Facebook seems to be the king of social media for college students. One could easily argue that the demographics of the service support this. So why should they also care about Twitter?

Twitter and Facebook seem to fit the mold of Private vs Public. Facebook is a great means of keeping up with friends and family while sharing links, photos and seemingly random thoughts. The hump most new Twitterers (aka Tweeps) have to get over is

Why should I care about the seemingly random thoughts of complete strangers?

To me, its the same reason why you would go out to a bar over staying home with friends … you are interested in meeting new people. Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media sites out there and is the best medium for conversing with new like minded individuals. This mentality coincides with one of Twitter’s most useful functions. Tapping into the buzz of things that interest us. Twitter’s search capabilities in collaboration with it’s complete simplicity make it the perfect platform for crowd sourcing thoughts, ideas, questions and answers.

For example: If one were interested in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) they could follow the most popular MMA tweeps or even the MMA tweeps with the most interesting things to say. You could also set up a Twitter search for all mentions of MMA so you can jump in on the discussions and get the latest MMA news in REAL TIME.

You see, it’s not about the random thoughts of others but the thoughts of others that are relevant to you.

So what kinds of things should you be Tweeting?

That is completely up to you but the best way to learn is to watch others you enjoy reading. The most resourceful way to use Twitter is to reply and communicate with others. Some people like to use Twitter to show off their own accomplishments (like the completion of a new blog post or the creation of a new piece of art). Others use Twitter to support their business by proving their expertise through helping others in need. I myself use it mostly to talk with others I’ve met through Twitter … simple enough. Here is a list of 25 Twitter tips for college students.

Twitter is whatever you make of it and can be extremely powerful despite its apparent simplicity. The best way to learn about it is to just dive in. It’s always nice to know someone too, so feel free to reach out to me (@jondbishop ) and I’ll do my best to guide you in the right direction to be sure you get the most out of it.

- Photo by tanakawho

We tread the line between opinion and judgment a lot in social media. Some are quick to call out others as being “too judgmental” when their own beliefs or opinions are being challenged. There’s no point in getting all bent out of shape over something as seemingly mundane as text on a screen, especially when we are putting our thoughts out there to be judged in the first place. Yet there is still some question as to how one should present themselves in a way that is both unaggressive and adds to the conversation.

The only difference between a judgment and an opinion is the existence of evidence to support an opinion therefore making it final or absolute. There is nothing wrong with a judgment of this type, however, the problem arises when we judge others in an aggressive tone.

Opinion: You might get more readers if you improved on the quality of your writing.
Judgement: You are not getting a lot of readers because of the quality of your writing.
Aggressive Judgement: Your content sucks so you are not getting any readers.

Opinions usually leave room for error in your thought process therefore leaving the recipient a little more at ease. Sometimes it’s as easy as adding words like might, i think, probably, maybe, etc. It seems kind of silly, but in a space where it’s so hard to express tone, it’s important to express these emotions through words.

So, in my opinion, the line between opinion and judgment is when we use an aggressive, absolute tone while expressing one’s thoughts. I personally don’t have a problem with judgments because I can see them for what they are … opinions expressed as facts. For the rest of the world, accept the fact that you might not know everything and leave some room for doubt. Doubt is ultimately what pushes us to explore further into our minds, and is there anything wrong with that?

- Photo by ★ spunkinator

Everyone probably has their own little routine they go through but I just thought I would throw mine out there. Every day is a little different, but if I had to describe my average day, this would be it.

Wake Up

I don’t have an alarm clock. I’ve been using my cell phone as my alarm for the last 8 years. That has nothing to do with social media, just thought it was kind of interesting.

Once I am finally up, I sit at my computer to take a quick glance at my TweetGrid. I don’t usually respond to anything at this time, I just like knowing what’s going on.

Morning At Work

When I get to work I check my email and review all new Twitter friend requests. All my Twitter requests go to their own folder so I can easily run through them all and follow/ignore/block as i need to. Then I look over the TweetGrid I made for my company Magicomm to see what’s popping in the industry.

Lunch

For some reason, I’ll still check Yelp every day before lunch yet I somehow end up at the same places. Yelp plays a major role in my real world social life as it’s an excellent means of finding new places to go out at night and locating the best food in the area.

During my lunch break I try and get in as much blog reading as I can. I try to get in a good mix of topics that personally interest me and posts relevant to my job. At this point I’ve probably already tweeted about my coffee and am starting to have some real conversation on Twitter. I also like to check my Facebook at lunch too. I basically use Facebook as a way to keep in touch with real world friends and family and spare them all the techy geek talk.

Afternoon At Work

In between doing actual work and talking with my coworkers, I regularly monitor Twitter and TweetGrid at random times during the day, chiming in wherever I feel is appropriate. Magicomm has also adopted a social media strategy where I spend an hour of my day commenting, tweeting and sharing on behalf of Magicomm. This is when I usually throw around blog topic ideas for the Magicomm blog and maybe post some social media tips on the Magicomm Twitter account.

After Work

After work I’ll send out a DM to some of my buddies to see what they’re up to and update my BrightKite location once I know where I’m going. BrightKite makes it easy to update my twitter status with a photo as well as upload that same photo to Flickr and Facebook automatically. Then I’ll usually take another look at Yelp if I plan on going out or I’ll jump in to one of my more favorite communities, Steam. Steam is a platform for gaming and networking with other gamers interested in the same games. It’s just another easy way to have fun on the web with some of my friends.

Before Bed

Every night before bed I like to play with my blog a bit. It’s a great way to relieve some stress after a long day and be sure that everything is working properly. And if I couldn’t be any more suggestive, sometimes I’ll even squeeze out a post or two.

I guess what I am trying to get across with this post is that I am not forcing any of these routines. I do them because I am genuinely interested in the relationships or the information I am taking in. I read blogs instead of newspapers and I use Twitter instead of yelling at people in the streets. Facebook has replaced my text messaging and Yelp is the collective thoughts of a million different reviewers. I am a social media geek and so can you.