Do you love the 140 character limit as much as I do? Never before have I had to do so many revisions on a single sentence! I am a word whittler, like Shel Silverstein. Rich Brooks, who has an internet marketing firm in Portland, Maine agrees: “Microblogging forces you to be interesting in 140 characters or less.”
Then I got to thinking: “Forces you to be interesting… hmmm… What if Shel Silverstein used Twitter?”
He’d get three things right (and three is more than two):
1. He’d Be Remarkable
Always ask yourself: “How is what I’m writing remarkable?”
If Shel Silverstein used Twitter, we’d be reading “Liftpullflopliftpullflopliftpullflop…” (a remarkable 39 characters)
2. He’d Be Useful
Ask yourself: “How much value can I create for the reader in 140 charactors?”
If Shell Silverstein used Twitter, we’d be reading: “All The Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas Layin’ In The Sun, Talkin’ ‘Bout The Things They Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda Done.” (106 characters, but very, very useful)
Note: using TinyUrl will save you 30-60 charactors.
3. He’d Be Visual
Aside from using Twiddeo or SeesMic, how can you use images to convey a thousand words?
Shel would vividly tweet, “Bent-up nails and icecream sticks, paper bags and broken bricks.” (63 stunning characters)
So… what would Shel say about Twitter, if he was alive today?
“This pen is almost out of ink. But I still have enough I thin…” (64)
If you liked this, you should read these:
Don’t Be A Twit When You Tweet On Twitter
7 Reasons Non-Profits Rock At Social Media
Non-Profit Blog Rule #1: Wear Dirty Pajamas
The “Rules of The Road” For Non-Profit Social Media
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He’d say: “Never bite a married woman on the thigh!” of course. I have no idea what that means - my uncle gave me a recording of Shel Silverstein reading his poetry when I was 12 and it still makes no sense.
Zach,
Thanks for the comment. Shel certainly is a required taste, but you should check out “The Missing Piece” and the song “A Boy Named Sue”, which was made famous by Johnny Cash. I like Shel because he’s whacky, visual and almost always delivers a useful message.
Great artist too. Check out: http://www.shelsilversteinshiddenart.com
John
I was first introduced to Shel Silverstein through the music performed by Dr. Hook.
I was a fan at 13 and 35 years later some of his lyrics still rattle around this old brain.
I think he would’ve said something like “If i’d only come and gone” The title of just one of the great songs he wrote for Dr. Hook.
Don,
Thanks for the comment. I can see you’re a big Shel fan.
To clarify, he’d says “If I’d only come and gone” on Twitter?
John