Twitter: Why You Should Care In 4,450 Characters

With Facebook reaching 500 million users (a population only exceeded by China and India) and YouTube claims of over 2 billion daily views, it is obvious that online social networks and media sites have become a daily staple of popular culture. What was once reserved for college students and the cutting edge; social networking is now used by everyone from grandmothers to Fortune 500 corporations to connect, inform, and keep in touch.


Microblog megasite, Twitter, has defied skeptics to become one of the most popular social networking sites online. Over 100 million registered users post an average of 55 million “tweets” every day in 140 characters or less (this limited format is what separates it from other blog sites, hence the ‘micro’). But why should you be on Twitter? There are many reasons why Twitter should be included in your “social-web-life”, but I am going to stick to three compelling reasons: Learn on Twitter First, Search what’s NOW, and Twitter as your living resume.


READ IT HERE FIRST: Twitter is set up so users can follow other users and get a real-time feed of what they are tweeting. I agree with many of the said skeptics that twitter is filled with celebrity blabber and narcissistic notations. But don’t let the few ruin the site for you because there is much that you can learn from following even a few worthy tweeters. I use twitter as an alternative to RSS feeds. My personal and work inbox is overflowing as it is and I don’t want to clutter it with daily emails from the few blogs that I enjoy, but don’t always have time to read. Marketing guru Seth Godin has a daily blog and I follow him on Twitter to see a daily posting of the days blog topic. This saves me time in having to check the site and I only click through when I am interested in the message of the day. Twitter is a great place to hear news first and stay up-to-date on the people and companies you are interested in for both your personal and work life.


WANT TO KNOW WHAT PEOPLE THINK?: Whether you get your news from Fox, or MSN, or Yahoo, either way you are reading a reporter’s story, but what do the people think? Twitter features a site search that allows you to search tweets to find topics that you are interested in. From the BP oil spill to the Lebron James saga, you can get a feel for how others feel about today’s news, again, in real-time. Plus, you do not need a Twitter account to search the active conversations being tweeted. Try out a search for yourself!


Promote Your Personal Brand: Sites like LinkedIn are an awesome way to connect with other professionals and maintain a static resume for your bullet point accomplishments. But what about the little things? The projects you are working on or the things you are proud of? Twitter is a great forum for sharing your professional activities and updating your followers about what you are up to. (Note: Use this carefully; tweeters like to follow others that add benefit to their tweet feed.) Your Twitter page can function as a living resume or as a news feed to announce new videos you post or something great your company has done. (Philanthropists love Twitter) A perfect example of using Twitter as a news feed is from a recent tweet I posted after creating a LinkedIn group for the Ohio Valley Mail Systems Management Association. This informs my followers that there is a new group to join and I always include a link. Linking is a key element to Twitter. Because Twitter is text only and limited to 140 characters, you must choose your words wisely. This may seem limiting, but this pure-text formula is what makes Twitter so great. It is sleek and fast (until you get the fail whale). To post pictures and video, services like Twitpic help you link to other media to give legs to your tweet. For linking of URL’s, services like www.bit.ly allow you to shorten web links so you can fit your message into 140 characters (you can even track the clickthrough’s which is great for marketers).


Now I just threw out a lot of new words for many of you, so get to Googling and I encourage you to set up a Twitter account of your own. I bet many of your companies are already on Twitter you should at least be aware of what they are saying. For those of us in the mailing industry, we are continuously looking for ways to improve and keep mail relevant. Those discussions are happening and you can find them on Twitter. Your next great idea may be just a tweet away.


Twitter.com/rynmcmns


Final Word: “What Happens On The Internet, Stays On The Internet” so make the most out of your social-web-life and present your professional self. There are many articles touting the benefits of Twitter and why companies should be looking for their next hire on Twitter.