Zen and the Art of Twitter: 4 Tips for Productive Tweeting Part One

zen rock image

Hope you like this article the Zen of the Art of Twitter. I thought it was interesting, especially, since I’m in the learning mode and need all the help I can get.

Soren Gordhamer is the organizer of the Wisdom 2.0 Conference, which brings together staff from tech companies with neuroscientists, Zen teachers, and others to explore living wisely in our modern age. Mashable readers can use code ‘Mashable‘ for a discount when registering.

Tweeting is easy. Tweeting and using social media with balance and effectiveness — not so easy. Zen teachings have much to offer those of us who wish to make our time on social networks more rewarding and productive.

We all have days when we engage social media with a focus and sense of direction that enriches our work and life. We find useful content and have good communication with friends, while also attending to other tasks we need to accomplish. We have other days, however, when we lose focus, and get overwhelmed and lost on social media, and find ourselves at the end of the day usually with more stress, and wondering what we actually accomplished.

Below are the top four Zen lessons to help you get the most positivity and productivity out of your social media experience.

1. Approach With a Beginner’s Mind

meditation image “In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert’s, there are few.” – Zen Master Suzuki Roshi

It seems that more and more people are claiming to be experts of one kind or another, and many of them are using social media. In fact, recent reports suggest that there are now over 15,700 people claiming to be social media experts on Twitter.

There is nothing wrong with experts. I am sure many who claim to be are quite skilled and knowledgeable. However, the question is not only how much we know, but how much are we willing to learn from our time on social media?

The person who thinks he “knows” or is an “expert” is often less open to new learning. In the age of social media, things change so fast that what we knew about a subject yesterday may not apply to today. What matters is less about what we knew in the past, and much more about how open we are to learning today. This applies especially to social media.

Lesson: Rather than focus on what you know when engaging in social media, focus on what you can learn.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/4JCv7c/mashable.com/2010/01/12/zen-social-media//r:f

2. Give What You Want to Receive

baton image Zen student asks, “I am very discouraged. What should I do?”” Zen teacher responds, “encourage others.”

There are countless ways that social media can help us with everything from our business to our social life. However, while there is much to gain from social media, we could also say there is much to give to social media too. From a Zen perspective, it is important to give what we wish to receive. Want to find more customers for your business on Twitter () or Facebook ()? Help others find customers for their business. Feel like you deserve more praise online? Praise others more. Want more people responding to your tweets? Respond to their tweets more. Tired of reading meaningless tweets? Make the effort to post meaningful ones yourself.

If we approach social media focused exclusively on what we can gain or what we think we should get, we set up a division in our relationships, one that often ends up preventing us from receiving the very thing we seek. When we give what we want to receive, it changes the dynamic such that, ironically, we are more likely to get what we seek.

Lesson: Focus not only what you can gain but also what you can give.

To your success

Laura and her Angel Kitties