Twitter for Beginners Part 11: In a lot of ways Twitter is like satellite TV, some observations

I watch a lot of TV.  I watch a lot of Twitter:  I’ve got my TweetDeck open all day long.  Recently, I’ve noticed some similarities between satellite TV and Twitter that I’d like to share with you.

There are shopping channels on both Twitter and TV.  Some people are on Twitter just to sell their products (in a way I think we all are).  As far as I’m concerned there are people who do it well and those who are pretty much charlatans – but we have the option to follow or not to follow.  I’m not a big one for dramatic “unfollow” announcements (where someone tweets that they have unfollowed someone for some tweet they did not like – no one is forcing you to follow the person, so just quietly click “unfollow” and get on with life.)   I am impressed by those who do a good job of using Twitter to promote their products.  I usually keep following them to see how they keep their message fresh.  By nature, I am a very soft sell person.  But I like to see how more sales-inclined people get their message across.

There are soap operas on both Twitter and TV.  While I haven’t watched a TV soap opera since my college days (and I knew someone who actually named their children Luke and Laura), the most recent soap opera on Twitter has been the Influence Project.  Entertaining from afar, but polarizing in its extreme cases, I find myself scratching my head at those who believe it is the express elevator to online fame.  (More on that in a future post…) But, if you are new to Twitter, don’t be surprised by these occasional dramas.

There are niche channels.  TV has NatGeo, Discover, Syfy, DIY, to name a few.  On Twitter you will find wonderful niche groups – foodies, dog people, job posting groups, sports – whatever your particular interest a quick search or use of the hashtag (e.g. if you want to connect with people who love the Cowboys use #Cowboys in your tweets and search on #Cowboys, or open a column in TweetDeck or Hootsuite) and you will find other Tweeps who share your interest.

No matter what your interests, there are thousands of people on Twitter who share those  interests.  The key is to connect with them and strike up a conversation.  Everyone wants to see their follower numbers increase – relax, it will happen.  Take advantage of this period of relatively few followers to get to know them and their interests.  If you have questions about Twitter or don’t understand something – ask for help – those of us with fewer followers than  Ashton Kutcher and Conan O’Brien will probably be the ones to answer your questions.   We remember what it was like to be a beginner.

Do you see other similarities between Twitter and satellite TV?