Jump in, interrupt, bite the bullet and chat with me!

Image Source: MorguefileI was having lunch with my friend, Kim, yesterday. She came to Ottawa ALL the way from Winnipeg to attend Social Capital Conference last weekend. (How cool is that?) We got to chatting about Twitter, because we often do since that’s where we met. Kim made an observation about some twitter users that I’ve noticed as well: when “butting in” to a conversation, many preface their comments with an apology for doing so. I’ve done it before, too. I’ll likely do it again without thinking.

It’s hard to reverse the social rules we’ve been brought up to respect. When conversing face-to-face, interrupting is a no-no (and I am guilty of that one, too). 

However, Twitter etiquette gives us greater leeway. That’s one of the reasons I like the “semi-private” nature of tweets. By that, I mean that if Lara and I are having a public conversation, anyone who follows both of us can see the conversation in their timeline. However, if someone is only following one of us (it happens), they won’t see the conversation, even though our tweets are public. 

I really like that this gives the opportunity to jump in to conversations between other people. In fact, “interrupting” is not only acceptable, it’s a great way to get to know new people - and it’s encouraged! 

Lara has written about the networking event that is Twitter before. The value of networking on Twitter is in jumping in to conversations! So, be brave and jump in without apology. It really is unnecessary. Lara likes to call Twitter a big networking event. I like to call it the world’s biggest chat room and 17 years ago when I entered my first chat room, I jumped right in to the conversation. 

You can too and I promise you’ll be glad you did. 

Yes, even business owners - provided you’re being social on the networks you use. (Please be social…we can talk about that another day, though.) We have some case studies we’ll be sharing over the next few months that will show you how beneficial the social aspect of social media can be to your bottom line. 

So, please jump in, interrupt, bite the bullet and chat with people…including me and Lara!