Twitter is changing how we communicate in business, just like email did about 15-20 years ago and other communication methods did before then. It’s all about timing and the creation of “urgency.” People want to know information and they want answers — NOW! Communicating in real time, like we do on Twitter, has changed communication forever.

Personally, I like the fast pace, but I’m discovering some challenges:

• People are becoming more impatient. (We don’t like to wait for responses.)
• There’s a lot more risk of miscommunication. (We’ve all read tweets that pass along false info: “So-and-so has died…,” etc.)
• Being so open about what we’re doing or thinking makes us more vulnerable (and this makes those of us who like our privacy somewhat uncomfortable).

Here’s an article from SearchEngineLand.com that talks more about search and discovery in real time on Twitter.

Until next time, let’s keep searching, discovering and learning in real time on Twitter!

Best,

Kathy Magrino

For the past few weeks I’ve been tweeting on Twitter. Yes, it’s time-consuming, but I’ve learned to work Twitter into my daily schedule, stopping by for blocks of time each day, reading and writing messages (a.k.a. “tweets”).

I haven’t learned about the history of Twitter yet or how it got its name, but I know that since I’ve been tweeting, I’ve discovered a new-found sense of freedom. When I see that little Twitter bird on my TweetDeck, I feel like I’m literally flying around the world.

On Twitter, I’ve got people following me from all over the world — Australia, Spain, UK, Canada, India, Hong Kong, Argentina — and all parts of the USA. And, I’m following many of these people, too, catching up on news and information and learning so many new ideas and concepts from just about everywhere.

With Twitter, I am flying around the world — and I love it! Follow me @kathymagrino.

Until next time, take care!

Kathy Magrino

In the past two weeks alone, I received two email messages communicating not-so-good news that should have been either phone calls or face-to-face meetings, rather than email messages. Email isn’t always appropriate to communicate some messages, especially bad news that needs to be “softened” or explained.

Am I old-fashioned for thinking this way?

Are more and more people “hiding” behind their computers to communicate negative information? Are we all becoming so accustomed to being attached to our computers and devices that we’ve forgotten how good it feels to hear someone’s voice or to see their facial expressions when they’re talking to us?

To me, there’s something about hearing bad news or negative information from a real person rather than seeing text on a computer screen that makes the information more bearable and easier to digest. Maybe it’s just me.

Is it… or do you feel this way, too?

Until next time, take care!

Kathy Magrino