Here’s a fun tip for those still scaling the “I don’t get it” side of the social media peak. Particularly if part of of what’s challenging you is the way “updates” look.
The first rule you (should) learn on Twitter is that no one cares what you’re doing, unless who you are adds perspective to that activity. I care what chefs and farmers eat, but otherwise find meal updates are banal.
Hopefully it won’t be long after that that you learn to get off Twitter’s homepage and onto software (like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Seesmic, etc) that makes it easier for you to process all the information and insight traded daily on the platform.
But if you’re not up to a professional tool, or learning something new isn’t an option for you right now, paper.li is here to help.
It displays the content pointed to by the people you’re following as a newspaper. Something we’re all familiar with.
My Twitter stream as a newspaper
Beyond familiarity, it’s a nice way to process the information because:
- you can see more of it before choosing to click the link to the source.
- the articles are organized by category/subject matter for easy scanning
A more expensive alternative would be to get your hands on an ipad and download Flipboard. It helps turn Facebook’s horrendous interface into a pleasurable way to peruse news from your network. It also, (currently, though this must be changing soon), let’s you add up to seven other RSS streams to your personal newspaper. All beautifully rendered.
Will this be the thing that helps you start to appreciate Social Media?
The Twitter Barry A. Martin Daily
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