Just like the colander you have in the drawer below the kitchen knives, strainers filter out stuff we don’t want. We filter what we say to our friends, spouses and colleagues. Some of us filter too much and some too little. Our mothers have told us “if you don’t have anything nice to say…” you know the rest.
These same filters apply to social media and especially Twitter. Since writing my first tweet a year ago, I have had many moments where I knew I could not post what I had just written. My finger hesitated over the delete key and then, from those internal filters, a decision arose, and I blasted the 140 characters into oblivion. So what are these filters, and how should we use them?
I write for myself here at Flurry Creations, as well as for Soma Games, and Conservation Biology Institute. My filters are different for each account. In general I think they apply to most situations. Below are a few filters that I rely on:
- Is this useful to anyone and am I promoting something I really think is remarkable? I have to remember this one most of all when friends ask me to retweet something. It is so tempting to publish it because they are friends. Would you send hundreds of friends to a bad mechanic or a lousy restaurant? No. So visit the link and make sure. Don’t be afraid to pass. Also be honest and let them know why you won’t be furthering the promotion. By all means, pass it on if you agree that their new found product, post, or service is truly remarkable.
- Am I being a sleestak? This term comes from a post I think everyone using Social Media should read. A sleestak will post constantly to their own benefit and glean the popularity of others, while benefiting no one. If you have not read it you really should. (Really, go read it and then come back here and finish my post.) If you have that horrible feeling in your stomach because you know that you have been a sleestak in the past, don’t worry, we have all gone there. Just try not to do it again.
- Am I willing to make a mistake? This is big. We need to be willing to take risks and make mistakes. Two of Chris Brogan’s posts on mistakes and apologizing come to mind. We need to be willing to make them as well as apologize for them. Just don’t let this filter stall you from posting all together.
Use these or come up with your own.
What are your filters? Please share them here.
Every day your prospects, customers, partners and competition are communicating in a very public way. They are asking questions about your products, ranting about your service, praising your assistance and sharing information about your market. Every day, this is happening on Twitter, with or without you.
When we reached our beach destination, I decided to slip out to the local grocery store and pick up a few items. As I perused the isles, I was constantly met by empty shelves. The candy section had four bare shelves and one bar of chocolate. The soda section had only the standards for Pepsi and Coke. Obviously the varieties had been ditched in this ever tightening economy. This is frustrating to the consumer. I did not have the nerve to ask the manager if the store was closing its doors, but that was the perception all of the customers left with. Right then perception was everything.
I have been thinking a lot about poker as I have watched businesses fold here in my hometown, 
. They attribute the companies better sales during the holidays compared to their competitors, to “aggressive promotional pricing action”. There is no mention of the million and counting hits the doghouse video has received on YouTube. Even though the approach is different from the disruptive television or print ads so commonly used by large retail stores, it still shows that JCPenny is missing the mark on viral marketing. I believe they have a remarkable brand that does not need gimmicks like 
