5 Reasons On Why I Micro-blog
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I’ve seen a lot of bloggers say that you shouldn’t micro-blog, it’s a waste of time, bla, blah. But, some did say that you can micro-blog, but it shouldn’t be your priority. Now I agree with these folks.
You could micro-blog, but make sure its down somewhere on your list of priorities. Don’t spend too much time on it. Well here are my 5 simple reasons:
1. Get my name out
I know that my blog isn’t popular (yet). I need to promote my blog and get more people to read it. They need to know about it. I need to spread the word. Once in a while, I share one of my posts there and a lot of people check it out. I got a bunch of new readers from Plurk too. Sometimes they even share my post with people, so that’s great.
And of course, self-promotion. I need to get my name out too. Actually wait. I don’t really do it for self-promotion. Well maybe, a bit.
2. Breaking news
People do a bit of micro-blogging when something is going on. There was an earthquake and the news got on Twitter within seconds. Redux.com got 8 million in funding. People are like mini-journalists on there.
So, I can stayed updated and hopefully, get the word before other sites do. I try to be the first one to blog about something important. I like to beat those big guys at blogs like TechCrunch. It’s like a little race, you know? Never mind.
3. Traffic!
Oh yes, don’t forget traffic. I got my link on my pimpin` profile. People go check out it and they click on the link and tada! I signed up for Twitter a few weeks ago and I didn’t really use it. Yesterday I started using it properly and I got about a hundred unique visitors. Not bad, huh? Think about what you could do in the long run.
4. Connect with people
Yeah I don’t just micro-blog for traffic and promotion. I also do it because its a great way to meet different people. Like connect with other bloggers and don’t forget, you can meet a few important figures (aka web celebs) on there too. Its a great way to share tips, ideas, etc.
Oh and with you guys too. I mean my readers. I think bloggers should get to know their readers and so, a lot of them do it on micro-blogs. I haven’t done it yet, but I will. I’ll put up links to my Twitter and Plurk on the sidebar.
5. Because I actually want to do it
Okay people seem to forget this. I wanna micro-blog because I like the idea. I have things to talk about which are too short and sometimes, irrelevant for my blog, so I do it there. That way I’m keeping up the quality of content on my blog rather than quantity.
Now I don’t mean micro-blogging about things like “okay I’m going to take a shit now. i’ll be back in 10″. No. I mean geek stuff. For example, sharing what another blogger posted about, a breaking news, sharing links to cool sites, etc.
Over to you
Are you micro-blogging right now? Are you thinking of doing it? Or will you pass? Tell us what you think about it. And check out my Twitter vs Plurk post if you’re not sure which one to use.
Oh and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Plurk.
19 August 2008 at 12:16 am
Also, microblogging can help you blog, if your shy or don’t know what to say, microblogging starts you off at 140 characters, then you want to say more so you continue on your regular blog still using your microblog to promote what you say on your blog to people that may not know about your blog. Have a good week.
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19 August 2008 at 12:24 am
@scottpenton: Yeah I agree with you. Plus you get to know what people are interested in and what they expect from you. It’s a great way to enter the world of blogging.
You have a nice week too.
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19 August 2008 at 12:42 am
I feel that microblogging is great way to get more exposure. All it helps to give you inspiration for your next blog post if you are running out of ideas.
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19 August 2008 at 1:59 am
Yes, microblogging has certainly made me hear of you. I never would have known that you were an annoying self-promoter with low Internet cluefulness had you not friended me (and more than a thousand other people) on Twitter. Good job!
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19 August 2008 at 2:06 am
@Another Twitterer: Mm hmm and how many tweets did I make about my blog? 2 or 3 out of my other 115 tweets? Yep that’s some huge self-promotion.
Twitter (and micro-blogging in general) is like a party. Doesn’t matter how many people you talk with over there. You’re free to talk to as many people as you want.
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19 August 2008 at 6:38 am
oh yes i love microbloggin cuz its fast n can chat w/friends instantly like IM but its more of a community chat ^.^
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19 August 2008 at 1:19 pm
@th13rteen:
It’s not the number of tweets you make that’s the problem. It’s “following” a zillion people who you aren’t even interested in following, just so you get a bunch of people to follow you back. All so you can build your precious, precious traffic.
That might possibly have been clever a year ago, but now it’s just spam, and Twitter is limiting the number of follows allowed precisely because of this.
I made my updates private months ago, and I still get two or three follow requests a day from self-promotional yutzes like yourself. For every one legitimate request, I get circa 10 spammy ones. It’s as annoying as hell, and I’m amazed that every time we get a new medium, somebody can still manage to be doe-eyed and innocent about spamming.
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19 August 2008 at 3:17 pm
@Another Twitterer: We’re free to do whatever we want on these sites. And do you know what spam really is? Adding a bunch of people on Twitter is not spam. Well actually it could be considered spam if I added those people and started really spamming them.
