When I first got on Twitter, I never realized that I would get so much out of the social networking site. I am active on Twitter everyday, and the experiences have been very rewarding for me. Not only do I get valuable information, but I also get to meet people who I wouldn’t get the chance to meet if it weren’t for Twitter. According to an article on PR Sarah Evans, “It took 3 years, 2 months and 1 day to hit 1 billion tweets. Now it only takes 1 week for Twitter to syndicate 1 billion tweets.” ~Brian Solis This really shows how Twitter has grown in the past few years, and how powerful it has become as a communication tool.
Twitter allows people to connect with just 140 characters. I know a lot of people have had their lives changed so much in those characters on Twitter, and I am one of them. So many opportunities have come my way because I have learned to harness the power of engaging with the right people, and I’ve learned from their experiences everyday. For those who still don’t get Twitter but would like to get into it and experience what we have, I have listed some life lessons we can experience just from tweeting.
1. Be yourself, it’s the only way to go – Online or offline, being yourself is the only way to be successful in life, and in every endeavor you put your energy into. I love this quote from Steve Jobs, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.“
2. Be Kind – Kindness goes a long way. It is a quality that most people I connect with everyday posses. Kindness on Twitter is shown through retweets and sharing. It sometimes bothers me that I see kindness more on social sites than in real life. The world could be a better place if people just learned to be kind.
3. Never forget to say please and thank you – Please and thank you may be simple words, but they are quite powerful. If you are active on Twitter, you’ll see that they are some of the most tweeted words by people who share info, kind words and quotes everyday.
4. Never stop learning, it’s fun! – I know most of the people who join Twitter do it because they know it’s the best place to learn new things from different people from all over the world. You can learn about design, technology, social media, tips and tricks, etc…
5. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness – You’ll see people tweeting questions and asking for recommendations and help on Twitter. I believe people online and offline should always try to ask for help when they need it. It is never a sign of weakness. People are not mind readers, they won’t know you’re drowning if you don’t yell for help.
6. No one can bully you into doing anything – Bullying is not tolerated on Twitter, so it shouldn’t be tolerated in your personal life either. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something or try to control your actions.
7. Don’t be afraid to express yourself – Creativity and self expression are very much welcome on Twitter. If you are active on the site, why not carry that over into your offline life? The thing that I love doing on Twitter and in my personal life, in which I find so much fulfillment, is getting people to open their door to possibilities. I enjoy helping them become aware that the world is for them to conquer. They just need to find out what it is they love to do and express that.
8. Sharing is caring – Giving is always encouraged on Twitter. Sharing information and recommendations is encouraged everyday. If you can bring that into your personal life and share with the people close to you, believe me, your world will change. Sharing is the best way to show you care.
9. Use your influence for the greater good – The majority of the online influencers are active on Twitter. They get the message out, and they share information on causes that need support. They make people aware of the issues. Even if you are not a big influencer, you can still impact change. Every little action helps. The important step is to make the first move.
10. Your online friends are human too – Respect is the important word here. The avatars that you see on profiles represent human beings who live and breathe like you and me. I am very lucky to have so many people on Twitter that I have been tweeting with for a long time. I’ve even met some of them in real life. I respect them even more after I have had the opportunity to jump from an online conversation to a real life connection.
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