What is this?

I was told that I had to check out Twitter by a relative of a friend, so I checked it out. I decided to create a profile name and Tomtravel was taken so I became by accident @Tomtravel2. At first I was baffled by the whole thing, as I was only following a few people who were not tweeting much. Then I listened to a podcast by Laura Fitton @Pistacio on the marvels of Twitter. Much of what she said focused on the utility for business networking and made a lot of sense, so I followed her.

Now I had something! Adding a prolific tweeter livened things up a bit. I began to look at who she was following and followed them. Things got even more interesting, but still being confused I sought clarity and guidance. I followed some of the people on the Twitter Elite list at Twitter Grader. Through the tweets of these “elites” I followed links to some much needed guidance and advice on Twitter usage, strategy and ethics.

Building a Community

While I was in the early stages of my Twevolution I was teaching myself about web site design, search engine optimization (SEO), and search engine marketing (SEM). I searched for some likely sources of information in these areas and followed some great tweeters. I live in the Valley of the Sun, or greater Phoenix metropolitan area, where  Phoenix meets Scottsdale so I searched for the Twitter Elite in those two cities and followed them as well. Ditto for Arizona.

I am a travel professional and began to seek people who work or in my field. I also looked for people who expressed an interest in travel. I searched for cruise lines, hotels, resorts, and other travel agents. This activity has made up the bulk of both my following and follower lists. I also followed anyone recommended by or mentioned by the travel tweeters in my network. Within two months I was in the thousands.

Play Nice

One of the most important things I have learned from wiser tweeters is to play nice with others. Stated in many ways by different people that is how I boil it down. My philosophy or “Twilosophy” is to first and foremost use good ethics or “Twethics” at all times. From the beginning I have thanked those who retweet or #followfriday me. I try to return those favors as well. If a tweet amuses, interests, informs, or enlightens me I retweet it no matter who the tweeter is. If it’s cool to me someone who follows me might just like it as well. @tomtravel2 replies are acknowledged and responded to as soon as I can get to them.

Another part of playing nice in my opinion is adding something of value in my tweets. I am a hungry reader of travel news so I post a link most days to the articles I found most of interest. I try to give #followfriday props to tweople who seem to reflect the play nice twilosophy as well. I also try to help new tweeters with a tip or two from time to time. Lastly, I try to add a bit of spice to the Twuniverse by adding a dash of humor in my tweets.

It Works for Me

Since I am not out to gather a huge quantity of followers or make a quick buck with my Twitter activity, what I have done so far works for me. In a few months I have grown a following that has quality and meets my narrow goals. I have met some great people often in random ways. My community is focused on my primary interests with a few exceptions. Twitter has given me an easy and fun way to network with a variety of interesting people in travel and the internet.

I welcome you comments!