Tweetup Etiquette, Vol. 1
I go to a lot of tweetups. (Find a definition here, as I’m too lazy to bother.) The ecosystem that rapidly takes shape at the average tweetup could sustain years of sociological study. For me, it gives me about 15 minutes of amusement before I duck out to charge my iPhone again.
What I’ve discovered is that most people act a fool at tweetups. And that’s not acceptable, though it is hysterical. This is part of a series of tweetup etiquette nuggets, so I encourage you to print them out and add them to your scrapbook.
No one cares that you’re a Twitter veteran
When you’re at a tweetup, you might end up chatting with someone who is quick to point out how long they have been on Twitter. While it’s true that Twitter sends its longtime users trophies, medallions and rare trinkets, it’s poor form to go boasting about it in public.
This is something I’m guilty of myself. I ninja’d my way onto the Twitter freighter in June 2007. Does my 2.5 years of Twitter “experience” mean much in social situations? No, it doesn’t. And I should be slapped across my smarmy face for thinking such nonsense.
Most people boast about that kind of thing because it’s a seemingly easy way to feel superior. That’s dumb. If I bring it up at all, it’s to illustrate how much the site has changed since then, which I find fascinating.
So, the next time you’re at a tweetup and someone asserts themselves haughtily because of their Twitter tenure, please slap them across the face. And if it’s me, slap me twice. I go for that.
I have a question re. Tweetup Etiquette. Here’s the situation: A local businessman (let’s call Joe) whose website notes that his expertise is promoting SM for Marketing recently sponsored a tweetup for our city (let’s call it XYZTweetup). In attending it, I met a number of other local business folks, one of whom (let’s call Bill) inquired as to my occupation (which also happens to be training/promoting SM for local business marketing). Bill has since tweeted with me, and said he may be interested in how I can help his business. Bill even tweeted to @XYZTweetup that he was “Looking fwd to lunch with @Sam. @XYZtweetup makes new friends. Thanks Joe!” (Sam is my name). Afterwards, Joe tweeted (to everyone) “@Bill What? @Sam has nothing 2 do w/ XYZTweetUP. This deception is starting to tick me off. Do ppl have no ethics?”
Obviously, it sounds as if Joe feels that XYZTweetup (one of his personal handles and not a hashtag, even though XYZ is the name of our city) is his exclusive venue for SM networking and business development. I’m confused. I thought the purpose of a Tweetup was in fact for everyone to develop their network contacts. So I guess my questions are:
1) Was I wrong to attend (and to network) at XYZTweetup (the invitation to which stated “a novel way to meet people… you can also network people to people for business or friendship)”? (In fairness, the end of the tweetup invitation did note “Thanks to our venue sponsor, , and thanks to our web hosting sponsor , so to be honest, I was aware that Joe had a proprietary interest in sponsoring this tweetup).
2) Was Joe wrong to have used “XYZTweetup” as the name of an event in which he expects others to not network if their business comptetes with his? That is, perhaps, Joe should have titled it “JoesTweetup”?
Thanks for whatever advice you can offer!
The last few sentences of the above post should have said:
1) Was I wrong to attend (and to network) at XYZTweetup (the invitation to which stated “a novel way to meet people… you can also network people to people for business or friendship)”? In fairness, the end of the tweetup invitation did note “Thanks to our venue sponsor, (a local restaurant), and thanks to our web hosting sponsor (Joe’s business website), so to be honest, I was aware that Joe had a proprietary interest in sponsoring this tweetup.
2) Was Joe wrong to have used “XYZTweetup” (XYZ is the name of our city) as the name of an event in which he expects others to not network if their business competes with his? That is, perhaps, Joe should have titled it “JoesTweetup”?
Thanks for whatever advice you can offer!
Sam