Have You Ever Eaten a Twix Bar with a Fork?

Posted by TeamCharlie on March 11, 2009 under Gabe's Twitter Gems, Social Media, Twitter | 4 Comments to Read

Mmmmmm! One lady on Twitter did. I won’t “out” her here, but that was a tweet that stuck in my head: “I just ate a Twix bar with a fork.” After pondering the inanity of this quip I thought I should put it away for future reference. And now it rises. This is the common complaint about Twitter. People are so busy with their oh so important lives that they cannot be bothered with time-wasting tweets such as this, thus Twitter is a waste of time in their eyes. I must admit I was one of those naysayers. The first time I tried Twitter I told myself it was a bunch of people wasting time talking about nothing. I know different now. I find it an extremely useful tool to connect with people. But what about those tweets? Do I care about them more now that I like Twitter? Actually for the most part, no. That is until I get to know that person. Then these kinds of tweets can be endearing.

So let’s try an experiment. The next time you see a tweet that you think is totally vapid, try and make something out of it. Try and engage that person just to see what happens. For example: “I just ate a Twix bar with a fork.” could be replied with, “Did it taste any better?” See where that takes you – try and make an actual connection with that person that you did not know before. Leave a comment here with your results, and I will also try it and see what comes of it. There must be some reason why Twitter asks, “What are you doing?”

Lis Garrett said,

I’ve just started using Twitter, and I find those tweets help break the ice with my new followers, as well as those I’m following. I often comment MORE on those seemingly useless tidbits of information. The “I just ate a Twix bar with a fork” tweet, after all, grabbed my attention and got me to click through. ;-)

(found you on Twitter!)
TeamCharlie said,

That’s a very interesting perspective. I plan to teach a Twitter class soon and I will use that angle for all the naysayers. If you can, come back later and give an actual example of the tweet and your response, and tell us if you made a connection – make sure it’s a new person. Nice comment!
Dulcita Love said,

I love this post because it touches on the funny things to be found on Twitter and how to extend the conversation on Twitter in a graceful way. Dulcita Love @dulcitalove
TeamCharlie said,

Hi Dulcita. I found something interesting. I have been looking for a “stupid” or inane post the last two days and haven’t found one. That tells me that most people are posting things that are relevant and interesting. The closest I came was someone who said the sun was out – I responded by asking what the temperature was and got no answer. Awww. Let’s keep trying.