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I'm Too Dumb to Twitter (among other things)

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Education & Training with Sell with Soul

frustrate

Every have one of those days (or holiday weekends) where technology is not your friend?

I'm kinda stuck at home for the Memorial Day weekend and it's pouring down rain anyway, so I figured - what the heck? I'll attack some of these techie projects I've been putting off. Sounds fun.

Ugh.

So, I tried to install Outlook to replace my beloved Outlook Express. There are some things I want to do with my email that apparently Outlook Express doesn't support. Every time I ask for help "doing it" with my OE, I've been told that "no, Outlook Express won't do it, but Outlook will." Since I have a copy of Outlook 2007 lying around, figured I'd take the plunge.

Loaded it up (easy enough), but for the life of me, can't get my POP settings to work. I've set up email accounts dozens of times, so I know what I'm doing (or apparently not), but it just ain't working. Screw it. REMOVE PROGRAM. Back to Outlook Express.

So, also on my techie to-do list is to give this Twitter dealio a try. I really really really don't understand how it can possibly benefit me, but "everyone" says I must have it.

Signed up, created a profile. Easy enough. Tried to "verify" my phone number. Nope. Apparently my 12-year Verizon Wireless phone number isn't supported by Twitter -- or something like that. They want me to send a text message to some number with a "+" sign in front of it, but, idiot me, I can't find a "+" sign on my cell phone. I sent the message without a "+" sign, but nothing happened, so I assume I didn't do it right.

Shouldn't be this hard, should it?

ARGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!

 

epilogue, posted Sunday morning

  • I got Twitter set up. Probably gonna delete it today. See my comment below. I don't need it and I sure don't need yet another thing to keep up on (or fret that I'm not keeping up on it).
  • I also got my Outlook set up. Not sure how I feel about it. It solved two problems I'd hate with Outlook Express, but created a few more that apparently don't have solutions. And it's kinda slow.
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Comments(24)

Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

Be sure to use the ActiveRain feed to automatically post links to your posts on Twitter. If you use the Facebook application to Twitter, your ActiveRain links will also appear on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/roykelley

May 23, 2009 01:29 AM
Susan Haughton
Long and Foster REALTORS (703) 470-4545 - Alexandria, VA
Susan & Mindy Team...Honesty. Integrity. Results.

ROFL...I had the same trauma going from OE to Outlook but once I went to Outlook, I was astounded how long I stuck with OE. 

Look for Kim and I on Twitter...LOL...Heather, too..although I only check in about once every 2 months...maybe that's why I am just not diggin' it. 

May 23, 2009 01:31 AM
Kim Brown
Keller Williams Realty - Keene, NH
Keene, NH - New England at its Best!

Love Outlook...never had OE, so can't help with the transfer. 

Susan...check twitter.  :-P

May 23, 2009 01:38 AM
Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn
Sell with Soul - Pensacola Beach, FL
Author of Sell with Soul

So, I have to call Verizon to allow me to Twitter? Now THAT's a step that it seems would limit participation!

Susan - so, you're saying you like Outlook - that I should perservere???

I think I'll Step    Away    From    the    Computer and go to WalMart. (Yeah, Susan, I know how much you love WalMart...)

May 23, 2009 02:00 AM
Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn
Sell with Soul - Pensacola Beach, FL
Author of Sell with Soul

Here is (I think) my Twitter page... http://twitter.com/sellwithsoul

May 23, 2009 02:23 AM
Kim Brown
Keller Williams Realty - Keene, NH
Keene, NH - New England at its Best!

YAY!  You did it!  Tweet on, JA, Tweet on...

 

May 23, 2009 02:44 AM
Bryant Tutas
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC - Winter Garden, FL
Selling Florida one home at a time
OK so I too have yet to figure out why I need to be on Twitter. I guess I'm just too busy selling house to tweet. Sounds like you need to just take the day off.
May 23, 2009 04:57 AM
Charlie Ragonesi
AllMountainRealty.com - Big Canoe, GA
Homes - Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Pros

I think Monty Pythons Twit of the year sketch eerily foreshadowed Twitter and tweeting. I am with you on this . But maybe it is needed to do

May 23, 2009 05:08 AM
Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn
Sell with Soul - Pensacola Beach, FL
Author of Sell with Soul

So, I'm officially Twittering. Some people are following me and I"m following them. I've yet to see my business explode, but I'll give it a few more hours!

