Recently, on our Tuesday#DigiBlogChat Larry Mount (@LazBlazter) and I spoke to Samir Al-Battran of @connexinet and @Tweepsmap about the brand new Toolbox recently rolled out by Twitter! And we discovered that there’s a lot to know and learn about the Toolbox!

The Twitter Toolbox, defined

What is the Twitter Toolbox, you might ask? As Samir Al-Battran explained, Twitter Toolbox is a hub (in beta phase) where people on Twitter will be able to easily discover, learn more about, and quickly sign-up to third-party developer tools to enhance their Twitter experience. Developers created these tools to make Twitter better and safer. And Twitter launched The Toolbox on February 1, 2022.

How to access the toolbox

Twitter Toolbox has its own website where you can find and get started with tools https://developer.twitter.com/en/community/toolbox…

The toolbox includes three sections: 1. Expression Tools, 2. Safety Tools, and 3. Measurement Tools. Twitter has listed Tweepsmap, an AI-driven Twitter analytics and publishing platform, under Measurement Tools, although you can actually do much more than measure with Tweepsmap.

The Twitter Toolbox: New Digital Tools| Image by endri yana yana from Pixabay

Where would you want to start with the Toolbox?

Personally, I’ve already used Thread Reader, Buffer and of course Tweepsmap! But I’d love to sit down and try all of the tools in the toolbox. Personally, I’d pick one of the three sections and then choose a single tool to start. Otherwise, you might be overwhelmed.

Why did Twitter launch the Toolbox?

Samir: “To help people on Twitter easily discover, learn more about, and quickly sign-up to third-party developer tools that will enhance their Twitter experience, and to support developers on promoting their tools and growing their audience.” Shruti Deshpande (@shruti12d) explained that Twitter launched the Toolbox to make the most of the Twitter analytics and tools that help content creation in order to maximize your Twitter marketing. THIAM MÉKÀ de GOGUENHEIM (@ThiamMeka2Gogue) added that Twitter launched the Toolbox to provide support to @Twitter‘s users in elevating their #Twitter experience.

Will Twitter add more tools to the Toolbox?

Samir: “Twitter Toolbox is currently in beta. Developers who are interested in having their tool considered for Twitter Toolbox in future can join the waiting list.” So that sounds like a definite yes, although we won’t know for certain until Twitter announces that there are more tools. 

What publishing capabilities can the tools in the Toolbox provide?

Once again, from Samir: “Expression tools on Twitter offer smarter ways to compose, organize, and manage Tweets. Check out the product features for each tool on the Toolbox website. With Tweepsmap, you can schedule threads/polls/posts and measure engagement analytics in one platform! ” And @JonWesselink added “Scheduling threads and polls, anyone? ;)”, along with the image above. 

What Safety Tools are available in the Toolbox?

Toolbox currently includes three safety tools: Bodyguard, Block Party, and Moderate. You can get details on all the safety tools (and other tools, too) if you go to the Toolbox.

Recently I watched one of my favorite YouTubers, Kellie Branciforte of But First, Coffee. She talked about becoming a more tidy person, and mentioned that she might be overentertained. And that got me to thinking. Are we all overentertained? Have we reached the point where we can no longer be bored and do nothing? I’d say yes (at least for me). Here are a few ways to see if you truly are overentertained.

You always need to be multitasking

Yes, I know, you’re going to tell me you can’t really multitask. (I’m thinking of you, Randy Clark!) But you know what I’m saying. You can’t do just one thing at a time. That’s not enough mental stimulation for you. By the way, you might like Randy Clark’s article about multitasking: How Multitasking is Killing Your Creativity and what to do about it. Randy writes: “We aren’t wired to multitask. At best, we task switch jumping back and forth between tasks. How efficient is that?”

You need your phone while standing in line

Do you ever look around for your phone while waiting your turn at the grocery store? I do that sometimes, too. You might want to check your Twitter, or watch part of a video, or look at TikTok, am I right? Meanwhile, everyone in front of you has moved up and you’re standing there with a ten-foot gap while people give you the stink eye. At least, that’s been my experience!

