Comments on: Do you Twitter at Work?

By: Ann Owens

Ann Owens — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:39:51 +0000

I tweet at work. I feel that if it’s work-related, it’s ok. I don’t have many co-workers using Twitter yet, so haven’t got a sense of whether it’s approved or not. My supervisors do not tweet, afaik. I have, however, had productive tweet exchanges with colleagues in other cities.

By: Dan Messer

Dan Messer — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:35:21 +0000

1. Do you Tweet at work?
Oh yes, for me, 80% of the reason I even use Twitter is the virtual watercooler it creates at work. And I don’t even have to get up from my desk, or break my workflow to throw up a quick tweet.

2. Do you hide it from your boss?
No! My boss has her own Twitter account and there’s been times shes @ replied to something I wrote right after I posted it. And she was sitting next to me at the front desk!

3. Do you think it’s ok to Twitter from work?
Yes. Like I said, after 6,500 tweets and figuring that 80% of those are work/library related or replies to work/library related tweets from others, then I’ve had 5,200 conversations with the Twitter world. Of that world, a great deal of them are librarians who I’ve learned much from and, according to them, they’ve learned stuff from me. That wouldn’t have happened without Twitter.

4. Do you think it hurts your performance?
That’s not just a no, but a HELL no. Being a computer nerd, I can do several things at the same time on a computer without breaking my workflow or productivity. Indeed, it’s helped my performance. There have been a few times here and there when a tweet from a friend clued me into something I REALLY needed to know.

Twitter is a fantastic tool and toy. When I was a kid, I liked to hammer nails into boards. As I got older my dad let me more of that, except I was helping him build something. It was the same thing- just hammering nails into boards. Yet at the same time it was a fun activity it was also helping to build something bigger. I see that Twitter has something in common there.

By: Kate B

Kate B — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:03:14 +0000

Ha! I hope more answers come here than they did when I originally asked. And I realized that I never answered my own question.

I do not hide Twitter from my boss, and have referred to it a few times when talking with her, but I still get a feeling that it is frowned upon.

But, I do feel that the way I currently use Twitter has hurt my productivity and I’m working on that. Maybe that guilty conscience is what makes me feel like it’s frowned upon at my workplace.

By: mlibrarianus

mlibrarianus — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:21:26 +0000

1. Do you Tweet at work?
Yes as does my boss.

2. Do you hide it from your boss?
Nope.

3. Do you think it’s ok to Twitter from work?
Yes. Keeps me up on the latest things happening in the library world since I follow many library related folks (also new organizations)

4. Do you think it hurts your performance?
No, keeps me up on things. Matter of fact I’ve sent several interesting things found or inspired by Tweets to our Marketing dept. who has been grateful for the links. I don’t tweet all day – just check from time to time. Less time spent than reading emails.