It’s interesting the way different folks share via the social networks, isn’t it?
Part of the fun of social networking is to turn others on to new things. I don’t know a better venue for sharing blog posts, articles or new tools than Twitter. I enjoy seeing the echo effect as a worthy link goes viral. I especially enjoy watching a good discussion unfold.
Just as there’s plenty of information to share, there are also different ways to share on Twitter. After observing my fellow Tweeps for a couple of years now, I think I’m becoming pretty good at recognizing the different sharing personalities.
The Quiet Linker: This Sharer wants you to enjoy a link, either his own or someone else’s, but doesn’t have much to add. He tweets the link and the title of the video or content and allows the Twittersphere to draw their own conclusions. Most titles shared by the Quiet Linker are self explanatory and therefore no further information is needed.
The Pitcher: Hypes each share, usually because all links are his own. It’s not enough to say, “this is my latest blog post…” or “I just wrote….” The Pitcher sells each link. “Do you want to make more money, read my blog post to find out how!” or “Don’t believe the hype, this is the real deal….!!” If you’re planning on pitching a share in the future, don’t forget to use as many exclamation points as possible. That will help to show sincerity in your share and differentiate you from the spammers.
The Action Taker: He’s not sharing as much as he wants you to know what he’s doing. Before tweeting out the link and title he’ll say something like, “Reading..” or “Contemplating…” This Sharer wants to let you know he’s not actually recommending you click the link. He’s not committed to the share. He’s just letting you know it’s worth a mention even if he’s not going to actually come out and ask you to read it.
The Commentator: It’s not enough to share a link, the commentator let’s you know how he feels about his shares. He’ll LOL to tell you it’s funny or let you know if he disagrees. For The Commentator it’s more about the discussion then the actual share. He’s telling you how he feels because he wants to know your thoughts as well.
The Baiter A/K/A The Troll: This Sharer is only interested in stirring up negativity. Trolls have no desire to have a decent conversation, they’re here for the drama and nothing else. They share links for the sole purpose of provoking an argument with the author. Trolls have lots of followers the way a crowd gathers around to watch a fight in a school playground. No one likes the school bully, but they sure enjoy the drama.
The Back Scratcher: It’s all about recipriosity for the Back Scratcher. He’ll Tweet your links if you Tweet his. He joins private groups where people Digg and Stumble each other and aligns himself with the people who are most likely to share his links. You could have written the best blog post ever, but the Back Scratcher isn’t likely to share unless you Tweet out his stuff in return.
The Climber: It’s all about numbers for the Climber. He blindly ReTweets and shares links from the top bloggers and social media experts in hopes of being noticed. He doesn’t necessarily know what these folks are talking about, just that it looks cool for him to ReTweet the popular crowd.
The Spammer: The Spammer is on Twitter for one reason and one reason only. To get sales and bring people in to read his stuff. The Spammer never has anything of interest to say, he sends links. Since it’s all attached to a feed he has no idea who is even following him. It’s not about engagement or sharing for him, as long as people click on his stuff, he’s happy.
What’s your Twitter sharing personality?
Quiet linker with a tiny bit of spammer.
I can’t bring myself to be any of the others within 140 characters.
BTW, I quietly retweeted this post.
Mostly Action Taker and Quiet Linker, with a tiny bit of Climber some days. Half the time, when I see something interesting, it doesn’t actually occur to me to tweet it. I’m pretty new to Twitter, and haven’t developed that habit/addiction yet.
I guess I’d be half quiet linker half spammer – but really, I’m mostly on Twitter to get good recommendations.
Sadly, I think many businesses believe that being The Spammer is the same thing as being engaged with social media. That’s all you gotta do, right? Tweet your stuff and it’ll go viral? Too many people Tweet every flippin’ thing they post, even if it’s a product description on a company blog (big whoop).
I was guilty of that when I first joined Twitter, I’ll admit. I had the mentality that, hey, the worst that could happen is someone ignores it – the best that could happen is that I get a little spike in traffic. But now I realize that every Tweet you send out counts against your permanent record.
Someone really should be keeping score – something like, “This guy posts 45% really interesting stuff.” We already keep track of this on our own – there are some people that consistently Tweet interesting reads, so when they Tweet (should I not be capitalizing tweet?) something that is only moderately eyecatching, I give them the benefit of the doubt and click on it anyway. People who typically tweet junk, on the other hand, I might not bother even if the link has a somewhat compelling hook. Actually, I’ve probably already unfollowed them at that point.
So, anyway, all I’m trying to say is, yeah, I tweet my own stuff – but now I try to make sure that it’s stuff that everyone would find interesting. Everyone being the 12 or so people I actually know who follow me…
Can I add one more personality — that of Somewhat-Clueless-Newbie?
That said, I think I’m mostly a Quiet Linker with some Commentator (hey, I came over from Facebook!) and some Action Taker thrown in.
Still learning how best to contribute..
I’m a Considers Whether it is Tweet-worthy Before Posting user. If I’m taking a break to play air guitar, do I want the Twitterverse to know about it? I dunno….
I’m the personality that doesn’t get twitter.
What about “The Connector” who brings people together?
Or “The Communicator” who actually communicates with people on Twitter?
Twitter didn’t used to be broadcast-only. I’m such a dinosaur. Rawr.
mostly The Quiet Linker with a bit of he Commentator+The Action Taker =)