How to start tweeting - my top 7 tips

Some of my readers might get a minor shock, I know. How to start tweeting? What is going on? I know, I know...but you see, the last two years of work have opened my eyes to the reality to the social media situation: we, geeks, web addicts and "enthusiasts" live in a box just as much as anybody else. Only that our box is probably full of buttons, touch screens and push notifications. 

So what do you do when your friend is asking you suddenly - what is Twitter? Why do people tweet? How do I start? People ask me those questions on a daily basis. Actually nowadays I start to see more and more people around me increasingly expressing interest in basic social media tools. So, let's look at how we can help them in kicking off their Twitter adventure! (I would like to point out that I am not being sarcastic here, I genuinely want to share some basic tips for those who need them.)

1. Sign up to Twitter.com.

It sounds dumb, but Twitter sign up is pretty intuitive and once you start entering your data you will be guided through the entire process. Simply let it take you! I know it's a difficult step to make for those who distrust tech and hear many terrible stories about privacy issues going wrong, but at this stage you really do not have to worry about it. 

2. Check all the available settings. 

Play around with the design of your Twitter profile. Click through all the areas of your Twitter dashboard. Do not worry if you are a bit confused - it's ok, you are supposed to be, it's all new and really you will get more and more familiar with it once you start reading and later posting. 

3. Think about your bio and avatar.

If you are happy for your friends and public to see your tweets (check privacy settings if you want to protect your updates) and fairly open about yourself why not to replace the default avatar with your photo - it makes your profile genuine and friendly. It also makes it easier for your friends to recognise you. If you are shy just use a photo of your cat;) Bio is a short intro about you so you can be creative here too. Usually it works better to say something genuine, something that will make your followers smile maybe? 

4. Start following others. 

It's a nice habit to first listen then speak up so look around Twitter - search box can be amazing! Find your favourite "celebrities" (writers of your favourite contemporary novels are probably here already;)), search for people you know off-line (you can ask your friends if they are on Twitter). Use other social media, for example Facebook, to find out if your friends use Twitter. Follow them and read their tweets. Learn from them. Just by following their stream you will pick up a lot about the current Twitter etiquette. 

5. Write your first tweet. 

Now, here is where my friends and clients often stop! "I do not know what to write!" - honestly? I think this statement in itself is a perfect tweet;) Simply be humble, open, honest. Say hi! Say what you think of Twitter. Admit how you feel about it. Make it clear that you are new in this "Twittersphere". And I am sure people will come back with warm welcome, your friends will also help you out. Just imagine you are walking into a party and need a quick ice-breaker;) As long as you are nice and genuine, it's all going to be a beginning of a great adventure. 

6. Respond to tweets. 

If you see something interesting, inspiring, moving - retweet it or reply to it with your opinion. See where this conversation will take you. Your friends will say hi, respond to them. Remember: you really do not need to impress anyone. 

7. BE YOURSELF. 

Twitter is what you make of it. (The entire web is, I think). Keep it as your mantra and make the most of it for yourself, your friends, your networks. Reach out to new people, browse through search for topics of interest, your hobbies or current events. There is so much out there! I am sure you will learn and meet great people on Twitter - just be honest with everyone, polite and show your real self. 

These are very general rules. I have a collection of first tweets of some of my friends and clients and I find it amazing to look back at those when all of their authors have moved to really passionate conversations and stage when they meet their Twitteratti friends off-line at events, work on projects together, help each other. But then again, if you do not make those few first steps, if you do not experiment a little bit, you will not embrace Twitter. You really need to get on and do it! 

Good luck and let me know how it goes (@presleysylwia - say hi!;))!

You have asked me what I think of Klout - I do not like it.

Actually, it's one of the first tools putting me in the very uneasy situation of having to be on the service for work reasons but not really wanting to use it. Recently I was asked by Howard Lake to explain why I am so against Klout so I will try to explain it in this post. 

First of all let me point out that Klout's popularity seems to be growing in various areas of the world (I do not have starts I just judge it from the sentiment of on-line conversations around it that I can see) and we are yet to see how it's going to develop here, in the UK and in other European countries. I am expressing my personal opinion here and I hope this will become obvious by the time I finish this post.

