Tweeting in Mayo

(This entry was written last week)

I’ve had an eventful day. I’ve got lost on the way out of Dublin. I got onto the N3 instead of the N4 and ended up driving through Dunshaughlin, Navan and Athboy while on the way to Westport Woods Hotel to deliver "Tweeting for Business Success" seminar I had arranged with Ger Brady from City Local Mayo. 

I arrived to be greeted by a room full of friendly faces at the stunning hotel. They were business people who were eager to learn how on earth Twitter was going to be able to develop their business and provide more people access to their products and services.

The introductory part of the workshop provided the basis on Twitter. They were shown how to set up an account. In addition, they learned how to follow, and block tweets. We also spoke about what not to tweet and discussed the importance of building relationships.

There were lots of questions, they really kept me on my toes.  One question was about the abbreviations that are used on Twitter- “What does lol mean?” I was asked. 

One gentleman had been thinking people were extremely affectionate on twitter- he thought lol was an abbreviation for “Lots of Love”, when he told us, we did all lol (laugh out loud). 

This is one of a variety of abbreviations used on the internet. Powerful although the internet is, it is impacting on elements of communication – for example there is no body language or facial expressions. There is no tempo or intonation of voice and that’s where these play a vital role. You will often see : ) (sideways smiley face) in my tweets. This is to give people, an indication of my attitude and mood. The written word can be ambiguous at the best of time, and more so in tweets, which can be taken out of context. 

Just yesterday someone I follow  tweeted “for those not in Ireland. Right now, we’re worried about Nama while the Luas has crashed into a bus.” The responses he received thought he was attempting to highlight that we should not be worried about Nama when there was a serious crash, involving injuries. 

Twitter is a reflection of any other social interactions – on it I have found good friends, acquaintances and business contacts. 

The dogs had their own room for the night, I walked them in the beautiful grounds and got to see the stunning Westport Woods Hotel by moonlight. Sasha and Goldie are now tucked up in bed and I’m enjoying the luxurious relaxing room writing this.