#MusicMonday, #FollowFriday, and The Tipping Point

Part I

Twitter is very interesting. If you have a twitter account, are an active twitterer, and have been for some time, then you know what I am talking about. The whole point of the site is to share short, 140 character or less messages, really quickly.

Hashtags are used to track trends and share more effectively. Mondays and Fridays now have their own special hashtags. Mondays are #MusicMonday and Fridays are #FollowFriday. Every Monday, twitter becomes the best place to share what music you enjoy and find new music or music you forgot about by following other people. For example, today is Monday. I go on twitter and see that three of the people I follow have posted what they are listening to. Here is an example:

KT_Riffic #MusicMonday "Kashmir" as performed by Escala on #Pandora

Fridays are for telling your followers who else they should follow. It acts like a shout out. The way it works is I would log in, choose five or six of the people that I think are interesting and that I follow and post their twitter names with the #FollowFriday hashtag so my followers will know who I think is interesting. They might start following them as well. The point is to connect people and help boost follower and following numbers. Here is an example of what I would post (with made up twitter names):

KT_Riffic #FollowFriday @abciscool @LizzieDPuppy @I_Hate_Rain @NoSnow @GrayLife

Mondays and Fridays are great because they bring people together.

Part II

I love twitter. Doesn't everyone? No? That's okay. Let me tell you why I like it. I enjoy sharing information with other people. Twitter gives me a platform to tell everyone else what I know or just learned about. I have always been like that. I enjoy teaching other people what I know and I really enjoy learning new things. A former coworker recently told me that he enjoyed riding with me because he always learned something new and interesting. I told him about a new website or about something everyday.

Why am I like this? I have always been like that but now I think I have the answer. It came to me when my boss gave me a copy of The Tipping Point:

In Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point, he identifies three kinds of people - Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.

Connectors are the people that we all know that seem to always know what is going on and know who to talk to. They know lots of people. In fact, it seems like they know everyone and they are willing, even excited to bring you and them together. They might not have been extremely popular in high school. They always knew who to talk to in order to get ahead and like to share their contacts with other people.

Mavens, according to Gladwell, are information specialists. They know what is going on in the world besides people. They know how much things cost, where the best place to buy those things are, and if there are coupons available. They know the latest technology, trends, and gadgets. They also know what has happened in the past. They seem to know things a little faster then other people. The word Maven comes from Yiddish and basically means "one who accumulates knowledge." Mavens like to share what they know. They are the people always suggesting what movies or restaurants you should go to.

Salesmen are just that. They are the people that can sell you on anything from a car to an idea. They persuade you to do what they want you to do. They posses energy, charm, and enthusiasm. They do not only use their voices either. Salesmen use body language and facial expressions to sell you.

I would consider myself a Maven. I really enjoy learning, teaching, and sharing information. That is why I enjoy twitter so much. It gives me a outlet to share and learn quickly. HubPages and other blogs are great for what they are, but twitter is quick, packed with information, up to date, and provides links to click on to read more about things that I find interesting. I do not have to sort through very much information that I am not interested in. The only downside is the speed it moves. If I am not of twitter for an hour, I will probably miss a lot of interesting, fun, or disturbing news because I follow so many people and do not want to hit "More" and sort through every post since my last visit.