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What are you doing?

These four words have revolutionized social media as we know it.

Twitter has taken the Internet by storm, but in this current craze are people tweeting (posting a message that’s 140 characters or less) at inappropriate times? Whether it’s a financial analyst during a meeting or a pro-basketball player during half-time, is it OK to tweet while you’re on the clock?

Daniel A. Schwartz, author of “Twittering in the Workplace” and attorney at Pullman & Comley, says it depends on one’s work environment.

“In some places, it might be expected,” Schwartz says. “But in others, it is definitely frowned upon. It’s also a bit of a generational thing too. The thing to remember is that not everyone is alike and you should definitely know your audience before breaking out the phone or BlackBerry.”

Tamera Kremer, author of the slideshow “Leveraging Twitter in the Workplace” and Founder of Wildfire Strategic Marketing and SustainabilityCamp.org, says, “The same etiquette applies for tweeting in a meeting as would apply for taking a call or using your BlackBerry.”

“It would be considered rude to the others in the room,” Kremer says. “The one caveat with Twitter is if you’re in a meeting with fellow ‘tweeple’ (people using the service), and the expectation is that everyone is tweeting.”

Schwartz says look to your boss for meeting protocol, “If your boss is breaking out the BlackBerry during a meeting, that’s probably a sign that it is OK to look at yours once in a while. But if no one else is looking at it, just keep your phone or mobile device in your pocket.”

Tweets while working?
And how common is this practice of people tweeting in a work-related function? Schwartz says it depends of the type of job environment you’re in.

“For example, among lawyers, Twitter is still a bit of a novelty,” Schwartz says. “But among media types, it’s almost second nature. Regardless, Twitter use in the workplace ought to be work-connected. If you’re using it in a meeting to keep up with what time a movie is you’re seeing that night, that’s probably not a good use and is rude to your meeting participants.”

Meghan Gonyo, New Business Development Executive for Hudson Yards, a visual communication company, says your tweets should be of worth. She says if you’re tweeting on your personal twitter during a meeting saying, “in a meeting,” that’s not useful information.

Kremer has a similar viewpoint to Gonyo. In Kremer’s slideshow she says, “the only hard and fast rules of Twitter interactions are:

Gonyo says the most important thing is to be specific about the use of your Twitter. Is your page going to be personal or for business? You have to decide and separate the two.

“Your personal account could turn off someone who could be a good connection,” Gonyo says.

After you sign up for Twitter (after the workdays over, of course), decide what you want to use it for, and begin typing your very first tweet, you find yourself going over the 140 character limit.

You thought you’d be fine, since the limit on text messages is 160 characters and you usually don’t go over that (especially when texting your latest crush) because you want to ensure your text won’t be cut short when received. Oh, how you could really use those extra 20 characters right about now.

So with each tweet limited to 140 characters, is the way we communicate being affected?

Natalie Gontcharova, Managing Editor of Ins&Outs Magazine, doesn’t think Twitter’s character limit is hindering people.
“There’s a school of thought that claims Twitter has begun to dumb down our generation because of the character limit,” Gontcharova says.

“I don’t think people are going to ‘unlearn’ how to read and write anything soon just because there is now an express way to communicate,” Gontcharova says.

Gonyo says the 140 character limit is encouraging people who write well. With Twitter, people have to say something interesting and engaging quickly, Gonyo says.

“People respond better to people who write without code words and acronyms,” Gonyo says. “And to do that in 140 characters . . . that’s well done!”

Schwartz’s response to the character restriction is complementary to Gonyo’s.

“People who use Twitter seem more direct with their communications,” Schwartz says. “It forces you to get your point across quickly and without lots of extraneous stuff. It’s a good lesson that brevity works. On the other hand, avoid the acronyms and shortcuts. It’s just not professional to use ROFL or WTF in your correspondence.”

So, what are you doing?