Tag-Archive for ◊ Twitter ◊

That was the question I set out to answer one day last week. Well, sort of anyway.

I’m sure most of you are well aware of the hullabaloo caused by the recent move made by Mars/Skittles that converted Skittles.com from a traditional web site to a mashup of social media sites, incorporating content from Facebook, wikipedia, YouTube and Twitter.  The overall success of the social experiment has been debated widely; some seem to think it was brilliant, others feel it is ridiculous mistake to place control of a brand’s voice into the hands of the general public at large.  Regardless of which camp you are in, all seem agree that it took considerable courage.  Understandably, word of the new site spread like wildfire.  Before long, nearly everyone on Twitter was sending messages with “#skittles” in them, just to see if they would show up on the site.  I began seeing people comment in my “twitter stream” about what others had written just to get listed on the skittles page.  I realized that people were not just looking for their own tweets, but were actually reading what others had written – score one for the skittles team.

more…

Twitter names – Would a rose by any other name smell as tweet?

So you have finally gotten so sick of the disparaging remarks directed at you for NOT being on Twitter that you have given in and decided to see what all the fuss is about.  You’ve no doubt been searching the web looking for reasons to be on Twitter, and discovered that Twitter isn’t a waste of time, like many people seem to think it is.  You may have even read up on how to build your community on Twitter and hopefully you learned how not to build your Twitter community.  If you are concerned about getting lost in all the Twitter twerminology, er – terminology – don’t be, there are lots of places you can brush up on your “twitterspeak.”  After you’ve been tweeting for a while, you may wonder how you compare to others in your field, or community.  Guess what?  You are not alone, and thanks to a couple of great tools you can learn how to improve your twinfluence and Twitter grade.  Like most new Twitter users, you’ve probably wondered how to find people to follow – Twellow is a Twitter people search tool that should help you track down interesting tweeple.  You may want to check out the Twitter page of the Austin Statesman as well, there a few talented and interesting people listed there.

But, that’s not why you are here, is it?  No, you have already decided you NEED to sign up, you just want to know what name to use on Twitter.

more…

A few weeks ago I wrote an article asking “What Twitter Name Should Jack Use?” I wanted your help in deciding whether or not to change my Twitter name from @web_guy to @JackLeblond.  While the concensus was by far in favor of the change, there were a few folks with a valid reasoning to leave it alone.

I decided to follow the majority of advice, switched over a few days later and never looked back.

Today while attending the eMarketing seminar at InnoTech Austin, my decision was proven to be the right one – multiple times.

I was fortunate enough to actually meet several people from my tweet stream, and a few more that follow people that follow me.  The spark of recognition when I introduced my self was obvious.  I have no doubt in my mind that had I stayed with @web_guy on twitter, those people I met today would have had no clue who I was.  Yes, we may have figured it out eventually, but that immediate recognition helped to jump start conversations because we already (sort of) knew each other.

Related article - you may want to read So you’ve decided to join Twitter…now what?

I started using Twitter a few months ago while doing research for a company project and quickly became  addicted.  It was not long before I started contributing regularly, following others and being followed.  All good.

When I signed up, I used “web_guy,” a nick-name I was given years ago and have used on various sites and projects.  At the time I was not concerned with the “genericness” of it because I actually wanted to be an unknown.  However, since then I have become much more active.  Not only on Twitter, but also here and a few other sites.

My plan is to move back to New England, preferably Maine, sometime in the next 6-10 years.  It seems fairly obvious to me that the odds of getting a “Wow!” job offer would be improved if people new me, knew my name.  It is after all my “brand.”  If you Google “Jack Leblond,”  most of the top results are actually me.  However, if you Google “web_guy,” only a few of the results are for me.  (That may have just answered the question for me)

So, what do you think I should do on Twitter?

Should I;

1. Stick with what I have built and continue to use “web_guy”
   or
2. Pull a “longhornkate” and change it to my real name?

UPDATE:  I changed my Twitter name

If you are new to Twitter, you may want to look at So you’ve decided to join Twitter…now what?