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Twitter 101 – For people who reply nonsensically

17 July 2009 1,618 views 14 Comments

One of the main reasons why I am still on Plurk, despite the fact that there’s just so much more relevant content on Twitter, is that it is so much easier to hold conversations on Plurk because of the way conversations are ‘threaded’.

Threaded conversations allow you to keep track of what people are saying in response to your post, and even allows you to conduct polls and surveys, as shown in the picture. We can use Plurk to source for information, or get feedback about certain issues.

It also makes it easier for people to reply to your threads, knowing that their response will never get lost, unlike in what I call the Twitter-mess.

Twitter is great because of the wealth of information it offers, if you follow the right people. You can easily find Tweeters who have the same interests or work in the same field as you do. A lot of people read and share articles relevant to work, thereby making it one of the best social networking service (SNS) for people to share information, and obtain information without having to actively search for it.

Of course, people do Tweet about things not related to work or industries (e.g. for me, social media related things and things that interest me about the PR industry) or simply put, bits and pieces of info that are not useful in any way, but are interesting to read and respond to. For example:

Why it’s important to date in parallel. http://bit.ly/lxt5s

The article, like many others on Twitter, is hilarious. Naturally, people respond, showing their delight, amusement, or agreement with something funny that another Tweeter has posted.

Unfortunately, they respond in manners such as below:

4 hrs after you’ve posted a funny story and it’s not so funny anymore:
I’m sorry, what? What was funny? I don’t remember anymore!

And yonks and 2705 Tweets later, someone replies:
I’d agree too, except I don’t know what you’re agreeing to.

And as always, someone with a delayed laughter mechanism:
I just Tweeted that my pet cat died and I’m really feeling godawful, but that’s okay, just go ahead, continue to laugh at the joke I told 7hrs ago.

I get a lot of such responses, and frankly, my dear, it irks the hell out of me. So here are some lessons that you can take.

Twitter 101: How to reply to a Tweet

Re-using the example above,

Good replies would look like any of the following:

Showing amusement / delight:

That’s so funny! RT @mengwong why it’s important to date in parallel. http://bit.ly/lxt5s

Showing agreement:

I agree, @mengwong! Who could’ve known you could use Physics to explain the Science of Dating, eh?

Showing amusement / delight:

LOL @mengwong! Good article! http://bit.ly/lxt5s

Remember – the whole point of social media is to interact, so don’t kill conversations by giving dead-end answers which leave the person you’re talking to confused, baffled, irritated or frustrated because he/she doesn’t know what you’re referring to!

Link the reply back to the Tweet you are replying to!

And so this concludes today’s lesson for Twitter 101.

So go forth and practise!

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14 Comments »

rinaz said:

Pwah … fierce teacher!

But indeed, I like plurk because of its threaded conversation and at the same time, twitter is nice too for its wealth of information.

Everything has its own advantages

# 17 July 2009 at 6:23 am

Heather said:

You’re so cut-throat, Daph =P lol

# 17 July 2009 at 1:10 pm

Jeff said:

LOL @daphne *grin*

# 17 July 2009 at 1:37 pm

Wendy said:

Eh I find it ok, as long as there’s an ‘in reply to…’ link I can click on on the tweet, which is there for this purpose anyway.

# 17 July 2009 at 1:45 pm

daphnemaia said:

@rinaz yes, everything has its own advantages! if Twitter could introduce threaded conversations ala Plurk mobile, that would be the most idea situation!

@Heather i know, i’m ruthless. and fierce, as Rinaz said. haha. but that’s me, u either love me or u don’t! so… do u? HAHAHA!

# 17 July 2009 at 1:53 pm

daphnemaia said:

@Wendy – after 4 hrs and 2665 other Tweets, they don’t link back anymore. The problem is that Twitter will take it that you’re replying to the latest Tweet.

# 17 July 2009 at 1:55 pm

j said:

i think it happens mostly because people think they’re having a conversation.

twitter is great for posting, and people think it happens in real time but it really doesn’t.

the architecture isn’t suited for that; you don’t have to do it the way you would normally have a discussion (use a forum) or a conversation (msn)

as always, problem lies between keyboard and chair.

# 17 July 2009 at 3:16 pm

jr said:

Twitter as a platform has support for threaded conversations it’s just that some Twitter clients (like TwitterFox) don’t use that part of the API effectively. It usually just tags the persons last tweet as the one you’re replying to.

# 17 July 2009 at 3:44 pm

Isman Tanuri (@groovygenie) said:

Really enjoyed this post. Indeed, Twitter has limitations in terms of visualising tweet streams. In fact, don’t think I have come across any clients that do it differently. As J mentioned, is Twitter really for conversing? I personally see Twitter as touch points. A reply or two is relevant,beyond that is choking the bandwidth

And I am sure Twitter or client developers will address your very relevant observations in the near future.

# 17 July 2009 at 4:06 pm

daphnemaia said:

@J: Plurk is real time. the gd thing abt Twitter is the people. the gd thing abt Plurk is the interface. IMO.

@jr: but to do that effectively, u have to begin ur msg with @, right? otherwise it’ll not be tagged at all, even if u reply immediately after the person has posted.

@groovygenie: glad u found something worth reading in this entry. There ARE some great conversations on Twitter. I guess #hashtags do it, but it’s not as seamless as Plurk’s conversation threads. U’re right in that Twitter is a touch point. I like to see it as a platform for sharing, too. Still, I hope Twitter/client developers will address this issue. Have u seen how it works on the Plurk mobile site? check it out – http://www.plurk.com/m/u/daphnemaia

# 17 July 2009 at 4:41 pm

Nitin Reddy Katkam said:

Hi!

I sooo totally agree that Twitter ought to have a threaded reply feature. I tweeted it just this morning before I saw your article on Plurk.

Usually, the RT is too long to post so I replace my pronouns with words that make it easy for the reader to tell what I’m talking about.

-Nitin

# 17 July 2009 at 4:42 pm

Isman Tanuri (@groovygenie) said:

@daphnemaia, agree with you. The Plurk interface is much more coherent and organised, quite like it. However, I have a naggy feeling that once Google Wave is released, Plurk will need a gameplan change. Pretty similar in concept ie. trendlines.

Although don’t think Google can come close when it comes to FUN Plurk is fun.

# 17 July 2009 at 5:29 pm

jr said:

yup. the current implementation only activates referencing the tweet being replied to if the message has the @ in front. although they’re exploring not having to require it.

i’m curious, do you type the username manually (rather than clicking on the reply button) for people you reply to on twitterfox? i looked through all your previous tweets and i can’t see any “in reply to” links

# 17 July 2009 at 6:47 pm

daphnemaia said:

Hi Nitin, that’s a gd practise too

@Groovygenie Google wave is gonna be awesome. but i wld rather use it for work more than anything else!

@jr yes, i usually type it out. that’s the bad thing too! haha… it’s easier for me to type than to right click and “reply to”. well. it’s a matter of habit i guess!

# 19 July 2009 at 8:15 pm