Twitter Etiquette

A few weeks back, I was having lunch with a bunch of students on the Equestrian team. (The MHC equestrian team, by the way, is an amusing bunch.  And they just finished third in the Nationals—amusing and they ride well, what more could anyone want?)  The conversation  meandered all over the place (as always).  At one point, someone (@tripptastic) mentioned Twitter.  I had just been reading something or other about Twitter, so I started asking about what they thought were the relative merits of Twitter (as compared to, say, Facebook).  The answer was that Twitter is easier to use and check without turning into a major time sink.  I thought that was interesting; but then I find lots of things interesting.

On the way back from lunch, a couple of the students tried to convince me I should get a Twitter account.  I laughed.  What would I do with a Twitter account, after all?  They persisted, so I told them that if they cared so much, then they should make a Twitter account for me.  They laughed.

A few hours later, I got an e-mail from Twitter telling me about my new Twitter account.  @hadleyking and @lexielohrer (with at least some degree of collaboration with @margswanson and @tripptastic) did in fact create a Twitter account for me.  (They did this while they were in class, by the way—any professor assuming that students are taking notes on electronic portable devices during class should take note.)  (It wasn’t my class, though—in fact, I have never had either @hadleyking or @lexielohrer in a class.)

So, now I have a Twitter account.  @JHeartsEcon. 

This creates a whole new problem.  I have long had a Facebook page.  I set it up when Facebook first came to Mount Holyoke (back in the early exclusive days, thank you very much).  I have never done anything on Facebook except accept friend requests.  Who knew I had so many friends?  I have never had a status, and I don’t actually check Facebook.  And I have never sent out a Friend request—that was an easy call—in the early days when it was purely a school driven thing, I realized it would be pretty awkward to have a professor sending Friend requests to students.  So, if anyone wanted to be my friend, they could send me a Friend request and then I would accept it, and then we could bask in the glow of our newfound friendship, and then…well, nothing else ever happened.  So, anyway, I have successfully managed Facebook.  (And, if you want to be my Facebook friend, all you have to do is send a request.)

But, Twitter?  Now that requires a whole new etiquette.  I had four followers before I even looked at my Twitter account.  I am also following all four of my followers.  (So, who is leading whom?)  Mount Holyoke College also became one of my followers.  There is an obvious element of Messianic Narcissism in Twitter—if only I could get more followers, I could be somebody!  But, there is also pleasant chatting between friends on Twitter.  And, I have no idea, absolutely no idea, what I am supposed to do on this thing.  Should I send out Twitter updates?  Does anyone really care? 

So, far, I have mostly just clicked on the Twitter icon below my blog posts and tweeted them out; lately, I’ve been thinking of odd hashtags to add to these tweets.  But, I am afraid tweeting out links to blog posts that nobody reads is not really the purpose of Twitter.

I was blissful before I had a Twitter account.  Now I just wonder what I should do with my Twitter account.  For example:  I don’t care who follows me—so, I can treat followers like I treat Facebook friends—not only will I be Facebook Friends with anyone, I’ll accept anyone as a Twitter Follower.  But, in Facebook, friendship is a mutual thing—when I become your friend, then you become my friend all in the same transaction.  But, Twitter is not like that; there are no friends in Twitter.  If you become my follower, I don’t automatically become your follower.  So, if I find myself with a new follower, do I immediatly reciprocate by asking to follow my follower?  Is it rude to not ask to follow someone?  Or is it sketchy to ask to follow somebody?  Where is the etiquette book on this?   What are my professorial responsibilities here?  I am happy to follow my students if they want to be followed, and I am equally happy if they would really rather not have me following them (for perfectly understandable reasons).  But, how do I tell them that?  Twitter doesn’t have a “If you want me to follow you, just let me know” option. 

In the end, I suppose the proper conclusion is:

@hadleyking, @lexielohrer, @margswanson, and @tripptastic: I blame you for my new etiquette problems, so I think it is your responsibility to solve these problems for me.