Friday, 15 January 2010 15:49
Twitter is the hot new social networking site. One of the best sources for information on Twitter is Mashable, the "Social Media Guide" (www.mashable.com). This article is aimed at Twitter newbies, and will discuss my early discoveries. The main focus, beyond a general introduction, will be on using Twitter for business and marketing applications.
You may be familiar with other social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. Members interact by posting messages on each other's pages. Apps like games and horoscopes are available to enhance a member's home page.
Twitter works in a similar way. Twitter members post short text messages (limited to 140 characters) to their group of friends. Other friends respond, creating a large circle of conversation.
As a Twitter member, you can send direct messages to other users, but only to those who "follow" your "tweets." Thus one of the goals on Twitter is to grow a list of followers you can interact with. If someone follows you on Twitter, it's considered good etiquette to follow them back. You can often establish a large list of followers just by following a lot of people.
Twitter is searchable, so you can find people tweeting on just about every subject. When viewing Twitter search results, keep in mind you're seeing just fragments of a conversation. Twitter Search can be a good way to find people who share your interests.
Despite its simplicity, Twitter has many far-reaching applications. Celebrities use Twitter to communicate quickly with their fan base. (Ashton Kucher, from the TV show, "That 70's Show" has over 4.3M followers on Twitter.) Politicians use it to get the vote out or poll their constituents. Businesses use Twitter to advertise new products and services. You can even set up a private list to use as your own company bulletin board.
To get a feel for how Twitter works, just jump right in. Go to www.twitter.com and create an account. Type some terms in the Search box. When you find a member whose posts interest you, follow that person. Chances are they'll follow you back. Twitter is a fun, easy way to rub shoulders with the rich and famous.
Related links:
(End of part 1, more on Twitter for business and marketing coming soon!)