Klout story started back in 2009 and I think it's worth re-reading this post written by Brian Solis about it's early days and Early ways of measuring the Twitter influence. The idea of measuring Twitter influence was really appealing to many social media marketers, SEO specialist and Twitter users in general and it looked like the Klout algorithm really needed explaining. Most of us created Klout accounts to try it out and probably just left it there, maybe checked out few lists or assigned each other topics. Increasingly Klout score started being used in measurement of Twitter user's influence or in research of our own web shadow (we would occasionally check our own Klout score to see if we are doing this Twitter thing right...according to Klout, of course).

In October 2011 Klout decided to change the way they calculate their scores which resulted in a bit of a backlash in form of @OccupyKlout movement. Many of our UK based bloggers noticed it but really - I am not sure if we were really so bothered about it. In a way I think at that point we have realised that it is just a number given to a very subjective, almost abstract concept. There is a good analysis of this change in terms of its effect on a data sample over here. October was a big month for Klout - we were suddenly able to add other social networks to our Klout profile and increase our influence - so later if you look at tips on how to achieve higher Klout score you will see this as one of major points. 

Also in October 2011 Klout suffered hugely on their own on-line reputation after few rather influential users realised that once their Facebook and other social networks are added Klout automatically creates Klout profiles for all added contacts - which also included kids under 13! That was the point (if you check this article's updates you will see the dates of exact changes) when Klout finally allowed their users to delete their accounts. 

Increasingly Klout has moved from mainly on-line reputation tool to a network rewarding its users with perks - actual discounts and promotional offers. Today some of my Twitter contacts use Klout simply because of that very reason. 

So where are we with Klout today? Klout's blog is full of tips and lists of top users in various industries or around particular events. It also features industry specialists who tend to like the service. We see a huge trend in on-line users to boost their Klout numbers and receive tips on how to do so. We also read demystifying articles like this one. 

I have asked my friends to tell me what they think but honestly - not too many of them responded:

So what do I think? I do not like Klout as a company - there are companies out there doing this "entire social thing" much better than Klout does. I do not like their branding - no, I am sorry:

I disagree - not everyone has or should have a Klout score. And I do not like what I have seen from Klout so far. Occasionally I might see the value in some of the Twitter users collections, lists - but only if they are used as a start of a much more insightful research into the Twittersphere. I am not convinced that incentivizing users to take part in the service by rewarding their activities (instead of providing valuable experience) is a good thing.

But the main reason for me disliking the service is the very fact that it is popular and introduces the idea of measurable influence, lists of Twitter elite etc. I am sorry - and I am saying it as a blogger AND a social media marketer - but:

1. Amount of social interactions and connected social media channels does not equal actual influence,

2. Stats never ever represent the value of actual service user in terms of personal competence, trust and influence,  

3. Size of our networks does not equal influence, 

4. And finally - conversations are much more complex and their amount does not mean we are actually influencing others opinions. 

Someone else said it better than I do:

I also think that brands, organisations and individuals striving to create lists of "top users" of any service on-line might potentially harm otherwise perfectly well functioning, self-regulating networks. But that is probably a topic for another post. 

When I do not know what to think..confused about Vodafone's content control!

Few weeks ago I was heading the social media coverage of IoF National Convention so I travelled up to London equipped with quite a few devices, I had a booked hotel and...a Vodafone dongle. It all went well up to the point when I realised (evening before the event, in my hotel room) that I cannot access this very blog (sylwiapresley.com) from my Vodafone dongle. So this is the story so far...and I beg you, if you have ever worked on the customer service line (I have!) you might not want to read this, as it will be a bit of a rant. I am simply confused...

Firstly I remembered that few years ago my friend, @benwerd pointed out on Twitter that he cannot access my blog from Oxford Tube's public wifi. Then I connected the dots remembering that I could not access it myself but assumed a temporary error. I checked and yes, I cannot access the blog from public wifi on the bus between Oxford and London. I have written to Vodafone asking for support on this (stating clearly that my personal blog is not accessible from my donlge and public Vodafone wifi) and I received a message, which for a woman who teaches kids at primary schools safe Internet practice...well, at least surreal:

Hello Sylwia,

Thank you for contacting Vodafone with regard to removing the Content control Bar from your account.

