Hey guys thought this was a great article, (I know what you mean….) might try the key words to see what comes up. I have been trying to make a point of checking out the website/blog of everyone who signs on to my tweets at the moment its do-able, but it’s begining to feel like a full time job and I do have to question myself about the purpose of twitter from time to time, but to date have come across some cool people who have got some really interesting things to say that I wouldn’t have under normal circumstances come across. Oh yeh, by the way, thanks for following me, check out my blog – if you have the time :) one day – http://realityarts-creativity.blogspot.com
I’m new to twitter and truly needed to read this!
Thanks Kimberley for stopping by and taking the time to read my Twitter rant :) If you get a chance, drop me a line and let me know where you are on Twitter. I checked out your website (which was very cool by the way), but I couldn’t find your link to the Twitterverse.
You know it’s funny because after I sat down and reread this post again, I can see how it might come off as a bit offensive to some depending on if their snarky detector is turned on or not. Well as they say, there’s always a bit of truth in jest . . . at least I think that’s what they say
I followed this through a RT from LearnToArt…and am so glad I did! I’m fairly new to Twitter and still trying to grasp the scope of this whole “follower” thing. I’m used to a personal FB page where I would carefully limit friend requests. (Not anymore, but that’s another story.)
Always helpful to find someone else’s take on this…and especially nice to find one with which I agree!
Okay. I agree with you about the spammers and suspicious 3 tweet/3,000 follower people and some other great points listed above. But I am guilty of some of the things you referenced…I sometimes tweet that I had Nutella on toast for breakfast, my dining experience at a local restaurant, or computer issues. And I will probably tweet about today’s World Cup soccer game between Germany and Spain. Looking back at my profile timeline, I have maybe a 50/50 mix of art and “stuff”.
You are not alone out there in thinking that off-topic tweets should be kept to a minimum. A certain fire-bowl-making-like-minded individual in fact recently commented about that fact because his timeline was getting filled up with tweets about soccer, rather than art-related topics. Here is part of my response to him “… that denies a person to be more than just about one thing. The sum of all of me is what I am as an artist.” I personally like knowing that the artists that I follow are multi-dimensional and not automatons who just spit out one piece of art after another.
Twitter is about learning and sharing. Some of my followers are non-artsy people, but my tweets about art gives them insight into the art world and maybe one day they will buy my art or pickup a paintbrush themselves. Many of my followers are not from Oregon, but my tweets about the local area give them insight into the beauty of this state and maybe one day they’ll want to visit. And if they do and they happen to be going through Bandon, they’ll know that McFarlin’s has really great food.
So I hope that I’m not one of those you decide to unfollow, but I’d understand. And if you do decide to stick around, you will almost certainly see me tweet about more than the painting I just completed. As for me, well, I look forward to once day seeing those risotta recipes, whether it’s via @SkinnyArtist or SkinnySuppers. :-)
First of all, Lisa thank you for taking the time to drop by and check out the site. I’m going to have to give Miranda over at @learntoArt a big thank you as well for sharing our link with you.
I just stopped by your blog to get a feel for it, and was entranced by your description of your “Done” painting. The fact that you’ve worked with Connie over at DirtyFootprints only confirmed the fact that you are an artist to watch! I’ll be back to visit soon. . .
Ms. Donaldson – You are exactly right!
The truth is that everyone uses Twitter differently and for anyone to expect us all to adhere to one set of Twitter etiquette rules is of course completely ridiculous. Everyone has their own exotic criteria for choosing who to follow and who to unfollow including myself. We all have different interests outside of the art world, and that to imply otherwise, is to not fully accept the other person as a complete human being. I realized all of this, of course when I wrote this post, but I couldn’t help myself from stirring the pot.
Honestly, I make most of my follow/unfollow decisions fairly quickly. I’ll generally look at someone’s profile and then read through the last twenty or so tweets to see what this person has been talking about. It usually takes me about fifteen seconds to tell me if this person is being genuine or if they are trying to shove their thinly-veiled affiliate links down my throat.
If the person is being genuine, I’ll usually take a few extra minutes and check out their blog or website to see what they’re all about. I’m not looking for perfection or on-topic conversation, all I’m really looking for is a real person who I can connect with. In other words, I’m looking for someone exactly like yourself, which is why you’re going to be stuck with us for the foreseeable future, and any amount of World Cup or Nutella tweets is not going to change that fact.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, I’m glad to see that you were able to escape the evil internet proxies this time ;)
I came across Skinny Artist this morning by following a RT from AnnieStrack, and now I’m wishing I had found you sooner. Not only does this article help clarify my own Twitter “mission” but it was enjoyable to read, too. Although there may be a lot of useful information on the web for artists, sometimes is can be a bit dry. I’m looking forward to reading through your other posts. Keep up the good work—and thanks.
I appreciate your kind words Brett, and I’m going to have to give Annie an extra shout-out for leading you our way!
I know for myself, I had to sit down and think about what I really wanted to get out of these social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. When you first join up, it’s like being the new kid at school–you don’t know anyone and the first person or spambot who says they want to be your friend your first instinct is to jump on it.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my time on these sites, however, it’s that the numbers really don’t matter. I’ve met some fantastic artists with 20,000+ followers as well as some who had less than 50. It’s all about making the connection. Just like in real life, some people you’ll naturally connect with and some people you won’t.
It also turns out that some of the most interesting people I’ve met on Twitter and Facebook were referred to me by other people I have already connected with (like Annie). That’s simply how real friendships seem to work.
Sorry for rambling on but I did want to thank you again for stopping by and I really enjoyed reading through your blog!