No time for boredom!

Like sleep, you believe that you can be bored (or sleep!) when you’re dead. But in reality, being bored means that your brain has time to rest. And your brain seriously needs some downtime. Why, if you asked your brain right now, I’ll bet your brain would say it needs a vacation! Go ahead–ask it. I’ll wait! I’ve talked about boredom before. You might like this article: Can the Simple Pursuit of Total Boredom Make You Smarter? If you had to guess, you probably already know where I’m going with this line of thought, right?

Five Clues that You’re Overentertained | Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

You fall asleep with the tv going and music blasting

If you need lots and lots of background noise to fall asleep, that could be a clue that you’re overentertained. Spotify plus Netflix plus TikTok plus whatever else is going on so it’s just one solid wall of noise. Sound familiar? Or is it just me?

Social media sites send notifications many times a day

If your social media sites send you tons of notifications all day long and you don’t notice how many there are any more, that could be a clue that you’re overentertained. Or you have so much Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) that it all melts into one blobby mess of notifications. Does this sound like you? If not, how have you managed to escape being overentertained? Maybe you revel in silence and boredom (at least sometimes).

How do you measure your own social media productivity? Is it a simple measure of how many items get checked off your to-do list, or is there something else you use to measure how well you’re doing? As a social media manager, here are some ideas I’ve developed over the years. I hope they spark some ideas of your own.

Group by platform and task

That is, usually I take one social media platform and work on that platform for all my accounts. So I’ll read through Twitter for all my accounts, for instance, before heading over to Facebook. I’ll check comments, reply, and post for the future on Facebook. Then head over to Instagram, interact with people, and plan some posts for the upcoming day or two. You might enjoy some other productivity tips here: 11 Ways Being Outdoors Can Improve Your Productivity. Yes, they’re different than the ones you’re reading now! (For instance, there are ewoks.)

Watch your language and hashtags

For Instagram, I usually schedule separately through the Meta scheduler. There, I can schedule for both Facebook and Instagram at the same time, but use different language for each. Although the boundaries between the different platforms are merging, there are still some benefits to using different language for each platform. I’ve written about this back in the day, and you might like Had Enough of the Boundaries Blurring Between Social Media Platforms? So, for instance, hashtags are minimal on Twitter (even though hashtags originated there), whereas on Instagram they are encouraged. If you use boatloads of hashtags on Twitter, your reach will drop.

Take breaks–even from social media and even from being online

Taking lots of breaks is key to staying sane. I like to take Sundays off, at the very least. Usually Saturdays, too. And this week, I also took Monday off! It was wonderful! In a Psychology Today article, Social Media Breaks and Why They Are Necessary, Kristen Fuller, M.D. talks about using apps to track your time on social media so you can scale back.

Social Media and Productivity: Five Simple Ideas Image by นิธิ วีระสันติ from Pixabay

Plan for the next day

Maybe you do this already? Do you? I leave myself about 15 minutes each evening to go over what I need to get done the next day. Then each item gets prioritized according to how important it is. Leave lots of white space in your planner for those unexpected tasks which always seem to crop up out of nowhere.

Plan to not do everything

If you love to get things done, this one might be the most difficult for you! It is for me. A couple or maybe a few of those things are not going to happen. And if you can decide ahead of time which are low priority, your life will be better. So maybe in terms of social media productivity, you’ll only check LinkedIn once a week. Or maybe you’ll choose to ignore TikTok. Or what the heck–both! What not go for broke?

What things do you leave off your to-do list?

Is there anything you don’t do, that maybe other people do? Leave me a comment! And thanks for reading.

What is the worst social media practice, you might ask? Because I’m a social media manager, I get to see a lot of websites and social media accounts. There are a few that stand out for all the wrong reasons. Here are just a few. The good news is that most of them are easy fixes. Some may require that you hire a developer to fix your website, but they will help your business!