I understand that you are unable to access facebook.

As you wish to remove the content control bar from your account, you need to get back to us with a high resolution scanned copy of your age proof.

Once we receive your age proof we shall be able to lift the Content Control Bar from the account.

Alternatively you can visit the store, with your age proof and get the bar removed from your account.

Also, for any further query in the future, please get back to us with the below mentioned details for the verification of your account:

- Details of the last 3 dialled numbers

-Details of the last 3 top-ups

-20 digit SIM card number

Once I’ve received this, I’ll be more than happy to help.

I hope the above information is useful.

Regards,

It took me a few rounds of e-mails to finally convince Vodafone that it is my personal blog, not Facebook I struggle with and believe that Vodafone has banned my personal blog to their pre-paid dongle and public wifi users. I reached out to very helpful Twitter service (@VodafoneUK) and still was directed to the shop to have a chat about it.

In the meantime the e-mail customer service got back to me asking me to do the same so I thought, well, they must know better. I went to the shop.  Oxford based shop had their network down, so I was told I need to call them instead. And here - note it as it IS important - I wanted to show the shop assistant the problem using my Vodafone dongle - but oh miracle - I COULD access my blog!

Happy that I can now blog remotely, yet puzzled that someone has removed the content control off my account without even seeing my ID (maybe simply seeing my photo on sylwiapresley.com?;)) I had nothing left but to ask about the reasons behind content control in this particular case mentioning that I am a blogger and will post about it, when the Vodafone representative got a bit worried and said "I cannot disclose the information about content control, you need to call our customer service".

But hey, in the meantime Vodafone got back to me over e-mail once again asking me to go to the shop and show my ID (but why? I can access my blog now?) At this stage once again I had the surreal feeling that no one is really reading my e-mails (I ave several times explained I need info on why many access points ban my blog and why, not just my dongle) and asked the Vodafone e-mail customer service not to write to me again:

In the meantime someone must have fixed the blog...now, thanks to your kind Twitter customer service I wanted not to blog about this quality of your email customer service, but sadly...I will. I cannot believe no one even clicked through the site to check what I mean....It's not about me - no one could not access my blog through YOUR network.

Please do not write to me again.

Guess what? They did!

Hello Sylwia,

Thank you for writing back to us with regard to removing Content Control from your account.

I apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused you. I would like to inform you that when you opt for a Pay As You Go subscription, Content Control is default active on your account. Whenever we receive a request, we remove it after proper verification.

We are very particular after the account verification. You may be aware about third parties active as if a customer is writing. Therefore, we at Vodafone strictly follow Data Protection Act (DPA) for security of our customers and to provide them better services in a secure way.

I can understand that you had to write back and forth for getting the Content Control removed. We always provide our customers with alternative. As you did not provide us with your age proof, we are unable to verify your account with our records.

I once again request that you either visit the nearest Vodafone Store with the age proof or reply with the scanned copy of age proof. Once we have the details, we will act at the earliest.

I trust the above information helps.

In the meantime they must have put the content control on my dongle again because I could not access it and got this one:

Thank you for writing to Vodafone Customer Service.

I understand your concern as you are not able to access internet. I have check your account and can see that the content bar is applied on your account. I request you to get back to us with the age proof after that we will be able to remove the content bar from your account.

Alternatively, you can visit to the store with your age proof and our store staff will be able to assist you with your concern. You can also login to online My Account and can remove the content bar. please follow the steps below:

      1. Login to My Account
2. Click on the My device link (in navigation at the top of the page)
3. Settings (on the left hand navigation)
4. This takes you to the My Settings page - Content Control is at the bottom of the page
5. You can switch your settings there simply by clicking Change

I trust this helps.

"I trust this helps" is not what I would really want to say at that stage....but this is where my e-mail adventure stops, as I suspect maybe the company policy is to respond to all e-mails even if I ask them no to. I decided to take a bit of time off and maybe go to the store at some point but really, I am not so often in town and I do not have time to wait in the store.

Tonight, while browsing iPhone deals I was offered to chat to Vodafone! Ah, I thought, I did not try this one! It started funny, but turned out to be a pretty serious, worrying and even more confusing conversation:

Sujan: Hello, you're chatting with Sujan, one of Vodafone's online customer service specialists.  May I take your name please?

