There are millions of people on Twitter and everyone has their
own motive for being there. I love Twitter for many reasons.
It's a great hub of life on the social web; to pick up news,
trends, track your brand, meet new people, do research, and to
support just about any issue that matters to you personally.
I love staying connected to our People Report community, and
having a way to keep up with colleagues all over the map. But
the ONE thing I love the most about Twitter is the overwhelmingly
positive and inspirational vibe that exists almost anytime I log
in. Spammers, whiners, hookers and haters can be "unfollowed"
quickly, so that what remains is a stream of smart, funny,
innovative, caring and supportive "friends".
We joke about every school kid in the country getting a trophy
just for showing up - well on Twitter you may not get a trophy, but
there is almost always someone there who will cheer your latest
blog, encourage you to ace that interview, rock the conference,
have a happy birthday, make a new friend or even the chance to meet
IRL. (as in real life - I didn't know either).
Unlike watching the news, hanging out on Twitter for awhile can
cause you to think that the world is actually going to make it and
that you can be a part of the journey and the triumph.
Last night was a great example. I love to listen to HR Happy Hour on
BlogTalk radio on Thursday nights. Steve Boese and Shauna Moerke do a
fantastic job of teeing up issues in the workplace , and
interviewing savvy guests to inform the audience and
stimulate debate. You can call in - but the real action is
usually in the back hallways of Twitter. Last evenings'
discussions on the real state of the job market, skills gap,
organizational readiness and culture made the time spent more than
worth it.
But then I saw a flurry of tweets encouraging everyone to take
part in #HireFriday - the
brainchild of Margo Rose - a simple way to use social media to
help get more people back to work. None other than Chris Brogan, social media
pioneer and co-author of Trust Agents was leading the charge to
support Margo's work. Moments later, Mark
Stelzner, principal of Inflexion Advisors, and founder of
amazing and now famous JobAngels, posted a blog
"Employing America's Heroes", a terrific presentation from the
recent SHRM conference on best practices for hiring our veterans,
and the wonderful work of Emily
King.
Here are examples of a lot of busy people, who all have "real"
work to do, stepping out to use their voice to make a difference -
for someone else. Steve, Shauna, Margo, Chris, Mark,
Emily - you are all my Twitter Angels. You inspire, educate
and you are making a difference. Oh, and People Report will
be happy to send a virtual trophy to anyone who gets involved and
supports #HireFriday, JobAngels, or www.mymilitarytransition.com.
You can find me smiling at my Tweetdeck at @luckypenny.
