Monday night I helped Pepsi Canada promote their Refresh Project , a national program that is giving away $1M in grants to community causes, by being part of their tweet-up. For those of you wondering exactly what a tweet-up is, it's an event where strangers with only Twitter in common meet and hang out.
As I was standing around an oval table with a dozen or so people, I observed with some humour that each of us from time to time left the conversation every few minutes to type out a message and shoot it out over the network. From tweeting commentary to uploading photos, there was a constant stream of information travelling from the party floor to the digital world. At the back of the bar, a big-screen TV displayed our tweets, live from phone to web within seconds. This was, of course, a normal experience for those of us hooked on Twitter.
However, as the holidays approach and people gear up for seasonal gatherings, keep in mind that not all events are smart phone-friendly. There will be a number of situations where pulling out your phone won't be appropriate or appreciated. If you do plan on tweeting or updating Facebook in the midst of a party (let's face it many of us do) there are some simple things you should remember:
1. Don't drink and tweet. We all know our sense of social norms are sometimes skewed when we've had one too many. While that hilarious tweet might seem funny to you -- at that very moment -- keep your fingers away from your phone. While Gmail and other online tools have implemented features to undo a message, once you fire off a tweet, there is no taking it back.
2. Don't be the Twitter paparazzi. While it might be hard to accept to you, there are a lot of people who don't want their party photos posted online. If you do plan to share festive pictures, make sure you ask the people in front of the camera if they're ok with you uploading the shots.
3. Don't try to multi-tweet (or maybe Twitter-task..?). I'll be the first to admit that I listen and tweet at the same time, but chances are that the person in front of me doesn't appreciate only getting 50 per cent of my attention. Unless the guest you're talking to is part of your Twitter community, put your tweeting on hold until you're by yourself at the bar.