Coffee Dharma

Twitter, What’s The Point?

Posted on Jun 22, 2009 by Rob in All, Featured, Musings, Review
3 Comments

I’ve been using Twitter now for over a year. I’m often asked by friends and colleges, “What’s the point?”.  Twitter is definitely a new breed of web service and is easily misunderstood by new users.  I was one of those who scoffed at this seemingly inane service when it first launched.  It appeared to me to be something only appealing to voyeuristic teens.  Why would I possibly want everyone to know what I was doing all the time?  I don’t, and still don’t.  There is much more to Twitter though.

Twitter is first and foremost a social tool.  Of course you can share your each and every movement by posting what you’re doing.  This is ok for basic content, but is hardly everything Twitter offers.  I will often post some daily status updates such as “Yum, making buffalo burgers for dinner.” as this is a great way to keep things light and fun on the Twitter network.  I enjoy reading some of these simple updates from people I follow and often comment on these updates.

Twitter can also be a business tool.  Yes, I know there are many who will shoot this theory down, but I have used it as such and had great results.  Promoting your business, services, and news are a great way to let your readers know about new events and products.  There are many who only use Twitter as an advertising platform.  I believe those people are getting it wrong.  Unless you have a strong interested base of people who want just news from your account (CNN, Tech, etc…), you need to network to keep readers interested in your advertising.  I will quickly unfollow or even block accounts who only tweet their advertisements, as this looks much like spam to me.  I see business Twittering as advertising with a face.  If your company is actively engaged with your customers and uses the account to discuss issues, cheer successes, and inform your customers, you get it!  I follow quite a few company Twitter accounts, but they are usually controlled by an actual person and have a personal feel to them.  I’ve used Twitter a LOT to help promote my own companies (Design Offering and TwitterWalls) and have had great success with this.  A majority of my business (repeat and unique) comes from Twitter referrals.  I rarely post more than once a day about promotions and advertisements on my personal account though.  If you can let your readers know about your products and engage them personally, word will quickly spread to others and promote for you.

The third, and most recent major use for Twitter is as a news engine.  With the recent events in Iran, Twitter has proven to be a valuable resource where other media outlets have trouble.  News coming from Twitter needs to be filtered and taken with a grain of salt.  Because it is powered by millions of individuals, news can quickly become distorted a bit.  Use links and search to help separate truth from grapevine.

What’s the point of Twitter?  It’s what you make of it.  If your looking for some sort of power tool without much involvement, stick with Google.  Twitter takes investment into your own feed, other people, and the greater community.  If you use it wisely it can be a strong ally in the world of advertising, news, and social connections.  It takes a little work and a bit of your free time (more once your truly addicted), but the results can be worth it.

Just a note for some basic rules to follow to make your experience the best:

• Auto direct messages (DM) are a bad idea.  I’ve seen so many who are using third-party tools to send a DM to new followers with a quick intro message or sales pitch.  Don’t do it.  It annoys more than it helps.  If you really want to introduce yourself to new followers, send a real message, not a form.  Having a profile with some useful information, images, and style can help followers can a better picture of who they’re following as well.
• Spam is still spam.  If the first thing I get from you is some sales pitch, I will block you.  I’m not alone on this.  Remember, you’re dealing with people on Twitter, not customers.  If you treat people like car sales customers, they will ignore you.
• Use Twitter.  If you have an account with 3000 people followed and only 12 tweets it just looks bad.  You need to actively use Twitter if you want people to engage with you.  Follow/Followers number mean absolutely nothing if your account is dormant or irrelevant.

You can find hundreds of tips and tutorials on using Twitter on the web.  Many are only for boosting your numbers.  While having a large audience is nice, it’s not nearly as important as having an audience that is actually listening.  Have fun, be personal, and make connections!

*disclosure* I own TwitterWalls.com, a custom background service for Twitter.  I believe a unique and well designed background is an important factor, and am biased as to who is the best at providing that service ;)

Tags: Musings, Tech, Twitter, TwitterWalls