Why 140 Characters Works

Dawn Crawford, Colorado Children's Immunization Coalition

So, 140 characters…yes, only 140 characters. When I teach a class about Twitter I always get the same questions:

It's Not About You: Lessons From Colorado

Flickr Photo: rakkaI love public speaking.

My husband would swear it's because I love the sound of my own voice, but really, I like it best when I get to hear the questions and comments from the crowd. Truth is, I'm no expert. I learn as much as I share at any speaking opportunity.

Case in point: I spent the beginning of this week in fab-tastic Denver, talking with members of the Colorado Nonprofit Association about -- what else? -- social media.

The funny thing about telling people what they should be doing is how often you notice you aren't following your own best advice. This became patently clear to me in a small group session we did.

NTEN Member Buzz Round-Up: Week of August 14

Flickr: forumoneAmy Sample Ward wrote in the Stanford Social Innovation Review about community building and the gardening metaphor. Maybe you've heard the gardening metaphor before, but have you heard about landscaping? You should read her article to find out what NOT to do with your community.

NTENny winner and general NTEN rock star Peter Campbell has a great run-down of the various nonprofit technology related extra-curricular work he's doing -- and by work, I mean the resources he's building and sharing with other nptechies. You should check out his dance card.

Passwords: The Biggest Lesson from the Twitter Hack

If you use a Twitter, go online, or have ears, you've probably heard all about the Twitter hack a week or so ago. Nic Crubilovik of TechCrunch, who has been corresponding with the responsible person, has shared the details of the hack.

This wasn't one of those sophisticated, sexy hacking attempts that Hollywood likes to make movies about. No, this was a simple game of hack the password. First, the hacker used the "forgot password" feature on Gmail, which told the hacker that the password was being sent to the user's backup email account: xxxxx@hxxxxxx.com. The hacker correctly guessed that the email was going to a Hotmail account, and headed there to try to log into it. This is when his luck really kicked in:

Why I Don't Care How Many Twitter Followers I Have

Flicker photo: mattedgarLately, I've noticed an uptick in the number of tweets on this theme:

I found an AWESOME way to get tons of followers on Twitter in days! (Insert spammy link here.)

This got me to thinking: Do we really want thousands of followers?

There's no shortage of folks out there telling you how. Then there are those mocking the tellers; just search for "twitter eleventy-billion" in any search engine for a great example, but be warned that it's pretty NSFW. There are even services out there that will auto-gather followers -- or let you buy them.

Yes, even in the age of social media, old school rules are being trotted out: bigger is still, apparently, better. The more followers you have, the more people may see your message, click on it, and take action. I get that. But like Aliza Sherman at Web Worker Daily, I'll take quality over quantity.

Here's my Twitter philosophy: