You’re Addicted to Twitter if You…

One of the most exciting developments in 2008 was the rapid growth of Twitter.  Much has been written about it. Hubspot recently released their first annual State of the Twittersphere Q4 2008 report. Shel Israel is writing a book called Twitterville which I look forward to reading. In his forthcoming book Shel profiles several brands and individuals using Twitter in their business such as Zappos, Rubbermaid and Scott Monty of Ford Motor Company. Visit Shel’s blog for more details and to keep tabs on the book’s progress and availability.

In addition to some great reading on the impact of Twitter on our culture and society mentioned above I want to offer some thoughts of my own.  The following list is not based on any scientific research.  Rather this list is based on my gut instincts. In other words, this list is just my humble opinion.

You just might be addicted to Twitter if you….

• Load Twitter first thing in the morning before you check your email.
• Tweet something as the last waking moment before you go to bed.
• When you meet someone for the first time after asking their name, the next question you ask is if they follow you on Twitter.
• The next question you ask this new person is how many followers they have.
• You check your Twitter Grader daily.
• You check your Twitter following growth daily (or hourly).
• You feel lame if you haven’t Tweeted in an hour.
• You always Tweet what you’re doing where ever you are.
• You look at people who don’t use Twitter as aliens from another planet.
• You can’t remember life before Twitter.
• You have grown to hate email because you’d rather use Twitter.
• You review every new Twitter application as soon as it’s available.
• You post more than 100 Twitter updates per day.
• You feel compelled to reply to every one of Chris Brogan’s Tweets.
• You check Twitter names just to see if they are available.
• You dream up new Twitter names just because.
• You revise your Twitter profile once per week.
• You change your Twitter picture once per week.
• You dream up ways to talk about Twitter with your non-Twitter friends.
• You are seriously considering ditching your non-Twitter friends if they don’t get on Twitter.
• You invent new Twitter vocabulary all the time.
• When you visit a website you look for their Twitter identity.  If you don’t find one you think less of the company.
• Your significant other accuses you of spending more time with people on Twitter whom you’ve never met than you spend with him or her.
• No matter how many Twitter followers you have, you’re never satisfied.
• You have a separate calling card just with your Twitter identity. You’ve been handing out that card more than your regular business card recently.
• You haven’t been responsive to people calling your name because you prefer to be called by your Twitter name.
• You get the shakes if your mind draws blank and you can’t think of something to Tweet about.
• When you attend business meetings, you send and reply to Tweets from your mobile device.
• Your mobile device buzzes non-stop because you have enabled the device setting for most of the people you follow on Twitter.

You are really addicted to Twitter if you have set up one or more additional Twitter identities so you can lead a secret double or triple life.

This is a partial list of attributes of Twitter addiction.  If you or someone you love suffers from Twitter addiction, please seek help.  There must be other signs of Twitter addiction not listed here.  I encourage you to add them so you can help someone who suffers from Twitter addiction.  Please add to this list in the comments section below.

BTW, are you following me on Twitter?

Bernie Borges
@berniebay

Tags: @berniebay, Hubspot, Shel Israel, Twitter, Twitter Grader