Here’s the thing: You’ve already been engaging me, both in the Meebo room and now here on this blog. You’ve already demonstrated a willingness to interact, which is all I’m really asking for in return for my opening up my tweets, profile, etc. to you. The conversation need not take place in Twitter. Platform preference is not important to me.

What I don’t want is to look at my followers list and see a bunch of people that I can’t even place or whose names I don’t actually know. That does nothing for me.

I have no problem with people using Twitter differently than I do. I expect it. I’m “eccentrically counter-cultural” in my usage. With Twitter, I get requests from people with whom I have no previous context. And if I’m going to let you into my world, I need context.

I don’t think you’re over-thinking nearly as much as I probably am.

I decided to follow you over Twitter because I saw your part in the Pecha Kucha at CiL, and because I’m always curious about what smart people are thinking and doing (whether library-related or not). I treat Twitter very casually, though, not a conversation (or a quiet “hanging out in a shared space”) in the way that IM or a chatroom is to me. I don’t even use Twitter to converse with my best friends (with a few exceptions), but rather to read what they are up to.

I do use it for professional purposes (which I don’t do with Facebook or MySpace), because in Twitter feeds, people mention names and terms and posts that I might like. I don’t currently have a professional blog, nor read most professional blogs (probably to my detriment, but hey, we all make choices). So Twitter is how I learned about LSW, for example.

Honestly, I probably won’t engage you in this medium, at the conversational level that you seem to appreciate. I am also probably less engaging, in the other sense of the word, as my posts have devolved into commenting on book titles and IM reference questions, but also rock shows and soda pop.

Because I treat Twitter so casually, though, I don’t really mind if people block me (not a hint, but just so you know). I think it’s a little different in my case, because I choose who to get active updates from (in gchat) and who to survey occasionally from the Twitter site.

I am probably way-overthinking this.

Your post reminded me of a dear friend from high school whom I found on Facebook recently; she wouldn’t friend me because she only uses FB to connect with family members…

@TBL Me too. That’s why I renegotiated my relationship with it. Had to let most of the conversation go. Was not easy for me, but as it turns out, I value the connectivity too much to let it go completely.

@Chadwick That’s really interesting.

I’m still happy to add people I don’t know. I just want to get to know you and if you’re not willing to enter into that relationship with me, then sorry, no dice.

I want to have enough of a connection with my “friends” that it would be difficult for me to weed them. So instead of weeding them, if I hadn’t heard from them in a while, I’d drop them a line and try to reconnect.

I may end up weeding Twitter though. Since I’m not following the conversation as closely, I’m not feeling the same level of connectedness with some folks that I might otherwsie have. Not yet though.

I maintain a cautious balance between openness and privacy everywhere on the web. I lock down my Tweets because I want my network to be filled with people willing to engage, not because I have anything to hide. If I did, I wouldn’t be sharing it on Twitter, locked down or otherwise. But I understand (and appreciate) how you approach it differently. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about it.