To Twitter or not to Twitter, that is the question.   Let me tell you why I think WE should.

Obama Tweets
In addition to my work in public relations for sustainable energy, I also work in the nonprofit information technology sector.  I saw how Internet applications enabled the emergence of the Netroots – the diaspora of progressives across the country – as a political force that in part served as the foundation for the Obama campaign and its success.

Through work, I toiled on the periphery of the 2008 presidential campaign and was blown away by the way in which the Obama universe networked with one another using Twitter.   Through 140 character missives sent/received from their PDAs or computers, information about what people were doing flowed through networks with lightning speed.

It wound up being the fundamental source for my information needs to pursue my 2008 work agenda and follow the growing Obama campaign.  For example:

• Rather than peruse blogs, I followed twitter to find out what the trusted sources in my network were reading.  For example, if Katrin Verclas – the queen of mobile applications for political campaigns and nonprofits – tweeted about a great article that she was reading, I would read it.  And then others and I would dialogue (Tweet) about it with her.
• If I needed a suggestion for an online application, I could tweet my network, and people would shoot me back suggestions, and comment about the pros and cons of each others’ suggestions – all in realtime.
• If I was waffling about going to a conference but then read a tweet by Micah Sifry, editor of TechPresident, that he planned to attend, I would go.
• If I was at a conference, I could follow tweets of people at the same conference to find out how a press conference they were attending was going or where they were going for dinner.

It was like that Verizon commercial where you have the intelligence of your network at your fingertips 24/7.

Watching the presidential debates became this online/offline hybrid experience, where I could follow people in my Twitter network like NPR’s Andy Carvin to get their insightful comments, or ask them questions – once again in real time.

Imagining a Twittered Sustainable Sector
Then the campaign ended and now my business is firmly planted in the sustainable sector.  I love it here but I miss the communications glue that bound me together with the nonprofit IT world.  Imagine:

• How great it would be if you could tweet, “Looking for a product that can perform better than X.  Any suggestions?”  And your network would shoot you back their suggestions.
• Being able to follow what your gurus in the industry or reading or writing about or what they’re working on, or maybe the problems that they’re having.
• Getting Tweets from people with updates from a conference that you weren’t able to attend or requesting that they ask a speaker a question for you?
• Being out of town on business in New Haven and shooting out to your network that you’re headed to Louis for a burger so others could join you.

It is a phenomenal way to broaden your network that turns two-way communications (i.e., “Dan, do you know any good solar installers?) into a community way of communication (i.e, Community, do you know any solar installers?).

Not Another Time Suck
I know what you’re thinking. “Like I have time for this. I’m swamped already.”  Twitter actually saved me time because I was constantly able to skim the cream off the top of my network rather than wallow in the swamps trying to eke out intelligence on my own.   Plus, there’s no law that says you have to spend hours crafting 140 character witticisms.  You can simply check out other people’s posts and when you think you have something to say, dive in.

Let’s Twitter
Personally, I’ve been looking for people to Twitter with in the sustainable field.  So, if you’re on Twitter, please post your Twitter name in the comment section below.  That way we can all start following one another.

To see how a community of Providence Geeks (yes, that’s their name) did this, check out: http://tinyurl.com/dgrd9m

If you don’t have a Twitter account, it will only take you a minute to set it up at http://www.twitter.com

By the way, on Twitter, I’m @Jo_Lee  (Since this post, I’ve changed my user name to GreenMachinePR)

At the end of the day, I believe that truly deliberative communication takes place face-to-face. I’m still old fashioned that way.  But, online applications, like Twitter, can facilitate that interaction and fill in the holes until we finally meet for that beer or coffee.

Looking forward tweeting with you soon!

Jo Lee