So you’re a Twitter rock star with an impressive list of followers. You’ve got a killer score of 99.6 on Twitter Grader, you carry on interesting conversations with @reply after @reply and get retweeted a decent amount, too. All is well in your Twitterverse, except…

…none of it is doing you any good in real life. Close your laptop and turn off your iPhone. What happens to your Twitterverse now? Exactly.

GIVE TWEEPS A CHANCE

If for any reason you’ve been weary of making your way to a tweetup in your area, I beg you to get off your rump, take a shot of social courage and meet these virtual tweeps in reality. Sure, there may be a brief moment of awkward introductions. “Hey, so… you’re @johndoe…you look nothing like your avatar…nice to meet you.”  And even after that it may seem like there isn’t much to talk about besides the last four tweets you’ve read from each other or the hottest tweeted link of the day. This is not the case.

Your tweeps are more than handles and avatars and links and hashtags.  Because you share interests (Why else would you follow them?) and converse with them throughout the day, there’s a pretty strong chance you’d have a great time at the pub/bar/pizza joint shooting the breeze for an hour or two.  It solidifies the connections you are using Twitter to establish anyway and like any good relationship, it needs work.

It’s usually not hard to find tweetups since they are, of course, arranged via twitter and we spend a good bulk of our day there anyway.  If you are a casual twitter user and not an obsessed fiend, check sites like Meetup.com or Tweetups.org for local gatherings. Also search for local twitter accounts that announce tweetups in your area (i.e. @soflatweetup, @ftlaudtweetup, etc.).

RECESSION FRIENDLY

Believe it or not, it IS possible to have a social life without breaking the bank. Down here in South Florida we are lucky enough to have quite a few tech events/tweetups that have generous sponsors who will chip in for the booze and food.

This is in no way meant to promote twitter mooching. No one likes the guy/girl who hovers around gatherings just for the free stuff.

Last night at Boca’s First Pizza Tweetup, Tucci’s Pizza (@tuccispizza) in Boca threw in all the pizza (which, by the way, was stellar) if you paid for a drink. There was no shortage of food, the owners were grateful and by the looks of it everyone had a great time. Thanks to @lapp for coordinating and @oweno for the awesome video:

So go forth my noble tweetup scaredy-cats. Drop the anti-social front and meet the people who pleasantly distract you from work on Twitter.