Twitter.  Twitter this, Twitter that.  Twitter everything.  It’s all over the news, prime-time programming, magazines, any many more locations online and offline.  I have some news for you, this “technology” isn’t going away anytime soon.  Many of us at MarketNet use Twitter – some for personal communications only, and some for a mix of personal communications, broadcast media, and often – a place to go to for help and to help others.

1.  Twitter is a Fad

I first joined Twitter early in 2008.  I simply didn’t “get it.”  I looked at the messaging medium early on, and could not realize the value of the service for several months.  And I absolutely thought Twitter was a fad.  A new technology to compete with IM?  Not quite.  A replacement for emails?  Not in a million years.  A replacement for status updates on other social networks?  Wrong again (though Facebook’s most recent and controversial changes are HEAVILY influenced by Twitter).

I tend to think of Twitter as “Broadcast SMS,” though it’s certainly not limited solely to mobile devices.  I compare Twitter to text messaging as a result of it being text-based, and having character limitations (140 on Twitter).  However, messaging on Twitter takes on a few forms – one to one, one to many, many to one, and many to many (discussions).  No other electronic medium since email has demonstrated this kind of discussion facilitation.  Email is now a vital part of many people’s lives for business and personal reasons, and Twitter is being used for the same purpose, simply on a much more brief scale.  As long as Twitter stays funded, this technology is not going away anytime soon.

2.  No One Cares What I’m Having for Lunch, and I Don’t Care Either!

Twitter asks “What are you doing,” but Forrester Research Analyst Jeremiah Owyang says that you should answer the question, “What is important to you right now?”  Many new Twitter users take the first question very seriously, and post EXACTLY what they’re doing.  Unless you’re doing something that makes a difference in my life, I don’t really care.  However, if you want to post what you’re watching on TV, or where you’re eating dinner – post it!  You can’t go wrong with Twitter.  Twitter is what YOU use it for.

I utilize Twitter for a few things:

• Letting my followers know of new news or links that I find important enough to share with an audience
• Announcing blog entries
• “Re-Tweeting” messages that I find value in
• Sharing ideas and answers

A few ways companies are using Twitter:

• Promotional vehicle for new product announcements, breaking news, site specials, and blog posts
• Engaging consumers in conversation about the company
• Monitoring Twitter for discussions about the company or brand – i.e. business conversation monitoring
• Customer service functions
• Polling, with FAST poll results (depending on the size of the “Follower” base)

3.  Twitter is Simply Not Useful (Or rather, “I don’t know how to use it!!”)

First things first, create a free Twitter account, and OBSERVE what conversations are taking place.  Again, for many months, I clearly did not understand the uses of Twitter.  But by watching what others were doing, I started to understand the flexibility of the messaging platform itself, and slowly begin participating in conversations when I felt comfortable.

Now, I’d like to provide a real-world example of how Twitter helped me last week, and in turn, helped one of my clients help one of her clients:

I was contacted early in the week by an agency that we do business with.  My contact there has a client that was looking for anyone with experience in hosting a non-profit charity auction on Ebay, and asked me for help.  I immediately thought of a contact I had made 2-3 years back, pinged that contact to see what the actual experience was, but to my dismay, my memory had served me wrong.  I then reached out to a mailing list that I’ve been on for over 10 years and asked them about experience with these types of auctions as well.  No response within the two hours that followed my post.  Then I thought to myself, “This is PERFECT for Twitter!”  So, I created a small tweet, asking my followers if any of them had experience with what I was looking for.  I had THREE responses in less than five minutes!

Now, only one of the tweets sent to me was actually viable, and that’s what I sent on to my client.   As the day went on, I ended up receiving 4-5 additional tweets with more information.  I cannot think of a more practical example of how Twitter can be used in a quick fashion to find information you’re looking for – and find it FAST.

If you’re following the “right” followers on Twitter, they can quickly become an indispensable group of contacts  to share information, facilitate reciprocal help, and act as a virtual sounding board for ideas.

MarketNet has recently posted two blog entries on Twitter that you may want to review if you are new to the medium:

Getting Started with Twitter
Tools to Manage Twitter

MarketNet would love to know your feedback of what you think about Twitter as a communications medium and how YOU utilize it effectively.  We welcome and encourage comments and feedback below.

Matthew Brown
@MarketNet
http://www.marketnet.com

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