Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Are you an info pusher?

I was trying to figure out why I migrate to certain people on Twitter over others today, and I settled on this...there's info pushers and then there's citizens(call them Twitizens, if you need a catchy new word. Take it, it's free.)
Some of of us sign up (on purpose) for info push on Twitter, via email, etc., to get sports scores, tech news, beard trimming tips, and the like. This is fine when we've made a mutual agreement that we want someone to shout news or information in our general direction. But what of the shouters on Twitter? Personally, I find them annoying and I'll tell you why.
Twitter is basically a venue for a large conversation. I describe it to the uninitiated as if I am sitting around a giant table with some good friends, some content experts, some jokesters and a few advertising wonks. They all add to my day, and hopefully I add to theirs. Accepting the premise that it is a conversational medium, why all the shouting. We all have those friends who incessantly pepper us with news every time we see them. As they give you their verbal news feed, you're really thinking "Can we just have a real conversation here?"
Twitter's for real conversation. Use it that way. And if you're just now realizing you are an info pusher, make a clean break. Start out by doing some quality listening. Follow some interesting people and then follow their lead.

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