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Twisten Carefully

Written by: Rebel Brown

Article Overview: Saying Twitter has little great info is like saying television has nothing but sports and reality TV.

Twisten Carefully

Harvard Business Review ran an article last week entitled 'Let's Tweet About Something Important!' I was yet again surprised by the premise of the article - that the power of social networking is being hijacked by frivolous, not-important-at-all information. We all know there's a lot of noise out there.

That's one of the best things about social media - Twitter especially. People can share whatever they feel like sharing. Everything from what they had for breakfast to personal details I'd rather they kept to themselves. But there is also great value found on Twitter. From people sharing ideas and information, to folks sharing themselves and their experiences.

That's what social media is all about IMHO. Any and all information and insights are available for whoever wants to listen to them. And there's my point.

We get to choose what we hear.

We don't have to listen to all the noise - we get to choose who and what we Follow. We naturally UnFollow the people who don't match our tastes. We search, use #hashtags, download TweetDeck or Seismic, create friend streams or lists. We filter the stream to meet our own personal needs...not to hear everything that's said.

Saying Twitter has little great info is like saying television has nothing but sports and reality TV. There's so much more out there! We just have to click through the 5000 satellite channels to find the great learning and entertainment.

Similarly, we have to search to find the great insights, information and people on Twitter. We need the right tools and we need to be curious. But just think what we can find in the Twitter stream! Anything and everything we want!

My Twitter Experience

I've met mentors and friends in the Twitter stream, ready to share their wisdom and expertise, as well as their hearts. I have new friends from Warsaw to Paris - people I communicate with every day, who I've never met face-to-face. And it doesn't really matter. I've found blogs to follow, information to guide my own learning - all from the folks who share on Twitter. But I've found even more.

As may of you know, I'm launching a new platform and book this year. Thanks to Twitter, I met my fabulous speaking coach, Scott McKain. I met my publisher, Clint Greenleaf of Greenleaf Book Group. I met my strategist, Thom Scott and his fabulous business partner Bob Burg, both of whom I'm honored to call friends and associates. I found my favorite art director (who I haven't spoken to in 10 years) and now he's helping me with some re-branding.

Thanks to the Twitter Vortex, I have the perfect team to help me launch 'Rebel 2.0'.

My information and networks may not be 'important' to other people- but it's darned important to me. I believe that everyone can find value on Twitter. Just look beyond the mundane and just plain silly (or obnoxious) and focus on what we want and need. We'll find relevant information, meet new friends, expand our networks.

And yes, we can also know what that stranger had for lunch - if we so choose.

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Article Tags: business strategy, business value, networking, social media transformation, Twitter, value



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