Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Twitter: The How and the Why

I'm hope that I'm not the last person around who has sought guidance on how Twitter works.


There has been, of course, some dissent regarding its value.

My question - and I hope the Twitterites out there can enlighten me - is just what are its major advantages? I'm genuinely open-minded on this.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I have never used Twitter and I have no desire to do so. My skepticism might be off base, but it seems like a time waster to me. I suppose the founders would say that it saves time. I guess I should keep an open mind as well. If we give it some time, the "coolness factor" will likely wear off and it will slip into virtual oblivion.

Kurt Harden said...

I have been told that I am misusing twitter. I use it solely as what I call a "mini blog." I hear something funny, clever, stupid and I text my Twitter account the thought. It instantly appears on my web site.
That's all I have for you. It is supposed to be two way but why do I concern myself with that?

Paul H said...

It could be potentially helpful to a large team which is geographically disperse. (IT groups in different parts of the country supporting a company). Instead of rather expensive and sometimes unnecessary conference calls. Also great for motorists or air travellers on long excursions across the country who have worried family members at home by sending a SMS to their Twitter.

Anonymous said...

It draws a lot of traffic to my blog because I use twitterfeed (service that announces new posts on your blog). It's good for other types of announcements as well. If someone tells you that you are misusing Twitter, tell them to jump in a lake.

Anonymous said...

I have only recently joined and already follow about ten real friends and around 90 people that are in my field around the world. I think of it as a room I can walk into at anytime with professionals having a conversation. I can go back in time and catch up, or I can just hang out for a few minutes and see what is being talked about. It is too early to tell if I am getting enough value for my time, but I think I am learning some things and getting my name out there.

Anonymous said...

I've been meaning to respond to this...

As an independent Web Worker, Twitter serves many purposes for me.

It is a virtual water cooler, the conversation that I hear over the cubicle wall, the chat I have as I walk to the vending machine. It keeps me connected to others despite my usually solitary working environment.

It is also a source of news and information for me. I routinely search for topics of interest and then follow the folks who are discussing those things. Building a community around items of interest has proven to be a great resource.

I also find it really helpful to follow local news sources as well as companies that are using it to publish updates and announcements.

SB