Twitter: Cynic to Convert in 10 weeks

Hello, my name's Dorothy.I'm a Twitter convert!

About 10 weeks ago @MD60 ( brother) suggested I sign up for Twitter. He insisted that it would be fun and a way for our dispersed family to stay connected. Unconvinced, mainly because of what I'd heard and read, I did finally register, but truthfully, it was because President Obama used it, rather than any family loyalty.

My efforts were rather half hearted. I followed @MD60, plus a couple of well known British celebs, which actually turned out to be duller than watching paint dry (sorry Bro!) I posted a few mundane things myself, trying to enter the spirit of it all. The minutiae of their daily lives held no interest for me at all. Cosmo Landesman of The Times (London) suggested that Twitter made even interesting people seem dull. I was in total agreement. I even bored myself.

But a few people, even through cyber-space, picked up on my "lost caused -ness". @karenpurves, @colinudelewis and @nicolabird and @judethecoach, all came to the rescue and went to huge lengths, with super supportive basic tips about choosing the right people to follow, posting a photo, leaving myself open to be followed (hadn't realised I was closed) and some of the other protocols. But even then, despite their encouraging words, cynicism still prevailed. Honestly... I did try - but the whole thing just completely eluded me. I sensed the tearing out of cyber hair.

Then one day - something kicked in. I have no idea really, even now, what it was. I think more by accident than design, I left the social media robots behind and finally started connecting with people with 3 digit IQs. Their tweets caught my eye and I started reading and responding. I engaged. I began to get, just a little, the Twitter etiquette and protocols. Gradually, there seemed to be a few people I was connecting with on regular basis who seemed fun, on the same wave length and prepared to give, rather than send automated messages and self publicity. I finally understood ( after 8 weeks - I know a slow study ) that I needed to download Tweetdeck to manage the activity.

Don't worry I'm not going to launch into a " How to..." pitch! Wouldn't dream of it! There's clearly no way someone can advise people on the detail of this process, when they only found the Tweet shorten button today! This is just to share my own Twitter journey. Sometimes the voices of the clueless, resonate as much as the voices of experts - a bit like Forrest Gump.

Generally, as an almost total beginner, what I look for are people that I find fun and interesting and are active in my areas of general interest. That's all. Nothing strategic or sophisticated at this point. I have no master plan. I make it a basic rule to only connect with people who have a photo or a convincing bio, wearing clothes. They do make a difference - so are mandatory, for me at least . I only follow animals if they are extremely funny.

I look at the stats just to check they're balanced and I can see that the individuals are active. I avoid braggers and give anyone pre-occupied with target-reaching a miss. Same for anyone who tries to hard- sell me anything early on. I am gradually identifying the egoists and I can see now that there are people who have the same messages on automated feeds which come around and around, 24/7. You know who you are! Guys, change the tape or stream ( or whatever it is that goes round) I suspect I will eventually decide to "un-follow" some of them, when I summon up the courage. Apparently this is " not a good thing". Whole contentious blogs are devoted to this process, with a slew of vitriolic exchanges in their wake.

So what has this got to do with a European Career Transition and Executive Search specialist? Why since last week, have I included a section introducing it into in my coaching programme? Don't worry - not the detail, just the principle.

At the moment 47% of Twitter traffic is US based, but that will change for sure. Just like the Big Mac, it will take root here in Europe. As more and more corporate HR and recruiters use it as a network, it will be another opportunity for candidates to raise their visibility and connectivity, in the hope of being found. With a job loss: job creation ratio at 3:1 in Europe, right now, job seekers need that. The churn on Twitter is huge, but people leave their bio details, and provided that the contact info doesn't change, that's great for internet sourcers.

But for me personally, and this is the message I share currently, the greatest value is the high speed communication of really useful, up to date information. Having it distilled and recommended by trusted sources is a major bonus. It's the sheer pace of the circulation that is amazing and fascincating. It's a wonderful way to stay in touch and keep a finger on an ever changing pulse. It has not only saved me hours of time, but brought my attention to sources and resources that I may have over looked or not even considered at all, simply because I didn't know they were there.

Earlier this week, I had dinner with a Tweet buddy @marionchapsal who was visiting Brussels. We had connected via Twitter. Despite mutterings from @MD60 about meeting strangers from cyber space, and the lady from Lyon turning out to be a potential axe murderer ( that thought is rooted in extensive knowledge of heinous on-line scams, following a long career in internet security) we had a wonderful, fun evening, sharing experiences and getting to know each other. What was most interesting, was that I saw immediately how 140 characters can convey a person's personality. She was exactly as she seemed in her Tweets! It was simply global networking at it's best. Virtual, became actual. Would our paths have crossed otherwise? Probably not. Just brilliant!

Somewhat approropiately, the restuarant of choice was the " Idiot de Village". Nothing lost in translation there.