Carson Brackney is a Consultant and CEO of his own freelance writing and internet marketing business.

But, that description does not even begin to cover Carson, who is happily married and a proud father of  two girls.

As someone who had assorted jobs, I think it is is Carson’s diverse background that I relate to.

Here is just a snapshot.

• Communications degree, minor in Political Science and Sociology – two years of law school
• Former national debate champ – coached college debate squads
• Worked in radio, luxury sales, survey construction, human resources, marketing and education, and for an investigation by the Department of Justice
• Writer and expert on all things online – built, operated and sold several profitable websites

I was thrilled when Carson agreed to a guest post.

Carson has always been on my RSS feed. I love his straight-shooting, passionate blogging.

Please welcome Carson, enjoy his guest post, and then visit him at Carson.Brackney.com. You will be glad you did.

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The Happy Confession of a Lousy Tweeter

In a recent post, “Do You Tweet People Off“, Cathy asked her readers to share their tales of embarrassing Tweets.

I don’t have one.

But that’s not because I am perfect or anything. I can honestly say that I am not really using Twitter to its full potential–or even its partial potential.

I don’t have a tale of woe only because my Twitter presence doesn’t really lend itself to any substantive risk of firing off an ill-advised Tweet.

I get Twitter. I really do. In fact, I even served as the ghostwriter for two different well-received Twitter user guides/tip manuals.

I understand its essence. I regularly advise clients on how to create Twitter presences that will work for them. Ask me a Twitter question. I probably have the answer. If I don’t, I will know who does have the answer and I’ll get it for you.

This understanding of Twitter hasn’t translated into what most social media types would consider meaningful involvement, though.

Here’s how I’m Tweeting:

• I Tweet new entries at my blog.
• I Tweet my own guest posts and contributions at other websites.
• I will occasionally (okay, rarely) re-Tweet really cool stuff someone else Tweets.
• I have a plug-in that occasionally pulls my older blog posts and Tweets it for the world to see again.
• Sometimes, late at night, I’ll be listening to a great song via Pandora and I’ll Tweet it using their little “share” button.
• If I happen to notice a new DM or an @carsonbrackney mention, I might respond.

That constitutes at least 90% of my Twitter usage.

Why is this the case? Why am I not a shining example of Twitter bad-assery? Why don’t I make a point of being Mr. Twitter?

Obviously, it would be in my best interests to have a magnificently landscaped chunk of Twitter terrain with my name all over it instead of approximately 2,000 followers with whom I don’t really converse. What gives?

Here’s what I can tell you.

• I don’t work well within a 140-character straitjacket. I feel like too much of what I want to say requires more space.
• I’m not a smalltalker. I know that many people enjoy sharing little tidbits about life via Twitter. I don’t. I don’t like reading them and I don’t really like sharing them.
• I like to use Twitter as something of a customized real-time version of StumbleUpon. I check out what’s flying by on my stream to see if any of the people I follow have discovered, written or otherwise created something interesting. I’m a Twitter link clicker and I guess that my own involvement mirrors that preference.
• I maintain my Twitter account because I’ve found it’s a halfway decent “communication method of last resort”. If I can’t dig up your email address or a contact form and need to touch base with you, I can always turn to Twitter when all else fails.
• I don’t feel like I have enough time to be a good Twitter user.
• I’m yet to find a Twitter client that I really like or will use with any regularity.
• I didn’t start with a plan. Organizing the whole mess, creating lists, deciding who deserves special attention, etc. seems like a very, very big task at this point and I’m not really that interested in expending the energy necessary to complete it.

Oh, there’s one other thing… I really don’t think that it’s hurt me too much.

My business functions primarily on good word of mouth and I’m always busy. I take advantage of a few other networking opportunities.

I’m on Twitter because it’s a good outlet to share things and to notice things other people are sharing. It can be a lot more, but it serves that function well even though I don’t strive for those extra benefits.

It used to bug me that I didn’t have a better-defined social media strategy for my own efforts. At one time, I would’ve described my greatest Twitter embarrassment simply by linking to twitter.com/carsonbrackney and saying, “There it is”.

These days, I’m cool with it. I can live with an iffy Twitter presence. I’m giving a little, I’m getting a little and I have enough of a foundation to do something bigger and better if the mood strikes me.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to Tweet the link to this post.