Why Oprah is bored with Twitter....

After reading the following article/blog (http://tinyurl.com/cbrad6 )regarding Oprah's ho hum experience with Twitter, I check out her stream and who she follows. Oprah is only following 11 people. That is why she is bored. Twitter is something of an acquired taste for many... think of.. many people join and lurk. They follow their co workers, friends, and sports/celebrities. Reading how others are tweeting, Re-Tweeting, and @replying helps to develop an understanding of how to leverage the technology. I can understand why she has fallen off. There was a miscommunication on the purpose of Twitter. It is an exchange of information. If you have 6 figures of followers but only choose to get information from 11, how can you be listening. She has a mouth piece every day at 4PM EST. This is an opportunity for her to listen to a huge audience. Oprah doesn't have to follow everyone. However, choosing two people a day based on their past tweets and profile might be very interesting. Choose two people looking for work and highlight them for example.

How do I use Twitter?

1) I stay in touch with mostly colleagues and friends as they go about their day.
2) It has replaced my Google home page and RSS feeds for all things in my area of focus, social networking, cycling news, and even job postings and recipes.
3) Personalize business relationships making them stronger.

Just my little old opinion. You get out of it what you put into it. If you value your network, it will value you. Oh, I am not one of her vast number of followers... The celebrities I follow are more focused on my specific interests surrounding pro cycling and politics. ... That doesn't say I won't in the future. .. just didn't jump on the bandwagon yet. She needs to provide some value to me at this point. Some of my favorites are Lance Armstrong and Megan McCain. They mix their personal lives into the professional message. They also use it for causes like cancer research and generating some youth into the GOP. She just hasn't found her voice yet... my advice .. DM @lancearmstrong for a lesson.

Interesting in following me? @pbrannigan

Goals Part Deux

I am still greatly struggling with this topic. In my quest to put together goals that fit with ability to complete them, I have done a bit of Internet research on goals and resolutions. The web news is full of items on this.

I have looked at celebrity goals. Brittany is going to try to stop biting her nails. Okay, there is the only thing the pop icon and I may have in common. That would be a good goal. I do bite my nails but do I care enough to make it a priority? After all the big 40 is looming this year... Cameron Diaz wants to "start wearing a bra". Well, I have had that one managed. Otherwise, it would be a necessary goal. After reading this one, I decided I needed other mentors to help form the goals.

I read a couple of articles on About.com on resolution and goal writing. Here is what I got out of my research...

1) Goals should have stretch and growth built into them but unattainable goals are worth the time and effort. In fact, unattainable goals can have negative results.

2) Work to develop a limited number of goals. Don't develop a grocery list of goals. Finish them and move on. There was also a good idea of an "A" list and a "B" list of goals. I would list "not biting my nails" on the B and even C list.

3) In order to be able to check them off, goals need to have measurement. Otherwise, how will you be able to move on to another set or realize that even though you haven't obtained completion you have made efforts to get there. The best example I have of this was my goal to meet and develop friendships outside family and cycling friends locally. I know I have taken steps to do this that have worked prior and tried other avenues. I haven't succeeded ... yet.. However, I have learned to knit! I call that effort and progress.

I am feeling better about actually getting into the nitty gritty of putting together a plan for 2009. I am also encouraged by the clips from Oprah yesterday. She seems to be facing the same challenges I have. The best thing I can say is I haven't given up on goal setting. I still want to improve my performance and hopefully satisfaction with life. Stay tuned ...