Earlier this fall as I was reading "Twitterville," by Shel Israel I found myself dog-earing (it's a word , I looked it up) the pages during my many "a-ha moments." I love reading about how other people and companies are using the new media technologies to create value and Shel's book is full of great ideas.
If I had to pick my favorite nugget of information from the book, it was ironically from the last page of the book. Shel ends by stating, "Chances are right now, there's a conversation going on in Twitterville that can impact what you do for a living." So true! It doesn't matter when I get on Twitter or from where, there is always someone who is sharing information that resonates with me and influences an action from me. I may retweet, reply to, forward, or even just retain that information for future use.
I've had conversations, built new relationships, and resurrected old ones with people I know I would have never had an opportunity to meet in real life, based on common interests or a common purpose. To list just a few, Shashi Bellamkonda (@Shashib), Joni Doolin (@LuckyPenny), Amanda Hite (@SexyThinker), Dana Kirk (@DanaKirk) , Shel Israel (@ShelIsrael), and so many more all with a passion for social media and its ability to impact our daily lives. Any way I look at it, these Twitter conversations have a personal and a professional impact on me every day.
When I finished the book, I wondered what the rest of Sodexo's Talent Acquisition's team would gain from reading the book. Would everyone find their own special message or would there be a common theme? So after sending them each a copy of Twitterville and learning that some of them had actually formed a book club to discuss it, I decided to survey the team to find out and build a David Letterman style, "Top Ten Twitterville Nuggets."
And as David Letterman would say, "here we go... number 10!" (drum roll....)
10. Learning how Twitter began, the amazing history of Twitter, and the growth of Social Media in general.
9. Twitter as a non-stop feedback loop. We can listen and learn.
8. I like the quote from @Ed_Dale “Twitter is not “getting” followers-its creating a reason to be followed-you are in the hands of your market-that’s how it should be.”
7. The concept that we trust our “friends / people in our network” vs the message that marketing might put out and wants us to hear.
6. Tweeting prior to and live tweeting at a conference helps to form our network and connect with potential candidates.
5. Learned to tweet things that matter to me and Sodexo and the kind of candidates I recruit for. Start slow and not be afraid about being boring and thus not tweet at all.
4. Lurking can be an effective way to get started.
3. Twitter is a conversation, not technology.
2. Following and engaging with the right people (people with interests in the professions I recruit for) is even more important than the number of followers.
1. Use Twitter more.
I'd love to hear if others who have read Twitterville or "joined the conversation" have nuggets of their own they would like to share. How do you think this new form of conversation will continue to evolve?
Where in the world might we be in 2011?
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Arie Ball
VP, Sourcing and Talent Acquisition
Building on more than 25 years of operational management experience with Sodexo, in 2004, Arie Ball assumed a leadership role within human resources as VP, Sourcing and Talent Acquisition. In this role, she leads the company’s first-ever centrally managed, cross divisional recruitment organization that focuses on sourcing, attracting and recruiting top talent to Sodexo, and on identifying internal employees for promotional opportunities. The Talent Acquisition Group, a high performing team, has become an award-winning organization, recognized for innovative approaches for attracting and recruiting the best talent the industry has to offer.Arie invites you to connect with her on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook.
3 comments:
Kerry, I love your "review" of Twitterville almost as much as I loved reading and "dogearing" the book's pages [like you did].
If I could share only one additional insight to your great Top Ten list, I would say that Shel's book proves without a doubt that Twitter is "not stupid" and it is Here To Stay.
So the naysayers need to jump on the wagon, rather than trying to ignore or upset it.
Thanks for a great article.
Shari Weiss
sharisax...for the record, this was a guest post by Arie Ball (@Arie_Ball), not Kerry Noone but I agree, great review.
It will be interesting to see what Twitter evolves into in the coming months/years and just how much adoption it receives by the general public. I still talk to a lot of people who simply laugh it off (but are addicted to Facebook). Too bad because they're really missing out.
Dana
Dana, thanks for the clarification.
:-)
Re: your experiences with FB-ers who "poopoo" Twitter. they probably said the same thing about email.
:-)
[and even FB before they got on]
:-)
Shari
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