Twitter Conversations: How to Do Them Effectively

This post is a response to Robert Scoble's (http://twitter.com/scobleizer) list of five reasons Twitter *isn't* for conversation.

In fact, Twitter can be a great source of conversation. I agree with Robert Scoble that people can abuse conversation on Twitter, and that this can be less than enjoyable. However, if you do the conversation correctly, you can avoid Scoble's problems with Twitter talk.

FIRST, WHAT'S WRONG WITH CONVERSATIONS ON TWITTER?

Let's examine Scoble's complaints:

1. If you get into something with one other person all your other followers will start complaining.

Not if you apply the rule below. Use this rule and your replies will seem like brilliant original thoughts. They'll have a way to jump in instead of being mystified.

2. You can't "thread" and "capture" a conversation.

No, you can't, at least not in Twitter itself. But why do you want to capture a conversation on Twitter anyway? Twitter is ephemeral, and I already have too many stored bits of data in email and elsewhere. I actually like that the conversations go away after a time, making new mental space for more thoughts.

3. Most people on Twitter that are joining lately are not people who participate.

Well, I haven't found that to be true. And even if it were, why should that negate the potential of having your own conversations?

4.Twitter's expected usage is "what are you doing?" Not "what would you like to chat with your friends?"

Not really. Even Evan Williams (twitter.com/ev), CEO of Twitter, says that the "what are you doing" headline is no longer appropriate for the posts on Twitter. In fact, I find the "what are you doing" posts the most boring: chats and resources the most interesting.

5. You can't bundle up a conversation and save it for later.

Maybe true. And I agree that Friendfeed and blogs offer a great way to archive conversations. If you want to do that. But Twitter is about the Twitterstream, dipping in and dipping out. It's valuable precisely because, like IM, it ISN'T archived. And as far as being able to archive some conversational threads, or follow those threads, this may be an enhancement of Twitter that will surely eventually come. It doesn't mean we should stop having conversations now.

SO HOW DO YOU CONVERSE CORRECTLY ON TWITTER?

The way to have a conversation is to make sure that every reply you post is recontextualized. Put in the proper subject nouns, avoid pronouns, and make sure that you re-reference the topic of conversation with each post. That way, others who see your post aren't lost and can jump in and take the conversation in new productive directions.

For instance:

Poster: I really love the Talking Heads.

Don't say:

@poster Yeah, they're great.

First off, no one knows who "they" are. Secondly, the reply is too oblique to let other people jump in. Instead, say:

@poster Yeah, I've got the first Talking Heads album at the top of my iTunes.

Or something to that effect. Reuse the subject ("Talking Heads") and add a thought of your own. Then anyone who sees this post can jump in knowing the topic as if you'd started the thread.

It may take an extra second, but once you get the hang of it, your followers will find your Tweets that much more engaging and useful.