I was never good at 'pass the parcel' when I was a kid. I blame it mainly on being over zealous. That and my unhealthy competitiveness - always had to win (which didn't always make me the best birthday party guest!)
Twitter reminds me of pass the parcel a bit - RSS readers are ripped open first thing in the morning and then the shiniest blog posts get circulated and shared...like a good prize should I suppose.
But shiny doesn't always equal useful. In fact, I'd argue that the more unusual and varied your stream is, the better - both for you and your followers.
Making variety a pillar of your approach, coupled with the recognition that time is a finite resource, definitely means there is a place for short and sweet too (and how many blog posts can you really read in one day anyway?!?!?)
So, I had a bit of a think and compiled a list of things to consider sharing more often...here goes...
40 useful things you can share on Twitter besides blog posts
- Flag up a hashtag you are following for the day and why (or list a few that you think are worth a look)
- Discovered a new app / tool that's useful? Provide a brief description and share the direct link i.e. MyTweeple.com is a great follower manager tool
- A link to a Wikipedia entry from your niche can be very useful - especially if its been updated
- Link to someone's Twitter favourites - they are usually full of hidden treasures both for you and your followers
- Spotted a glitch or alteration to a platform you're using? Let people know what it is and how to address it
- A specific conversation / thread might be going on - highlight it and link to it (actually share conversations)
- Some great discussion might be being made around a Facebook post - highlight it and link
- A link to a transcript from a Twitter chat - these usually packed full of useful insights and maybe highlight one key point
- Been given some invites to a new edition of a platform? Share those around i.e. the new Digg.com
- A link to a poll taking place that might stimulate some thought / encourage interaction
- Simply introduce two people that you think might hit it off - "@TomA meet @TomB, you guys have loads in common..."
- A link featuring a special offer or product that might be of interest / add value to your community
- A link to a YouTube video of interest to your niche
- A link to an example of a good 'terms of use' page on a blog you've visited (or similar)
- A link to a directory of blogs from your niche (or a great blogroll) is a nice share
- A link to a Twitter list you think is worth following and why or one from tweepml
- A link to a news aggregator and a brief explanation as to why it is useful
- Spotted a Flickr gallery / group being used in an interesting way? That's worth a share
- A link to a place / directory where your followers blogs can be featured - adding great vale to them
- Interesting Twitter accounts are always worth sharing i.e. @CleverAccounts
- Flag up an event that's coming up and possibly of interest to your community - link to the details
- A link to something light - @jeffespo does it beautifully with his 'cartoon to start the day' tweets
- Spotted a contentious issue developing? Create your own poll and encourage people to vote
- If you've discovered an interesting special on Foursquare - share it via Twitter
- Pull an interesting quote / stat out of a news item and feature that (as opposed to the prescribed headline and piece)
- Link directly to an interesting presentation on Slideshare.net
- Specific pages on blogs / sites can sometimes reveal more than the the daily live content - share interesting examples of those i.e. an about page or privacy page
- Google Chrome extensions always make life easier - started using a good one? Share it
- Explain why someone should follow a particular blog / author, as opposed to just just linking to individual posts with no context
- If you're heading to an event, share the #hashtag and link to that event before / during / after
- Sometimes a link to a robust and engaged Facebook community page is worth sharing
- A link to a good example online customer service i.e. Twitter complaint response
- Go back in time -great timeless content is always worth a share - even if it has a 2007 date on it, share it
- Use TwitPic differently - take and share shots of use / value, not (just) pics of the beach while you are on holidays
- Have you just joined a new community? Let people know where they can find you with a link / user name tweet
- Use TweeShot to share a screen grab of interest (especially controversial tweets that might be deleted)
- Link directly to a relevant podcast
- Sometimes really basic but useful websites are launched - like this one - link to 'em
- Figured out a short cut / easy way of doing something. Flag. it. up.
- Over to you...
Adam