Now on Twitter!

I've blogged before about being one of the last refuseniks re Twitter, so it may surprise some that I've belatedly joined the Twitterati. Sort of. In collaboration rather than as myself. My fellow director of Airthrey Ltd (learning evaluation solutions) and I have set up a corporate Twitter account. Find us under Airthrey directors, @AirthreyLtd, Stirling.

So why the change of heart? We're trying it out for a number of reasons.

1. We want to maximise our firm's exposure through as many channels as possible. This gives prospective clients and partners yet another way to find us, and helps boost our search engine ratings.

2. We want access to wider debates on learning evaluation, and Twitter helps us find other information signposted there, such as the Training Journal article we retweeted on 4 November.

3. We hope this may be another means of building a comunity of like-minded people with whom to exchange ideas and experiences.

But I'm still very much a Twitter tyro, and would appreciate any suggestions on how to make the most of this medium.

# Should we aim to follow everyone who follows us? In other words, does following work best as a reciprocal activity?
# How do we grow the network? Is it just a question of tweeting as much potentially interesting stuff as possible? This sounds a bit to me like "if we build it, they will come", the classic mistake of the dot com boom and bust era, but is Twitter different?
# I've been advised that retweeting as much as possible is a good idea. Is this right? How does it help contribute to our goals listed above?

Any other ideas? All help and advice appreciated.