No e-commerce is one of the worst social media practices

Recently, I saw a social media account with a website in the profile. The website had buttons for e-commerce, but none of them worked. So there was no way to buy anything online. There’s still a pandemic (and even if there wasn’t a pandemic, people want to go online and have things delivered if possible), and people are still busy and tired.

Fix: If you can set up a way for people to buy from you, please make it easy. Don’t make potential customers memorize a secret password, call you, and make an appointment during the one hour a week you’re actually open. (Unless you’re a practical joker, and don’t have any intention of ever selling anything! In that case, two thumbs up!)

Worst Social Media Practices (and how to avoid them). Image by Daniel Reche from Pixabay

No profile picture

When you have no profile picture, it looks like no one is home. This is one of the worst social media practices there is. Now that everyone has a camera in their pocket, it’s more critical than ever to have a decent photo. See what Social Champ says in their article The Importance of Social Media Images. “In one study, they discovered that content paired with an image attracted 94% more views on average than content without visuals.”

Fix: This is an easy one to fix. If you don’t have a profile picture please take one. Even a picture of your cat or your puppy is better than nothing. Seriously, though. Get a picture. Even if it’s a crummy picture, it’s better than having nothing. By the way, I’ve talked about the importance of improvising before. You might like How to MacGyver Your Social Media.

Posting sporadically

People may go to your website, where you say you have every platform under the sun. But when you go to any of those platforms, your last post was in 2018. Has this happened to your brand?

Fix: Why not schedule out at least a few posts, but spread them out a bit? Put out one post per month, at the very least, so we know the account is still alive? Please.

Magical thinking is — you guessed it! — one of the worst social media practices

Some people think that social media is magic. But the truth is that it’s a lot of hard work! I’ve written about Magical Thinking before. You might like Magical Thinking and Social Media.

Fix: Sometimes one person tells two people tells four people, and so on. But usually that doesn’t happen. Be realistic about what social media can do and you’ll be happier.

Ugly pictures

By ugly, what I mean is that sometimes the pictures are spammy with big, red SALE splotches all over them, or out of focus, or you can’t even tell what something is.

Fix: It’s 2022, and images are more important than ever. Don’t post an image of a flyer that looks like it’s from 1998, unless your shop is all about the 90s.

Immediately spamming with private messages

This happens on Twitter, and not so much on other platforms, although recently I had someone try to sell me something on Facebook in a private message.

Fix: Don’t do this until you have a relationship with someone. Even then, tread carefully. You risk being blocked or reported, plus losing that person as a follower.

First of all, what the heck is a metaverse (or is it the metaverse?)? And why do I need to know about it? Once I start explaining it, you’ll understand a little better and maybe even realize that you’re soaking in it right now! During the pandemic, we all moved into virtual reality, at least a little bit. Except for a few people who didn’t want to give up their tin foil hats, that is. I’m joking about the tin foil hats.

First, how about a definition?

“The metaverse (a portmanteau of “meta-” and “universe”) is a hypothesized iteration of the internet, supporting persistent online 3-D virtual environment through conventional personal computing, as well as virtual and augmented reality headsets. Metaverses, in some limited form, are already present on platforms like VRChat or video games like Second Life.~ Wikipedia

Virtual reality has become a way of life for many

With the pandemic, gaming online has taken on a whole different meaning. Since it often wasn’t safe to meet face to face, people and especially kids moved online. It’s a space parallel to the real world where people can meet, talk, and play. I’m italicizing real world because to many, virtual reality is just as real as the physical world. For kids, moving online and into the virtual world isn’t even something they need to think about. They’re already there. Beyond just being online, though, the metaverse is 3D, mostly through headsets, as set out in the Wiki definition above.

How much do you need to know about the Metaverse? Image by Evgeni Tcherkasski from Pixabay

Collaboration is key in the metaverse

In the metaverse, social interaction and collaboration are the new currencies. If we, as social media managers, wanted people to be more social, in the metaverse, you almost wouldn’t survive without being social. There’s still the chance to lurk, as there is on social media platforms, but for real success, you must work with others. I find it similar to online groups where you might have joined initially to learn something or to move forward with a hobby. But after awhile, you might stay on the platform because you enjoy talking with the people online, so you stay. By the way, I’ve talked about social media managers and some fake holidays they might like. You might like it, too!

