And one thing I adore about Twitter is its simplicity and flexibility.

But now that Twitter’s become a known entity to most people — gaining visibility during the US 2008 election process, through several catastrophes and tweeted-about gaffes, and most notably during the #iranelection news — it seems people with outdated sales-push mentalities are multiplying on Twitter, their accounts propagating like mushrooms during a wet spring.

Take the tweet in the graphic, above. Zoonini (gifted Montreal web designer, Kathryn Presner) mentioned skydiving in a tweet and immediately an “adventure expert” followed her. Last night I tweeted about a CMS (content management system) I’d purchased and I wake to two follows by other CMS developers. (At least these follows are more plausible.)

push is so past

But these all these actions operate on the premise that one can push, shove, foist oneself upon another Twitterer. They’ll search in Twitter for (their) industry-related keywords and follow anyone they find. Or, on the bottom rung, there’s the “make easy money” dreck who will follow anyone with a pulse. And I expect they anticipate a reflexive follow-back. But why would I do that? Why would I endure their “noise”?

voluntarily vexed?

Picture the most annoying, loud-mouthed, self-obsessed salesperson you’ve ever had to suffer. Okay. Clear your head. Now picture yourself at a distance from that person, and imagine yourself walking closer and closer to them. They’re getting louder. Their words are grating. A headache is ensuing. You’re asking “why? why am I doing this to myself?”

This is why I don’t follow salespeople on Twitter, or anyone else who has nothing to offer but their self-concerned, “let me get you to do this” blather. Just like I ignore TV commercials, billboards, bus stop advertising (etc.).

it’s about giving

Twitter at its best is giving. It’s human. It’s people that want to share their passion in an honest way. And themselves. Their frustrations and triumphs. It’s Chris Brogan and Havi Brooks dozens of others who don’t try to spin it. Kinda like love: let me see what you’re like (don’t stalk me) and maybe a deeper relationship (or a business contact) will evolve.

For further study: who’s using Twitter?

A whole lot of companies

The US government

Who’s using Twitter but doesn’t get it?

For further study: good posts or sites about Twitter

The official Twitter blog

TwitTown, an unofficial community and forum

Five ways to gather and report news with Twitter

Five things to do as a new Twitter user

An example of when a press release was redundant

Mistakes one shouldn’t make with Twitter and branding

Twitter is the ham radio of the internet

How a premier strategist in consumer connections uses Twitter

Why one fellow follows 10,000 people

A nicely comprehensive intro and guide to Twitter

Twitter and identity, with an interesting punchline

One person’s observations on Twitter’s usefulness outside the niche

Seven good tips for new Twitter users

An example of using twitter for reputation management and another post on keeping on top of tweets when you’re a conference speaker

101 Everyday Uses for Twitter

For further study: Twitter applications, spin-offs, and “mashups”

These are for your own review and enlightenment. Many may be in testing mode. No guarantees provided.

PocketTweets lets you twitter using your iPhone

You can use these apps to twitter (and track the tweets you follow) using software on your computer instead of the web interface: Twhirl or TweetDeck or — a Firefox plugin, TwitterFox.

100 most popular Twitter mashups

Joblighted: tech jobs

TwitHire: jobs board

Twitter charts (see how much you tweet)

TwitterSnooze (temporarily quiet the loquacious twitterers you follow)

Twittervision (a bird’s eye view)

Twistori (”I love”, “I hate”, you fill in the blanks)

Tweetake (a back-up method)

Roomatic: start a themed chat atop Twitter

ReadWriteWeb’s take on the top 10 Twitter apps (as of 07/2007)

Monitter (monitor the twitterverse for a set of three keywords)

Automatically “tweet” your blog postings (though I don’t recommend this) by using: Twitpress or TwitThis or Twitterfeed.

TwitsLikeMe (find others with similar interests)

TweetWheel allows you to find out who knows who

TweetMyPage is a Firefox (browser) plug-in

TwitterCounter allows you to add your follower count to your blog

Holy cow: Twebinars are the latest craze.