You: Hi

You: My name is Sylwia Presley

Sujan: Hi Sylwia

You: Hi, I have a complicated issue and I cannot resolve it since a while now...

Sujan: I will help you?

Sujan: ..

You: Actually I just found the case no. from your e-mail customer service...#6832214 ?

You: But let me explain...

Sujan: Yes please

You: I purchased a Vodafone broadband top up dongle recently to use it at a conference where I was working on a social media coverage

You: but I realised that I cannot access my personal blog sylwiapresley.com from it

You: so I made a complaint

Sujan: Okay

You: If you check the case #6832214 you will see that I was asked to come in to the shop and prove my age...

You: however...

You: my blog was inaccessible from Stagecoach wifi (your product) as well

You: and my fellow bloggers using your connection could not access it

You: so I asked for a review of my case, but your e-mail cs keeps asking me to prove my age...

Sujan: Sylwia, basically that is according to the UK government policy that you need to show your age proof at the Vodafone store and they will remove the content control

Sujan: We have to abide the policies,

You: I understand, but why is my personal blog banned from the public wifi?

Sujan: May I have the dongle number please

You: let me find it..

You: hm.. I have it packed for travel, give me a sec please...

Sujan: Because, public wifi has a access of very limited websites, so that pepole should not access restricted access

Sujan: Restricted websites

You: why is my personal blog on the list of restricted websites?

You: xxxxxxxxxx is my number

Sujan: As per the offcom regulations, Vodafone is not the organisation who decides this, we just have to abide the policies

Sujan: Let me check your number

You: then who decided about that?

You: or let me rephrase that - does it mean that users of public wifi can access only particular, very generic websites and not personal domains?

You: thank you

Sujan: Yes

You: why can I not access my personal domain from my personal dongle? is that for the same reason?

Sujan: Yes, this is for the same reason

You: do you have on your website somewhere the explanation of content control by any chance?

Sujan: You just have to visit the Vodafone store and they will remove the restricted access in fraction of seconds

You: for some reason my broadband provider, BT, does not ban my personal websites, and I am assuming they are following the same government directives?

You: See, I personally am more interested in understanding why it is not accessible in the first place...

Sujan: Please give me a moment so that I can check this for you

You: thank you

Sujan: However, I cannot comment on any other service provider as every indvidual service provider has their own policies

You: sure, I can understand that.

Sujan: Is your dongle working now

You: I am using BT connection now

You: (at home, on wifi)

Sujan: Okay Please give me a moment

Sujan: Can I call you

You: in case if you are looking into it, I would just like to point out that without having to show my ID someone on your side has taken off the content control from my dongle...

Sujan: And explain you please

You: sure

Sujan: May I have your number please

At this stage I got a phone call from Sujan, who explained again that if it Ofcom regulations, that he will not kindly remove my content control (I explained I teach safe Internet practice, but he DID NOT see my ID!) and if I need more info about why my blog in particular is on the list of restricted websites or whatever the process of applying content control is I need to go to the local store.

So, just when I thought I will give up on this, I got even more interested in the policies and procedures which led to the fact that Vodafone public wifi users and pre-paid dongle users cannot access my blog unless they show their ID in the store.

So, before my next rambling post let me wrap it up to you: asking Vodafone for e-mail support is a lost cause, going to the shop is risky (the system might be down, and the crucial info is unavailable), chatting and talking on Twitter seems to be the most personal and human approach, yet it worries me - it is inconsistent how my access to my blog was handled (Vodafone still has not seen my ID and I could access my blog once, and I can now), I still do not understand why my personal blog was considered inappropriate by Vodafone (not BT, my home wifi provider for example) and what Ofcom has to do with it. Maybe one of my readers can help me out in the meantime?

The entire experience gave me many lessons. As a social media marketer I cannot help but wonder why there is such a difference in the treatment of customers over Twitter and other channels. Twitter makes the experience more personal, but maybe there is the element of the public engagement where the person on the other side HAS to treat me seriously?