Mark Zuckerberg’s branding of the Facebook environment

While I don’t always agree with Facebook’s handling of anything these days, using the term meta was a stroke of genius. Whoever came up with the concept of using meta as an umbrella term for the Facebook and Instagram arenas, knew what they were doing. Since the meta umbrella term for Facebook/Instagram, everyone’s interest in the metaverse has become keener.

A few downsides to the Metaverse

On the other hand, there are also some negatives to big tech and the metaverse, as outlined in this New York Times article: Everybody Into the Metaverse! Virtual Reality Beckons Big Tech. For one thing, the headsets are cumbersome and sometimes make people dizzy or sick. And who remembers the big failure of Google Glass? Also, in many parts of the world (the parts where there is money to be made selling lots of ads), privacy concerns could keep the momentum of the metaverse from moving forward.

Recently, I listened to a podcast about Tiny Habits on Guy Kawasaki’s podcast. In the podcast, Guy Kawasaki interviewed BJ Fogg, author of Tiny Habits. The gist of this productivity hack is that you anchor a tiny habit to another habit. The new habit needs to be very, very, VERY easy to accomplish. As in, 30 seconds or less. Here are some takeaways, and how I’ll be trying out this new idea.

It’s super easy

Really. If there’s something you tried for your new year’s resolution last year that failed, this is much more apt to succeed. Seriously–it’s so easy that anyone can do it. For me, personally, I want to start doing squats again, since it’s been many moons since I’ve been to the gym. It just doesn’t feel safe with all those people sweating and exhaling. But I can do this at home, so yay! I’ve talked about New Year’s Resolutions before, in case you’d like to read about them: Simplify Those New Year’s Resolutions So They Don’t Make You Crazy.

The anchor can be any habit

For me, I tied my tiny new habit to brushing my teeth. BJ Fogg says the anchor needs to be specific, though. So, as I put my toothbrush in the cleaner thingie, I then do two squats. That’s pretty easy, right? You could also anchor your tiny habit to finishing a cup of coffee, feeding your cat, or anything you do regularly. But make it as specific as possible. So, for instance, not just feeding your cat, but putting the bowl on the floor in front of your cat. Or opening the can of cat food.

Don’t do more

You can do more, of course, if you really want to, but–and here’s the key–you don’t have to. The habit doesn’t build on itself with you doing a Squat Marathon or anything equally silly. You just do the two squats, or whatever tiny habit you chose to do. It’s pretty easy to succeed. Don’t get stuck thinking you have to constantly up the ante. You get credit if you just do two squats (or whatever).

Tiny Habits Could Help You Achieve Your Goals. Image by Lorri Lang from Pixabay

Less effort and less motivation

If you run out of steam with the new habits you want to acquire, then tiny steps is a good way to go. You need barely any effort and even less motivation. Also, BJ Fogg considers celebration a part of the mix. Whenever you have a small win, you get to celebrate! By the way, if you’re looking for motivation to write, you might like this: how to find motivation to write.

If you get stuck, there’s help

Not only can you get the book, BJ Fogg has coaches to help you refine your goal. So if the idea doesn’t sound that simple to you, you can contact BJ Fogg and find a coach.

Recently I was listening to a podcast (Thought Row Podcast), which featured Terri Nakamura talking about harnessing the power of social media. She mentioned filtering Twitter by creating conversations with people, responding to those who reach out to her personally. It’s very similar to the way that I use Twitter. I think we all need to filter our social media accounts. If we listened or read every single message that came across our screens we’d surely go insane. So here are some of the ways that I filter what I read, not just from Twitter, but from Facebook and Instagram, too.