Did you even see how many self-promoting tweets I made? Did you see how many self-promoting tweets popular bloggers made? Each and everyone of their tweet is linking to their post. I just made 2 or 3, so that we can start a discussion.
I’m sorry that you feel I’m “spamming” you. Like I said before micro-blogs are like a huge party. You go there talk to as many people as you want. You can make friends with as many people as you want. But, its only annoying if the person keeps on talking about his/her site, product or service.
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19 August 2008 at 8:31 pm
That is exactly the same line I heard from email spammers for years. “If people don’t want it, they can hit delete! I’m providing them a valuable opportunity! The Internet is about freedom and connecting people!” All self-serving horse shit.
Telling me what I’m supposed to find annoying is pure arrogance. Like every marketroid ever, you have a hard time telling the difference between what you want and what other people want. You want to bug people so you can cream in your jeans over your traffic spike. They want to be left alone, not spammed.
And yes, it’s spam. Check out these links, for example:
http://mashable.com/2008/04/14/twitter-spam-out-of-control/
http://getsatisfaction.com/twitter/topics/how_would_you_prefer_to_report_twitter_spam
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/12/twitters-2000-follow-limit-raises-a-ruckus-but-how-many-people-can-you-seriously-keep-track-of-anyway/
http://blog.twitter.com/2008/08/making-progress-on-spam.html
When rafts of users, major bloggers, and Twitter themselves call it spam, it’s spam, no matter how much spammers like yourself will try to claim otherwise.
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19 August 2008 at 8:41 pm
@Another Twitterer: Fine then whatever makes you happy. If I’m “spamming” then stop following me and hit that block button, and stop bitching and flapping like a frigin headless chicken. How about that?
Or are you just jealous because no one gives a crap about your tweets and they follow my “spam”? Hmm maybe it is. Huh, nunya?
I’m just using Twitter for fun and you’re just going into bitch-mode because I’m following too many people. Like wow.
Holy shit! You talk about how much you like sex and how you like to do it on your blog. That is just sick! Maybe I can see the problem now. The problem isn’t me or Twitter. It’s YOU!
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21 August 2008 at 12:52 pm
@th13rteen
Thanks, but I already blocked you. Just as soon as I looked at your account and realized you were yet another follow spammer.
You’re the one who came around bothering me, asking to follow my protected tweet stream, so don’t act like this is something out of the blue. And yes, if I have protected them, it means I don’t want people to care about them. Duh.
Also, good work on the retarded Sherlock Holmes imitation. Of course I didn’t give you my real email address or username in the box above. Mailinator.com is a public drop box I use with the untrustworthy. Which you are clearly among given that you will reveal the “will not be published” stuff whenever you feel like it. Good to know that not only do you act like a spammer, but you’ve got the brains and integrity of one, too.
Sure, the problem is with me. Which is why Twitter is changing the software so that people can’t act like you’re acting. Just keep telling yourself the problem is with other people, and you’ll have a long career ahead of you in telemarketing. And later, alcoholism. Enjoy!
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21 August 2008 at 2:29 pm
@Another Twitterer: That’s good that you blocked me. Good job!
There’s nothing wrong in adding a few people. I didn’t know you were in the list of people I added. If I knew that you were gonna try to harass me by calling me “spammer” then I would have blocked you ASAP.
And WTF are you talking about? You’re email does not get published on this blog or any other blog powered by WordPress. Ask anyone who runs a blog or comments on a blog.
Like I said before, whatever makes you happy. I’m a “spammer” and there is nothing wrong with you. You blog about things that people in their right mind wouldn’t even think about doing. Maybe that’s why you’re so bitchy.
Telermarketing? Alcholism? Talking from your own experience? Because it sounds like that.
BTW, you don’t even use Twitter. Your last tweet was made 2 months ago. You’re just taking the chance to bitch at someone.
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21 August 2008 at 6:01 pm
[...] Twitter is also saying that. Yesterday, an old (mentally unstable) lady was bitching at me and was accusing me of spamming Twitter. Hmm how so? She said that I added a “zillion” people on Twitter, [...]
21 August 2008 at 9:59 pm
Unsurprisingly, you’ve still got it wrong.
The twitter account “nunya” has nothing to do with me. The only place you would have gotten that is in the fake email address I’ve submitted with my posts. You know, in the “will not be published” field above. I’d bet your three readers are glad to know you can’t be trusted with that.
My tweets are protected and always have been. Which you would know had you not just, without looking, followed a thousand random people in your attempt to whore for attention and traffic.
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21 August 2008 at 10:04 pm
@Another Twitterer: OMG. Admins can see what you enter as your name, email address and URL. “Will not be published” means it won’t be made public. Ask anyone who runs a WordPress powered blog.
Yeah sure, that blog isn’t yours. Well if I were you then I would deny it too after I saw those sick posts.
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