Yes, pets teach you about Twitter. Let me explain my research on this topic.
The Horses
I step out on the deck every morning and call to our two horses who look at me, maybe whinny and then resume their morning routines. Later, when I go out and visit, we have a mostly one-sided conversation and eventually I talk too much and they wander out to the back of the property.
Twitter behaves in much the same way. We all say hello to it in the morning, there might be a nice acknowledgment like a few DM’s or @replies, and then the tweets start rolling in. I acknowledge what is on my screen and then wander away and continue with my morning routine. When I check back with Twitter later there is a lot of one-sided conversation going on – a lot of what I call “tell and sell” in which Twitterers talk too much at me and I wander away again.
So, my horses have taught me, it’s the quality of the words that are said, the quality of the conversation occurring, not the quantity of words being spoken that makes Twitter purposeful to me.
The Dogs
We have three Springer Spaniels. They’re nuts. I love that bit of insanity when we are all outside – they seem to be everywhere at once, running like crazy, sniffing out new things on our property and every few minutes coming back to us for pats of encouragement and a little conversation.
Oh yes, Twitter is just like our Springers. It allows us to jump from topic to topic with no rhyme or reason, be insatiably curious, converse on a variety of subjects and every once in a while we get a few pats of encouragement when we post our own pieces of interest.
The Birds
We have two cockatiels. They are noisy. They get on talking jags and we have to cover them up to shut them up. They can most certainly be annoying. There are many on Twitter who have the cockatiel characteristics. Need I say anything more?
The Snake
Our oldest son has a snake. It loves to sit under a rock when things are a little overwhelming. It just hides. There have been many days when I have sat at the computer for hours reading Twitter posts and sending tweets and then suddenly I get this wave of “overwhelmedness.” I then have to go sit under a rock, or at least go have a cocktail……
If we all took cues from our pets, some people might Twitter a little better.
Seriously, I love Twitter, have read hundreds of great articles, learned a ton about all sorts of things and am working hard to get those I know and work with to embrace it (of course for some, that is easier said than done).
And maybe, if I could just trade the cockatiels in for a couple of Love Birds to use as examples, I might have even more success spreading the Twitter word…..
What social media/pet analogies do you have – it would be fun to compile a list!
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