Vodafone and BT are examples of companies that I personally admire for at least good will in following the Ofcom and other safe Internet practice regulations, and I am really happy about that. But I would equally like to be ensured that at least my UK based friends and readers can access my blog freely, and I am not sure they can...  I think the most important insight here is still the fact that we all depend on our Internet providers. It is great to have free or pretty affordable access to the web, but we all depend on our providers and their role in the way we experience the web access is crucial. Just putting aside the restrictive nature of Google and Facebook algorithm, I think it is important to remember that the providers of all Internet services are increasingly significant players in the development of the free information flow globally.

Change in Twitter strategy

I should probably stop saying "strategy" and start using approach. Strategy sounds too serious for my liking. Anyway, I have posted recently on Twitter that I am cutting down on the amount of people I am following. Some of my followers asked me for more borad explanation for the move, so here it is. I started using Twitter as an early adopter back in the first few months of its public activity as @sylwiapresley and experienced the limitation on 2000 people I could follow at the time. I used the service to learn, read, explore and sometimes to connect with industry (social media) leaders. Gradually, and partially due to the migration to my current @presleysylwia account (together with 300 followers who were ACTUALLY reading my tweets;)), I have changed the way I experienced Twitter. I have started to use it purely for networking and sharing of valuable insights, which worked for quite a few years but now I got to the points where I have not been using the service for at least a year AT ALL. So to get back to this still useful social media platform, I decided to revise people I am following and choose only a small amount to be able to connect and establish longer, stronger on-line relationships (something I am writing about in my book at the moment).

I still follow more than 700 people;)

I am not sure if I can establish strong relationships with the entire group, but I can most certainly have a focussed apporach to Twittersphere around me. Just looking at the stats from Klout and Twitter Grader I can see that this change has done me good, but really - it is not about the stats at all. It's all about the people, tool and content I am posting. I enjoy Twitter much more now, and I feel that with G+ around I might focuss my tweets even more!

It's interesting to see Klout developing well, as I can finally see it resembling my actual attitute to the service. With the 1 year old work account @nfpvoice I am still exploring the sectors, but with my private one, I am more focussed now. As for the rest of the stats I can see steady growth, which is amazing considering I have been fairly inactive for entire winter at least...

This one is very interesting - my actual network almost equals the amount of people I am following now!

And finally something interesting from Twitter Grader - after cutting down on amount of followed accounts I have noticed increase in my own followers! Does it mean that my content is more valuable now that I focus on what I say and how? That would prove my original point of using tools wisely;)

Why do I do this analysis? Why do I even bother posting about it? Well, first of all I am a social media marketer and first thing I do is the measurement of my own web shadow, which I think we should all do time to time. Secondly, and more importantly - it is exactly the stats and my own re-evaluation of approach to each social media network and tool that helps me to maintain the right balance. Someone asked me the other day: do you ever have enough? have you got any life left? Well, after this analysis I can easily say that I have plenty of time left for off-line evenings, days, weekends and quality time with friends and family though the experience is still richer if some of those relationships are born out of well targeted and useful on-line interactions.

2nd Twitter Birthday

Yesterday I was reminded that my new Twitter account is celebrating 2nd Birthday. For a second I had this strange feeling that before 16th of July 2009 I did not exist! It comes really handy to start talking about my social media history as I am starting to write my book on the topic. I have been working on it for a bit last year but did not really have time and I was not relaxed enough to sit down and have the inspiration to write in general. Now, this summer, I should be able to do it properly.

The truth is, I was on Twitter a bit longer, as @sylwiapresley but I came across limitations so I had to migrate my account. It was a great exercise to see who is really reading my tweets and since then I feel tempted to do it at least once a year. Twitter has brought a new dimension to my networks, my work, my life in general, but let's not forget that it is a tool which is designed to serve our goals.

So, to be honest, I prefer to celebrate my Birthday with my boys, in January (all born in January we celebrate with a triple-Birthday party) and use the tools like Twitter to make the most of the remaining 364 days a year. Don't get me wrong, it's a great feeling to connect and to be able to reach out to new audiences and people. It's great to see my life extended into new relationships, events and communities. It's really nice to be included in a #ff tweet. I just think we should be able to find the balance for ourselves. For me celebrating virtual Birthday is always an opportunity to reflect on the best of the social interactions and remind myself that the core of our lives is actually off-line.