 

May 23, 2009 05:14 AM
Lisa Arnold
Weichert Realtors/Forked River - Forked River, NJ

Just post some great content, interact with your followers, follow some interesting people, and it'll all make sense, eventually. 

 

May 23, 2009 06:50 AM
Alexander Harb
Knights Investing - Mesquite, TX
Dallas, Texas Real Estate Investing

I am sorry, but will NOT twitter...it seems so...trivial... you can TEXT people that need to know things personally....

You can also talk to them......

I prefer those methods to twitter.....

 

May 23, 2009 06:57 AM
Susan Haughton
Long and Foster REALTORS (703) 470-4545 - Alexandria, VA
Susan & Mindy Team...Honesty. Integrity. Results.

Yes, persevere on the Outlook thing...OE is sort of Outlook lite to me now!  LOL

May 23, 2009 07:51 AM
Bob & Carolin Benjamin
Benjamin Realty LLC - Gold Canyon, AZ
East Phoenix Arizona Homes

Yes, do be sure to report if your business explores after a few hours on Twitter --- we are wondering what all the fuss is about Twitter ourselves -- I mean do we all need to now that someone ate a tuna sandwich for lunch? Guess we do not get it.

May 23, 2009 10:18 AM
Bryant Tutas
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC - Winter Garden, FL
Selling Florida one home at a time

How about a seminar on how we don't need no stinkin' Twitter!!! We could start a movement.  

May 23, 2009 12:02 PM
Ken Tracy
Coldwell Banker Residential - Naperville, IL
Helping clients buy and sell since 2005

Hi Jennifer.  It is amazing how much we have to learn in real estate.

Pop server?  HTML code?  All this stuff.

So much to learn.

Thanks for writing,

Ken

May 23, 2009 12:30 PM
Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn
Sell with Soul - Pensacola Beach, FL
Author of Sell with Soul

BB - We might do that on June 20th! Seriously.

Been giving this Twitter thing more thought and I fear I got caught up in the hype and discounted my gut. My gut tells me that I have no earthly use for Twitter. It's not a matter that "I don't get it" - it's simply "I don't need it." And when you don't need something everyone insists you need, it's easy to doubt your own judgment.

Ironic - yesterday after whining about my Twitter set-up experience, I buckled down and wrote a whole seminar on the value of trusting your gut - your intuition - your common sense and NOT blindly following the crowd. Didn't connect the two until this morning.

Sometimes it's best to simply Just Say No to new technology that doesn't seem to solve any immediate problem I have!

May 23, 2009 11:27 PM
Joanne O'Donnell
Chic Home Interiors - Oakland, CA

Jennifer, do not give up on Outlook - the difference between the two is astounding... and the comparison leaves express in the dust...

Twitter,if you don't want it, don't use it.  But my advice is to set it up, but set it up so it doesn't come to your phone so it doesn't become one more thing to keep up with.  I only go there when I want to, meantime all my activerain blogs are announced on twitter and that automatically puts them on facebook,,, Over about 2 months I have been able to acquire about 800 followers without spending much time on it by following the instructions given in a series on twittering in active rain by Kim Wood - here is the link: http://activerain.com/blogsview/742795/how-to-twitter-part-five . It may not have helped me yet, but who knows?  I am building a base and not spending much time, if it starts to make sense later I won't be starting from scratch...  Meantime, I will follow you, follow me...

May 25, 2009 02:10 AM
Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn
Sell with Soul - Pensacola Beach, FL
Author of Sell with Soul

Joanne - I did get Outlook installed and running and am in evaluation-mode. It seems really slow compared to Outlook Express and that's annoying me. And of course, it's different, which takes some time to get used to. But I'll probably stick with it. Your comments on Twittering to build my mailing list are intriguing... I'm going to give that some more thought! Thanks!

May 25, 2009 02:36 AM
Robert Rauf
CMG Home Loans - Toms River, NJ

I must NOT be a Twitt!  I tried it, I just do not get it.  you can not replace face to face relationships.  Facebook is fun, but it is almost alll social (for me at least) and the businessy (if that is a word) people there just seem out of place.

 

May 26, 2009 03:49 AM
Kim Peasley-Parker
AgentOwned Realty, Heritage Group, Inc. - Sumter, SC

Jennifer- Don't feel bad about Twitter, I am like you in that I am strugging with it.  I do like FaceBook and have really connected with a lot of old friends, new friends and clients.  Right now though, I am struggling with keeping up with ActiveRain, working on my business and being a new mom.

May 28, 2009 09:30 PM