RememberTheMilk has figured a way for you to send reminders to yourself using Twitter

It’s what you make of it

One of the things I really adore about Twitter is its simplicity, which I’m happy to see is a core value. It’s blindingly easy for anyone to start using it, and your own personality can be right there, without a lot of fluff and glop and techno-decisions. Because I choose who I follow, I control the level of chatter.

Simplicity. Simplicity. I don’t have to create a community page/site or sign up for forums on distinct topics in order to participate. Though I use a Twitter app, I needn’t. I can be fluid and follow my interests. (In no particular order, they include: Boise, Treasure Valley, Idaho, web design, graphics, web development, painting and drawing, gardening…friends!) I can fade out when I’m busy and hop back to the party (bar, water cooler, coffee shop: pick your metaphor) when I want to join in. This local Twitterer, @TheImageryLab, puts it rather nicely: Twitter is like your own private radio or TV station.

Still deliberating? Jump in

If you’re reading this, you’re probably already on Twitter, but if you’re not sure about that amalgam of wiggly, ever-changing, ever-growing beasties that are in the “social media” box, I would suggest you just try a few out and see what flavors you like; you’re not obligated to any. See what fits you. You don’t have to be on everything; don’t exhaust yourself.

Bad Twitter behavior

It’s annoying when someone dumps a pile of RT (retweets) in my window. I like people who consider their readers/followers and craft good Twitter practices. I won’t follow someone who has no profile/webpage, and I appreciate avatars with people’s faces (if you’re a person; if you’re a business you’re off the hook). I recommend that everyone personalize their Twitter page (and plan on offering this as a free value-add for my web design clients). I’ll block anyone who follows me who’s Twitter spamming (including “get rich with Twitter” scum); hey: clue over here. Twitter’s about conversation, not yelling. If I want ads crammed down my throat I know where to go.

Recipe for Tweet success = balance

I try and balance my tweets between lending and offering help, a limited number of RTs, hot news, encouragement, and personal observation. Just like in real life, people on Twitter don’t all have the same world view (to include politics and religion) so I try and keep that in mind; like habaneros in a recipe, a little goes a long way.

And there are a few really good reasons why any business or nonprofit should look into how they might benefit by using Twitter. But first, what is it?

Twitter has been called a microblog (because each “tweet” or message can’t go longer than 140 characters) and a free-for-all IM (instant messaging) service. One signs up for a free account online, and you get a page (which you can customize) and which displays — not your own messages, interestingly enough, but the messages of those folks you “follow” (subscribe to). And others can choose to “follow” (subscribe to) you and your posts. It’s very transparent.

So what does this have to do with you?

Twitter was originally used as a way for friends or family to keep up with each other. Key words: light and social. But it was a great concept that kept evolving, and now it’s useful on several levels (including the original one). It’s a free-flowing meeting place, an immense “water cooler” where people that wouldn’t or couldn’t brush shoulders can exchange ideas, vent, share.

People have gotten jobs via Twitter. Independents have picked up new projects via Twitter connections. I’ve found it a tremendous source of industry news. Businesses and organizations (nonprofits, news, media) use it as another way to spread the word.

I could go on for pages, but much of this has already been said, so my advice is:

(1) Sign up for a Twitter account.

(2) Read the “good posts” section below.

(3) Jump in. Listen more than you post, to start. Get the lay of the land.

(4) Find some interesting people, follow them, and see who they are following.

(5) Learn. Communicate. Share. Create relationships.

Read item #5 again. See the tone? Remember when I said that I wasn’t going to tell you how to manipulate Twitter to jack up sales and site visitors? That’s because that strategy is doomed to fail. Twitter is the ultimate “opt in”. You can’t make people follow you — so you need to provide value. Heavy boots and blasting out noise will pique no one’s interest.

So try it out. See you there.