JASON ROSS - Twitter Buddy / Gardening Enthusiast

TwitterView - MadPanic 051309In this TwitterVIEW, Ryan Yee of NerdBoyTV chats with Jason Ross aka @MadPanic on Twitter. With close to 6,000 followers, Jason shares his thoughts on how to maintain relationships on Twitter and discusses how his passion for gardening has transferred to the Twittersphere.

TWITTER BUDDY TwitterView with @MadPanic Jason Ross has been on Twitter since early 2008. He makes signs for a beer distributor—his love for beer is a given. He also happens to have close to 6,000 Twitter followers and maintains connected with them through his many interests, including gardening, dogs, research, beer, and #hashtagmafia. http://twitter.com/madpanic NerdBoyTV: And we're ready to go, bro ;-) First of all, how are YOU doing today? All is well I hope. MadPanic: I’m doing good this glorious morning. Thanks for having me. NerdBoyTV: No problem. Now tell me how long have you been on Twitter? What made you try it? And, what do you like/dislike about it? I know lots questions. MadPanic: Well, I actually stumbled on it randomly around early 2008....I don’t even remember where I found it...thought the concept… MadPanic: …was really cool, so I decided to try it. Like about it? It’s all-around awesome to say the least. MadPanic: What a great communication tool it is. NerdBoyTV: I think we can say that our friendship was developed strictly on a tweet-for-tweet basis. I RT’d (retweeted) you, you thanked me, you RT’d me, etc. NerdBoyTV: Wouldn't you say the same rules and courtesies of face-to-face communication translate to Twitter, as well? MadPanic: Right, sure was...absolutely... a lot carries over from face-to-face communication to Twitter. Although with Twitter,… “It’s all-around awesome to say the least. What a great communication tool Twitter is.” 1 MadPanic: …there’s so much more. Like say using it as a search engine. You can get realtime feedback on any subject you want! NerdBoyTV: Exactly...now you are OBVIOUSLY a gardening enthusiast. Do you find a lot of Tweeple with that common interest here on Twitter? MadPanic: I sure do, they’re everywhere—it kind of surprised me how many people like to talk about it and share ideas. MadPanic: I just dig listening and reading people’s ideas on how to take an old way of doing something and making it better! NerdBoyTV: And most of the Twittersphere is very giving I've found, too. I've gotta say this. You kind of stuck out to me because you LOOK like... NerdBoyTV: …someone who might kick some serious a@#, but yet you’re tweeting links and ideas that I found so interesting about gardening! NerdBoyTV: I thought that was GREAT! And you are definitely one of the most generous tweeters I've encountered...just saying. MadPanic: Thanks Ryan, I appreciate that... NerdBoyTV: Now I've GOTTA ask this...what EXACTLY is the #hashtagmafia? MadPanic: The #hashtagmafia is pretty much making up your own word or phrase and hashing it… MadPanic: …to get a discussion going. I had to search for what it meant as well—I didn’t make it up. It’s pretty neat seeing ..... MadPanic: …all the craziness and obscurity people are tweeting about when you search #hashtagmafia. NerdBoyTV: Hmmmm, what is the purpose? Just to be crazy? Start a Twitter trend? MadPanic: Right, to start trends, meet new people, and the like. “It kind of surprised me how many people like to talk about gardening and share ideas. I just dig listening and reading people’s ideas on how to take an old way of doing something and making it better!” “The #hashtagmafia is pretty much making up your own word or phrase and hashing it to get a discussion going.” 2 NerdBoyTV: Cool idea; I'm going to have to #hashtagmafia my #TwitterVIEW ;-) MadPanic: That would be pretty cool.. you should try it. Would make for some interesting discussions. NerdBoyTV: Okay bro, I must ask what a "Propaganda Creator" does (found on his Twitter page under “Bio”)? How does Twitter work as a tool in this regard? hehehe MadPanic: Well, that’s just pretty much for my "day job"...heh …I make signs for a beer distributorship. I call it “propaganda.” MadPanic: I actually need to add “beer taster” in my bio, as well. NerdBoyTV: LOL now THAT's a cool job ;-) I thought you might actually be a radical (my FIRST politically-charged TwitterVIEW)...LOL MadPanic: Hahaha, nah, N ot like that. It was just kind of a joke to myself putting that in there. NerdBoyTV: My wife and I went to a local brewery for an early start to Mother's Day (last Friday)—I tried a nice, dark Stout beer and I thought I'd died and… NerdBoyTV: …gone to heaven—wish I could remember the name of it...beer has a way of making me quite forgetful. LOL MadPanic: Awesome....! I love stouts...especially oatmeal...a whole lotta goodness. NerdBoyTV: Now, you have almost 6,000 Tweeple following you—how did you attract such a substantial following without being Ashton Kutcher? MadPanic: Well, I surely didn’t do it alone....I have people everyday following just because someone referred them to me... MadPanic: …and also, just retweeting and following conversations and chiming in on them. MadPanic: Basically, just by staying active within your following and meeting great and wonderful people. “I have people everyday following just because someone referred them to me and also, just retweeting and following conversations and chiming in on them.” 3 MadPanic: It’s kind of hard sometimes without an app like Seesmic Desktop to do groups with. Just stay in touch with people thru common interest. NerdBoyTV: …and interaction is key...how do you stay connected to tweeple? MadPanic: Interaction truly is key—without an audience to listen, your voice doesn’t get heard. MadPanic: Like just now, I see you’ve moved from tweeting with Seesmic to Twitterberrry so you can go mobile (another reason)... MadPanic: …that shows the real raw power of Twitter. NerdBoyTV: Exactly. So as we approach the one-hour mark (grin), where are you going with Twitter in near future? MadPanic: I don’t know, Ryan. I’d like to reach out more and get involved with my followers—it’s quite a challenge keeping... MadPanic: …up with the broad range of subjects, though...it’s kind of like information overload on steroids! MadPanic: I just hope to maybe spark someone’s interest in such a way that they get creative and help make this earth a better place. NerdBoyTV: Definitely a GREAT goal here on Twitter. So, did you have fun? MadPanic: I did have fun—what a great experience 8~) MadPanic: Thanks for taking the time to hang out for a bit. NerdBoyTV: I appreciate your time on this TwitterVIEW—we will certainly continue tweeting on Twitter buddy. Take care, k? MadPanic: I’ll be in touch man, Have a GREAT one! “Interaction truly is key—without an audience to listen, your voice doesn’t get heard.” “I just hope to maybe spark someone’s interest in such a way that they get creative and help make this earth a better place.” 4 RYAN YEE is the host of www.NerdBoyTV.com, a weekly show on technology, gadgets, and Internet services that’s a video broadcast on YouTube and a podcast on iTunes. Ryan has grown up with the Internet; he actually remembers Netscape Navigator (before Firefox), Columbia Music House and Napster (before iTunes), programmed on IBM punch cards (before JavaScript and C#), owned a Timex Sinclair 1000 (before current Dell Precision M6400), and used 5.25 floppy disks. He has a very unique perspective of today’s technologies and shares his wisdom in a very userfriendly manner. He is the creator of TwitterVIEWs, a unique interviewing format in 140 characters or less. Follow him on http://twitter.com/nerdboytv. 5