Social Media Expertism*

I spoke to a class of mostly college seniors today about Twitter. A few weeks ago Dr. Terry Clark, my former professor and current friend asked me to speak to his Twitter for Journalists intersession class in January. Today was the day!

I did not prepare!

Shocking, I know. But at least I wore birthday jewelry from my best friend and the green Land’s End dress I procured from Camp Mighty….so I was lookin’ nice.

I’m glad I spoke entirely off the cuff….there’s not a ton of that kind of advice in Social Media. I certainly appreciate true expertise and seek it out often. But I brought some real-world, practical advice. Some tips from one Tweeter to another. Here are tweets from the students who endured my ADD approach to public speaking:

“If people are using your handle, they want to talk to you, so why not talk back?” @myjrny #clarkclass

“They’re my tribe and everyone has one.” @myjrny #clarkclass (referring to Twitter)

— Bonny Blackmon (@Bonnyxoxo) January 7, 2013

— Sharon Burgess (@sharonrburgess) January 7, 2013

#clarkclass “Be authentic but it’s not your journal.” @myjrny @okieprof

— Michael Doutey (@mike_doutey) January 7, 2013

“Save it for your journal, your therapist or both” @myjrny #clarkclass

— Petra Sweiss (@PetraSweiss) January 7, 2013

@myjrny admitted to starting Twitter by tweeting song lyrics/feelings, “I used it like a toy. Now I use it like a tool.” #GENIUS #clarkclass

— Katie Shelton (@KShelttt) January 7, 2013

“I used it to make authentic friendships, not just people I thought it would be good to know.” @myjrny #clarkclass

— Sharon Burgess (@sharonrburgess) January 7, 2013

“You wouldn’t walk into a bar and start screaming about Avon” @myjrny #clarkclass

— Leah Roberts (@leahroberts911) January 7, 2013

@myjrny nobody can create quite the buzz like you in #okc. where are we meeting on Wednesday for happy hour? #clarkclass

— Jessica Merrell (@blogging4jobs) January 7, 2013

OK, that last one was not a student. That one was from tomorrow’s speaker (and also a friend of mine) who is really a big deal. I have loads of respect for her ambition and talents so, for her to say such a nice thing about me…well…it was nice. Very nice. Like I may have said, “Awwww…that’s so nice” at my desk. Because I’ve taken to talking to myself. Very glad I got to go first on the speaker roster, Jessica is one woman I’d never want to follow.

As I walked away from the Mass Comm building at the University of Central Oklahoma, the building where I spent most of my time as a student, I checked my push notifications and had over 40 mentions waiting on me. Like, whoa. Later on I got this:

@myjrny You’re a star. Thanks so much

— Terry M. Clark (@Okieprof) January 7, 2013

Then I had to rent a UHaul for the rest of the day so my massive ego could be safely transported home.

*I am not an expert. I just tweet a lot.