6 Questions to Ask a GeoProfessional Who Is Not Using Twitter

Before I ask you anything, we need to shift your brain a bit about Social Media. See I know your first thought was, “It’s a fad, like Op cord shorts.” I know I’m dating myself. But let’s start there. First watch the video below, it will help to start or at least prime your mind for a mental shift in perception. Or maybe just open it a bit more;




So I was there, 3 months ago. Not sure about the whole Social Media wave. After using Twitter for the past three weeks to help shape the Social Media Policy for the City of Greeley, I have made a list of questions you need to answer for me.

Why are you not using Twitter???
Not the first question, but it will lead into all the reasons why not. Yes, I know all the reasons and let’s get those out of the way to start with. After working on our city’s social networking policy I have heard most of them;

• “It sounds silly.”
• “I and you don’t have enough time to socialize.”
• “I can’t keep up with what I need to know now.”
• “I don’t understand how to do it.”
• “I think it will take too much time.”
• “It is too narcissistic or self centered.”
• “It is a poor substitute for a real relationship”
• “I don’t have anything interesting to say.”
• “I don’t see how it could help my business.”
• “I don’t know how to get started.”
• “Nobody I know is using it.”
• “I don’t know how to filter what I need.”

Fine, think about those, then answer the following;

1. Why not allow yourself access to more information?

We all use or are a member of a listserv. A listserv is great, for questions, finding data, and posting about jobs. Guess what? Twitter does this, but it also allows you to post, as often as you like, about what you are working on now. It provides a better avenue for letting everyone know what kind of GIS work you are doing. What software you are using. What bugs you are having. What works. What doesn’t. We don’t seem to use our listserv’s for that purpose and I’m not sure that it would be the best avenue for that. So Twitter fills that hole and covers much more.

(I’ll add a few folks I find helpful to follow on Twitter in each section, there are a ton more, but these will get you started)

• Follow: @mashable, @gadgetweet, @TechCrunch, @webofdesign, @gisuser

2. Why not collaborate with more GIS professionals?

Again the listserv’s, trade magazines, conferences do a great job allowing us to collaborate via our industry focus, but why limit yourself. Why not follow GIS folks in California, Maryland, India, Australia, etc. Software folks from Adobe, Microsoft, RIM, Trimble, etc. Then not just follow, but interact, engage, ask questions, give solutions, provide information, etc. The more we can collaborate the more we can learn, grow and improve. Let the world know what you are doing. Funny thing is, they will listen.

• Follow: @GEOpdx, @gisuser, @GISpathway, @GeoDAWG, @geobabbler, @gletham, @amandahstaub, @roycesimpson, @gezjames, @MapsRus

3. Why not develop more relationships with leaders in the industry?

You will find that there lots of GIS folks on Twitter, CIO’s, IT leaders, ESRI developers, Microsoft developers, Adobe developers, etc. Wouldn’t you like to have the ear of a specific ESRI’s platform developer at one point or another? I think you’ll find that you can via Twitter. They want to hear from you and collaborate as well, some more than others, but you’ll get the feel.

• Follow: @jiriteach, @Esri, @Tim_Craig, @LindaHecht, @agup, @mikehogan, @billschrier, @ChrisSpagnuolo, @pmbatty, @mradd, @douwman, @ev

4. Why not keep abreast of technology trends, software releases, and industry commentary up to the minute?

Via Twitter you will see immediately when the next beta version is available, when the full release is available, when code solutions are posted, when that patch you have been waiting for is out, how folks have used different packages to do their work, what the industry trends are, etc. For an industry such as ours where GIS seems to lead in most IT shops I can't express how valuable Twitter is as a resource for this purpose. You can always wait for the industry magazine to show up on your desk to read about the new items, but why wait?

• Follow: @Geothinkers, @google, @thegisforum, @googlemaps, @govtechnews, @MichaelHyatt, @halvorson, @janepyle, @AdobeApps

5. Why not create more visibility for you, your company, your product, your GIS work?

Can anyone in this economy say that they don’t want to get more visibility for their work, products, city, government, etc.? The more you share about what you are doing the more interest may be generated and who know who may be interested. Even at the local government level drawing people in is a major concern and any way we can improve our revenue streams should be taken seriously. And it’s so easy, just get your name out there.

• Follow: Just search for any group, product, location of your choice
  

6. Why not try it?

You can always turn it off, but I bet you won’t. Give yourself two weeks to give it a try. Even if you can’t access it from work, sign up at home and create an account. I’ll bet that if you go at it like you would an industry listserv and follow those in the industry of your choice you’ll be shocked at the amount of value you’ll find. Or even if you only follow areas that appeal to you personally I bet you’ll be shocked. Let me know in two weeks if you turned it off.

And if I have been able to convince some of you to give Twitter a try, here is a great tutorial on all things Twitter: Twitter Tutorial
The GIS community is extremely good at networking and collaboration, Twitter will expand that positive trait and improve our community. Don’t turn away from it, take advantage of it.

~References & thanks:
@MichaelHyatt and his blogs for much inspiration.
@mashable for all things social media and Twitter tutorial
@gletham for his survey of GeoProfessionals using twitter

Twitter Survey Results:
• GISuser - http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/18223/28/
• Personal on GISCO - http://www.greeleygov.com/GIS/Documents/HTML/SurveyResults.htm