To Tweet, or not to Tweet. That is the question.

I have set up a Twitter account, and wonder if it's worth it...  I'm worried that it's the CB radio of the 21st century...

I have some real misgivings about Twitter.  I have heard all about it and really like it's ability to speak to so many globally--that's a wonderfully useful asset for so many reasons.  It's unbelievable how handy it can be for certain situations--take the Iranian incidences that happened during their recent election, for example.

But I am unsure it's really worthwhile anymore for promoting handcrafted items...  From what I can glean, it's usefulness has slipped in an incredibly short amount of time...  I've read articles that have suggested getting into Twitter at this point is a useless endeavor; that the time has passed on it's effectiveness, and it's fallen into mass junk tweets.  Much like email, now people are trying desperately to avoid junk tweets as much as they avoid junk emails, and it's becoming harder and harder to do so even though you can accept/decline following.  Determining who is worth listening to is problematic, and therefore it's starting to become convoluted and complicated.

I've not heard that much that's actually good about Twitter from the handmade community.  Sure there is the ability to let all your followers know when new items are available, but I am not at all sure that's actually useful in the long run.  Sister Diane, on CraftyPod, did a podcast that discussed this briefly a while ago.  (FYI, I highly recommend her podcast--good good stuff!)  Her concern was that we are sending the wrong message when all we use our online community for is to flood it with messages regarding our new products.  It somehow cheapens the whole and makes a bad impression.  I agree with that...

So I'm a tad hesitant to jump into the "Twitter Pond".  I'm not at all sure it's going to be something that I can actually use beyond simply informing others when my stuff becomes available.  I guess I feel I have other means of doing that...  Because, frankly, if people are in a shopping mood, and they're looking for something I am making, I'm not that hard to find.  I'm just not sure artistically handcrafted items are the "impulse buy" sort of thing.  Art doesn't seem like an impulse buy to me.  And I somehow feel that advertising using Twitter is about encouraging impulse buying.  It would seem to me there is a much more discerning consumer that purposely purchases handcrafted items, and no amount of twittering is gonna speed up that discernment...

I think in the end, I respect my customers too much to do that...  But am I making a mountain out of a molehill?  I'm not sure I want my items to seem so easily "pushed" on others... I'm just not that easy, I guess (haha)!  Ease of access is one thing, but there's a fine line between informing interested followers and simple mass advertising...

I guess I respect my potential customers too much to inflict what I feel is a certain "cheesiness" on them...  I mean, I might as well text everyone's cell phones...  Would that prompt anyone to run to their computer to buy a new vest??

I feel like Twitter is some kind of carrot on a stick, and it's dangling in front of me, and I'm not sure if I really want it...  Hmmm...

Thoughts?  Lemme know.

Until next time, live life with Relish!