I do not know how to access or use Twitter of Facebook. I am listed by various people in Linkin, but I cannot get to the site. Every time I try they ask for information about me that I can’t or do not wish to provide. I know a student who is working on a thesis on the use by mining companies of Web2, which I am told includes blogs, Twitter, and Facebook to promote the image of mines and mining.
These admissions may seem strange coming from an inveterate blogger like myself, but then the IT people who support me are smart enough to have made it simple enough for me to manipulate without thought or effort. No similar help forthcoming re Twitter or Facebook.
These admissions of helplessness are prompted by an email telling me of a site Engineering a Better World. The first posting lists the Top 100 Engineers on Twitter. From what I can work out by examining one of the engineers who is listed as a civil engineer, his site can be accessed as any blog on the internet. The site consist of links to new articles he finds interesting.
Then there is Josh Nelson, also billed as a civil engineer. His site consists of single sentence entries of no particular relevance to anything I could discern.
Now if that is the essence of twittering, I can safely proceed to ignore twittering. I am far too arrogant or maybe self-reliant to need to depend on the opinion of others about what to read. You may argue that is is good to have others, whose judgement you trust, alert you to articles on topics they, and you be extension, may enjoy. But I prefer the old-fashioned way of doing Google searches on topics that, from time to time, perk my interest.
The other point is that I have not yet come across a person twittering on any aspects of mining whose judgement I trust. If you know of any, please let me know. Afterall, there are plenty of conventional sites that specialize in attacking or supporting mining, according to the order of their birth, upbringing, or financial interests.
Somebody please explain to me where I am going wrong in this logic and what advantages and benefits I may be missing by sticking to Google searches and my own instincts. Even InfoMine does not provide a twitter line as far as I know.
Still I recognize that I am in the distinct minority and that most folk are glued to those funny little slabs that I cannot read without a magnifying glass. They sit with a glazed look as they peer intently at a tiny screen and ignore the passing world with the detachment of a medieval monk in a lonely sand cave.
I wonder what they do with all that information other than seek to alleviate some pain in their inner souls?
I too did not see the benefit of twitter at first. The aspect of knowing what someone had for lunch really did not appeal to me, nor forwards of articles I was already aware of. However, I gave it [twitter] a chance and this is what I have discovered:
1. A network of colleagues of whom may be informing you of their delectable lunch choice more oft than you would like, their posts show you they are still active in twitter and available as a resource should you have a question.
-this reason alone is why I think you should get a twitter account, esp. if there aren’t any in your field currently posting to twitter. Someone like me may like to follow you and have the opportunity to shoot you a question or two.
2. Great way to learn more about a field of interest/opportunity to mentor
3. You learn to be pithy (this is a hard one for me).
4. Your privacy isn’t as invaded as rabidly as it is with facebook. I also (surprisingly) like the cleanness of the platform -no spamming on your wall etc like FB. And you can have multiple groups in one section unlike FB where you have to dig through your profile to find your groups. Quick and simple.
5. It isn’t meant for lengthy diatribes, but you can shoot someone over to one if you wish. This keeps the interface clean. (which you may find you prefer- just as I am shocked to have discovered myself).
Downside- it’s slow finding those who are worth following, or anyone to follow for that matter. But I discovered a few interests via Twibes and looked at their profile in twitter to have the option to follow them- such as a few companies that sell hiking/GPS gear etc.
I agree with you on how people are chosen for those Top lists in twitter. Some who have been chosen that I am aware of post more about that lunch I previously mentioned than anything of use to me intellectually. So I take those lists with a grain of salt. I don’t need twitter to tell me who is the better twitter-er anyways.
Having said that, I would recommend using twitterlator pro as an app if you do use twitter. It has landscape mode (makes for easier read) and you can opt to turn certain people you follow “off” for a bit if they are too fluffy or constantly retweeting tweets from similar orgs. (i.e earth RTing GSA- dumb because most people follow both orgs). It is also the best twitter program I’ve found in regards to filtering. The other one is tweetdeck -which you can make a separate screen for each of your lists, or customize. I switched from that to twitterlator pro though, because I wanted more options.
To sum it up- I for one, would love to read what YOU have to say about certain articles (or what YOU find interesting). Yes, I can do a google search, but I may not THINK to search for the same things you search for, so if you do ever get a twitter account, do please let me know-I’ll be the first lining up to follow!
I agree. There are very few trustworthy mining people on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn worthy of being followed, friended or recommended.
That is not to say, however, that you (Mr. Caldwell) should continue to ignore these social media. It’s early times yet. You could still benefit from creating a Twitter account, if only to point more people to your insightful blog. You are a bit of a leader in mining blogging, so why not use Twitter to expand your audience?
An interesting place to start might be:
http://www.twitter.com/CanadianNickel