Twitter is a perfect democratic forum: if people don’t like what you have to say, they can vote with their fingers. With a quick click, choosing the unfollow or block features, your feed is forever removed from their life.
However, for businesses small and large, the goal of Twitter and other social media tools is to build relationships, not tear them down.

To master the fine art of friending followers, here are five ways to not be annoying.

1. Don’t hide. Include extra contact info in your Twitter bio or even on your Twitter background. Sometimes, 140 characters isn’t enough for your audience to say what they want. To encourage further dialogue, and limit your customers’ searching frustration, include your website URL, email address, and telephone number (if appropriate) within your Twitter page.
   
   
2. Don’t ignore. Answer all replies or questions within a reasonable time-frame. If a customer called you up on the phone, it’s unlikely that you’d sit on the call in silence. When you’re participating online, the same rules apply. While it might be time consuming to respond on a regular basis, your social media success depends on your accessibility and ability to engage in conversation. In other words, grab a cup or two of coffee every morning or night, and answer away. Your followers will commend your commitment, and they’ll respect that you’re listening.
   
   
3. Don’t yell. As much as you want to promote your business, limit direct marketing messages about how great your business is or why someone needs your product now. It’s OK to sell on Twitter, but for some users they prefer a soft sell or a message that has some real value to them (such as a product discount).
   
   
4. Don’t disappear. Consistency is the key to your business’s online marketing success. Just like going to the gym, regular activity leads to results. There are few things more frustrating than a company that is online for a few days in a row, and then disappears for a few days at a time. Think of Twitter as a series of marathons, not a quick sprint to the finish line.
   
   
5. Don’t lie.While it might be tempting to write a clever marketing tease that leads to an online promotion, try to be as direct as possible when messaging. For example, if you try to entice people with tweets, such as this link leads to the “the funniest video ever” or the “cheapest product you’ll ever find,” you should be certain that their expectations are met. If you send your followers astray too many times, they will stop believing what you have to say. Since trust is a must-have quality on the web, always tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
   

In December 2009 a Moroccan blogger was arrested for posting a previously-published article about a harsh government crack-down of a student protest.

Blogger Bashir Hazzem was sentenced to four months of detainment for “spreading false information about human rights that undermined the kingdom’s image” this January.

In addition to Bashir, the Internet cafe owner Abdullah Boukhou received a 12-month sentence on a charge of possessing a USB key with Bashir’s blog post on it.

Freedom House is already demanding the immediate release of the detainees. In a statement from Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House about these events:

We are troubled by the increasing incidents of blogger harassment in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia where governments act with impunity and hide behind oppressive laws that shield them from criticism. Freedom House applauds the brave bloggers and journalists in the region who are boldly campaigning for their release despite potential repercussions to themselves.

The recent increase of arrests and sentences that revolve around blogging and Internet rights is quite troubling and a serious disappointment. In recent months, there have been arrests in Egypt and Tunisia with stories of brutal beating and equipment confiscation.

Let’s hope something can be done to resolve this immediately.
You can support El Bashir at freebashir.org and Twitter account @freebashir.

At the end of 2009 I was on the tropical island Koh Toa, in the southeastern waters of Thailand. There I met some great people and I got, between the many Thai beers and the barbeques, my PADI diving certificate.

And then I had to go on a dangerous mission. Watch this underwater movie, fished up from an old box with the label 'wrong movies from 2009':



All credits go the the guys at the Buddha View Diving Resort on Koh Toa, the perfect spot to get your PADI and to dive around the island! I can not recommend a better place on earth to do that!

I spoke on a business panel on social media this morning, and specifically how law firms and professional services firms could engage: "To Tweet or not to Tweet"…

The gist of my points was to step back from the technology, and instead, examine the overall business/online strategy, the users and from there, to define and plan how social media might fit. It's like 'Web 2.0' and 'RSS' and every other term that frightens the living crap out of marketers… social media is not a new thing, it's merely where web publishing and users are evolving too.

A few points I covered:

1. Social Media is just another form of web publishing; its characteristics are slightly different in that it breaks from the usual ‘unidirectional’ style of publishing to one that is:

• Contemporary
• Often-two way
• Conversational and honest

2. Businesses should not get caught up in the hype and technology, and instead, focus on:

• Their objectives; and
• Their clients/customers and what they genuinely want online.
• In other words, don’t start Twitter for sake of Twittering. Work out what you need and then look where your audiences are.
• First mover advantage is not central, though those who move quickly, reap the benefits.
• Define a social media policy and roadmap; change takes time and baby steps are a great way to start.
• Stick with it, because nothing is immediate.
• Always focus on the best, most beneficial content. You get what you pay for.
• Be realistic… big businesses take time to steer. Show benefits of new policies and communication channels to get buy-in and show relevance.
• Invest in reputation monitoring software.

HEALTH:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
5. Make time to mediate.
6. (Breathe)
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

PERSONALITY:
11. Comparing our lives to others is fruitless. We have no idea what their journey is about.
12. Replace negative thoughts with positive ones especially about things out of our control. Invest energy in the positive present moment.
13. Try not to over do. Understand limits.
14. Why take ourselves so seriously. No one else does.
15. Gossip drains precious energy.
16. Dream more while we are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. We already have all we need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Let go of our partners mistakes of the past. Focus on our present/future happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Make peace with our past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of our happiness except us.
22. Realize that life is a school and we are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons we learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. We don’t have to win arguments. It’s ok to agree to disagree.

SOCIETY:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is insignificant compared to what you think of yourself.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

LIFE:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. (Higher powers) heal everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how we feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When we awake alive in the morning, be thankful.
39. Our Inner most is always happy. Release your “Inner Happy” on the world every day!

The bags are packed. One big duffel bag on wheels (I am 33yo now, so enjoying some luxury) with my own stuff and a small 8 kilogram bag filled with old clothing of mine.

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam for an 8-hours flight to Uganda where I'll have to wait another 6 hours at the airport in Entebbe for the connecting flight to Nairobi, Kenya. There I'll board the shuttle bus for a long ride to the Tanzanian border and then on to the small town called Moshi, at the foot of the Mount Kilimanjaro.



I will be awaiting 11 participants of the Expedition Kilimanjaro there who will be starting their adventure of a lifetime on December 27. The staff of the hotel gets my bag with old clothing, ideal for their family menbers.

When the climbers start their trek to the summit, I will be going into the country for the new Expedition Kilimanjaro Safari: through the National Parks of Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the famous Serengeti. New Years Eve will be spend in the middle of nowhere, in the Ngorongoro crater.



I will be taking lots of photographs of course, and might even report about this all - maybe afterwards. During the trip I'll try to twitter updates. To be continued!

(click to enlarge)