Twitter lists, lists, and lists

On Twitter, lists are my saviour. I’ve noticed lately that people aren’t as excited about them any more. I wonder why?! To me, they’re one of the best things about Twitter! In fact, I’ve written about this feature: Twitter Lists for the Power User. It was written and updated a few times, by the way. Of course, responding to those who mention you is another great way to filter. There are people on Twitter with whom I’ve had conversations spanning years and maybe over a decade now. So if you do nothing else, respond to your notifications and you should be in pretty good shape.

Facebook groups

On Facebook, groups are a terrific way to filter. I use just a few of them and ignore the rest. Those that my friends run, or groups where I can discuss my interests are my favorites. History, social media, and knitting are some of my interests. There are also some nifty ways to filter out what you see in your news feed. Why not check out this post from Facebook, err Meta, itself? You can also filter by type of post. For instance, I like to watch videos on Facebook, so I’ll often only watch those. Or you could filter on status updates.

Filter Instagram using hashtags or close friends

On Instagram, I usually look at what my closest friends are doing first. However, I’ve noticed that this feature doesn’t always work. So I might be filtering social media by hashtag, which also works. In my area, the hashtag I like is #SantaCruzMountains. When I’m posting for clients in San Francisco, I use #SFBay, #SF, and #SanFrancisco. There are many others, since you can have up to 30 hashtags. I’ve written about hashtags before: How to Discover a Wealth of Friends with Social Media Hashtags.

Filtering the Social Media Firehose So You Don’t Go Insane. Image by Pexels from Pixabay

How do you filter?

If you have some other way of filtering your social media, I’d love to hear it. Probably everyone would love to hear it. It’s so exhausting to always be hit by so much stuff, isn’t it? Short of leaving the online world, there has to be a better way to make sense of it.

Although I subscribe to the idea that shorter blog posts are better, we’ve all heard that longer is better when it comes to blog posts and to articles in general. But what if you’ve said all there is to say in just a few shortish paragraphs? Should you keep on writing? For me, shorter is better. Of course, that’s generally speaking–there are always exceptions.

Strunk and White

As someone who grew up on Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, I’ve always heard that it’s better to use a smaller, more concise word when it’s available. Have you heard that, too? On the other hand, according to SEO experts, longer blog posts get more attention on the internet. That line of thinking can sometimes lead to bloated writing, with lots of filler. If you’re unfamiliar with The Elements of Style, Strunk “concentrated on the cultivation of good writing and composition; the original 1918 edition exhorted writers to “omit needless words,” use the active voice, and employ parallelism appropriately.” (Quoted from Wikipedia.)

A combination of shorter and longer posts

For me, I tend to focus on blog posts that are around 500 words. Some people will only publish longer posts, while others focus on images in their blog posts, with very few words at all. For example, Matt Mullenweg, founder and creator of WordPress, writes fairly short blog posts, although sometimes there are podcasts or videos embedded.

What’s the best length, though?

The best length really depends (you knew I was going to say that, didn’t you?). For interaction, shorter is better. To attract those doing research or for SEO purposes, 1,000 words or more is a good length. Those that write “how-to” articles tend to write longer articles, upwards of 1500 words. I like interaction, so keep my articles around 500. In the olden days, 350 words was a good length, but that has grown. It also depends on your audience, or, if you have no audience, then the audience you want to attract.

Are Longer or Shorter Blog Posts Better? Image by Karolina Grabowska from Pixabay

Daily writing to exercise that writing muscle

To get to a longer post, you’ve really got to write a little or a lot every day. Friend Randy Clark recommends writing 500 words a day. By the way, if you get stuck writing, you might like 6 Ways to Never Run out of Blog Post Ideas, by Randy. You might also like this post: How to Quickly and Easily Unleash Your Blogging Creativity, by moi.

Do you have an ideal length?

Do you just keep writing until you run out of steam, or time? Or do you write to a certain length, or is there something else that drives the amount you write and publish? I really do want to know! Let me know in the comments. Or by carrier pigeon. Or send a post card! Personally, I think that it’s important to write no matter the length of your article.