I saw a tweet asking whether or not flirting on Facebook is cheating. My quick answer: Yes. But these are your friends though and they know you. Odds are that your spouse or significant other is online too! What about Twitter? Are you going into the Twitter bar for a quiet drink or to engage?
Doesn’t Twitter remind you of a bar filled with people who you never have met. You’re there to engage, check things out, meet some folks, spread some cheer, perhaps hook up with someone later. Just like a bar, you might be there with friends or not. You’re going to try to walk up to someone, engage, and perhaps have a conversation.
Some pretty strong parallels start kicking in here:
Checking out the action: Searching around for terms. In a bar, I might order a drink first and survey the scene. Me, I want to hang out at the startup founder, innovative geek, and VC tables. I might go over there and see what’s going on. On Twitter, I check out the stream and then hit the search bar. I might go to the quieter bars (www.Tweetdeck.com, www.Tweetworks.com) and check out what’s going on there too!
Do you check out the loud table where all the action is? Stars with thousands of followers are just like those folks who have lots of people around them. They’re attractive. They hold the crowd’s attention. (Carly Simon’s “You’re so Vain”comes to mind here.) That’s up to you! You might just want to sit at a quiet table for now, checking out the action, having an imaginary conversation until someone comes and checks you out!
You’ve dressed up, people are checking out how you look: Online credibility, your profile, your interests, your online rep, your updates
Opening Line: Was my 140 characters on target about something they’re interested in? How about politely listening (searching, reading) and then jumping in? (Guys who watch Bud Commercials or read those books about picking up singles, those things don’t quite work here!) What do you say? Well, you might check out the participant’s updates, know the blog or thing they’re talking about….
The Response! In the bar, be prepared to have people turn away or perhaps they’ve enough manners to give you a little rope – perhaps they’re interested in engaging – despite what you say. Some might even ignore you. That hasn’t happened before, has it? Let’s assume you say something that’s moderately engaging here…
What if they don’t listen or engage? Do you go to a different bar? Delete what you were saying? Odds are you might delete your entry or just leave it there for a little while to see if someone engages. I like doing that!
Which are the best bars to go into? Do you like Nascar? Are you politically involved? Its up to you! Search around! You’ll find the conversation you like!
