Are you a Tweeter? A Twitter? A Twitterer? A Tweet? Or, Twit?
Category: Marla Ruskin
If you are like I was only a few days ago, you have no idea what you're called, what the point in tweeting is or how it can possibly benefit you. So, let's work through this so we can start tweeting together. I took it upon myself to do a little research and have actually found out some very interesting facts about the benefits of tweeting.
It was hard for me to grasp why people tweet about "going to the kitchen to get a bag of chips" or sharing other bits of personal information that doesn't seem fitting for people to know. And who has time to do this? In the same respect why follow people that I have no real connection with and seeing what they are doing now is..."driving home from work."
But I will be the first to admit the whole idea of this type of social media and people knowing my business is a little intimidating. So, in order for me to get the irrelevant aspects of tweeting out of my head, I needed to view it as a tool to find out things I want to know or that has value to me personally. Now I use Twitter as a quick and fun way to get answers, opinions, references and yes, even a little conversation.
In the last couple of weeks, I have discovered the benefit of tweeting with the people I know. One example involved a work-related incident when the company we use to host our servers went down, Twitter was the only way we could communicate with the vendor. We were also able to update and inform clients that followed us on Twitter the status of the issue. Another instance was a couple of friends complained about a communication service they use at home, and they were instantly contacted by that company's technical support. Both of those instances show the true power of 140 max characters!
Use Twitter to:
- keep in touch with family or friends
- follow trends
- share hobbies or interests
- get answers or at least other opinions to specific questions
Some helpful things to know when using Twitter:
- users are identified by putting an "@" sign in before their name (ex: @msruskin)
- Twitter is a somewhat of a conversation
- put a “please retweet” at the end of your tweet if you are looking for responses
- provide links to items you are tweeting about (140 characters don't always allow enough information to the viewer)
- create relationships with your followers, you will be amazed at what things you have in common online and outside of this environment
- remember that everyone is listening
Some helpful links:
With all of that being said, don't be overwhelmed, Twitter can be a great way to communicate with family and friends, keep up with the latest trends and even do a little networking. Here's an idea...since I am just getting started with the whole concept and certainly don't claim to be a professional tweeter, let's start "tweeting" together!
Posted By: Marla Ruskin | Date Published: 8.10.2009 | Comments (0)