NetChange - June 6-10, 2011, MaRS

Heather Morrison’s session “Making Twitter Your Best Friend” – part of My Charity Connects at Net Change Week, inspired a flurry of on the spot Twitter sign-ups. If you joined because your former best friend unfriended you on Facebook, I say, “Forget ‘em.” They were just bringing you down anyways.

Besides, if you fall in with the wrong twitter crowd, you can always hold Heather responsible for your old patterns. She introduced you to your social media of choice, then says she prefers prevention. “Please be prepared,” Heather says.

I say translating Kitten’s meows into tweets at wee hours is inevitable. My newbie tweeps, if you’re headed for Tweehab by supper, don’t sweat it. (It’s nothing like making amends after a foursquare bender).

Heather says then we had better find and keep an understanding circle of followers.

To that end, here’s our combined twelve step or something program (commonly tried after a few relapses):

1. Pick keywords to use and monitor. First check how hashtags are being used so you don’t become a thought leader on porn.
2. When a prospective tweep uses your keywords or hashtags often, engage and follow them. They are saying #imokyourok.
3. Use followerwonk to search bios on Twitter. You can avoid falling prey to tweeps that say, “everyone is my best friend”, ya right. You want real friends that will plan your intervention if necessary.
4. Cross promote your Twitter feed on your website. Include a button that says “click me all night long!” #waitthinkingofwrongkindofbuddy.
5. To cultivate generous engaged friends, share info only one third of the time;
6. Interact another third;
7. And the rest of the time, ask for their Aunt Mabel’s five bucks.
8. Use and review url shorteners such as bit.ly.
9. Please be the change by sharing your followers’ unique content tweets. Too many shameful idealists are making us all look bad by only twitpic’g their new bangs.
10. Use tweetreach to learn which of your #hashtags are making you frenemies. Sentiment is significant. #HMorrisonRocks
11. While looking at all your metrics, adjust your content, unique and curated. Mangling other people’s ideas is less productive than stealing them.
12. Complete an editorial calendar. Repeatedly admitting yourself to Tweehab is known to interfere with social media deployment.

√ Bonus step: Although you’ve cultivated a receptive twibe, try to avoid post-tweetup inappropriate declarations of love.

If by September, you are still finding or denying that tweeting in wedding ceremonies is a problem, Amy Sample Ward has also saved relationships with Social Media In 30 Minutes A Day.