (though I think you have to be cautious and sensitive and sensible)

2. I have found that simply adding ‘Pls RT’ to my tweets has a dramatic effect. I also thank people for retweeting, as I think that’s the polite thing to do. I’m not sure if that has had any effect on people’s willingness to RT, but that’s not the point. I think all these things have to be a 2-way street.

3. That brings me to Robin’s point. It takes a long time to build up a meaningful community, and Twitter is just one avenue. Getting involved, sharing expertise and blogging or podcasting, and getting involved OFFline too — all are crucial IMHO.
Terry Freedman´s last blog ..Checklist: 8 things to check every day in a computer room

Stephen Lockyer
10/25/2009

A very good article, and one that I can relate to. What is logical, yet not obvious at first with Twitter is that the more followers you have and interact with, the better the experience is. I now have a rather flattering 240 or so followers as @mrlockyer, and get so much more in terms of interaction with them than I did with just 50. I estimate that I get about a 5% interaction rate though, so perhaps there is something to be said for having a smaller group of followers within the same niche.

Stephen Lockyer’s last blogpost… Innovation versus Risk in the classroom
Stephen Lockyer´s last blog ..Innovation versus Risk

Sandi Adams
10/26/2009

thanks for this post, even when you have been on twitter and making the effort to build your network, you can sometimes feel like a loner.
Great thoughts! Hey and I just wonder how you like the new wii plus!! LOL

Lisa Thumann
11/3/2009

You bring up some great points Steve. These are things that I have been thinking about as I have been doing Twitter demos and workshops.

I have actually stopped doing shout-outs (though I still respond to them when I see them) and have instead started taking questions from the group and Tweeting them. This (hopefully) brings us to find educators to follow. When I see folks that I know who are trying to build their networks, I’ll RT their question hoping to get them not just an answer, but perhaps to increase the size of their network.

Of course it’s that whole – if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it -did it really make a sound? I talk with the teachers about reciprocity. Lurking is okay to a point. But you always have something to contribute. Just share what you are reading our checking out that day.

Chad Lehman
11/10/2009

This makes a lot of sense and what you’ve said is certainly true. I have retweeted things several time to help get more responses – mostly at different times of the day to try and get more interaction.

I think what’s also happening is that people are retweeting questions without even being asked. I’ve seen that happening in my case. It seems the network is looking out for others by doing this, and I think it’s great. I don’t think it hurts, either, to pass on tweets looking for information to a particular user. I saw a tweet about a topic and forwarded it on to someone I knew had good resources on that topic.
Chad Lehman´s last blog ..My First Presentation Experience

Patty
11/10/2009

There is a group using Twitter for a chat venu. They have a poll ahead of time as to the topic. Tuesdays at 7PM EST. Select a topic at http://twtpoll.com/zupmvp. Use Tweetdeck and search #edchat. This way you don’t have to be following someone to get a response.

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Selena Ward
11/28/2009

When I presented Twitter at my last conference, I tried to be totally honest about my experience. I told them it took 3 months to get into it and 6 months to really build a community. I even shared the heartbreaking story of sending out my first Twitter request and getting 0 responses. I got positive feedback from those that had already tried Twitter, but weren’t hooked yet.
Selena Ward´s last blog ..Am I normal?

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