Thursday, April 3, 2008

Twitter: A Favorite Social Media Resource

I am a self-professed Twitter lover, as anyone who knows me well will confirm. Unfortunately, most of these people are the same ones who don't understand why. If you are yourself a Twitter lover, I'm sure you can fully relate to the misunderstanding that Twitter is a silly waste of time. For those of you who aren't convinced, I've compiled a list of ways I use Twitter as a valuable resource:
  • A source for the latest news/sites/links/Web content: Many of the people I follow on Twitter are active social media players - bloggers, PR professionals, tech-enthusiasts. Therefore, the tinyurl's they share are usually useful for me to check out. My logic is, if the people I interact with and respect on Twitter think something is important and worth a click, chances are I will, too! And, if I don't have the time to check out a suggested link right away, Twitter also acts as a great bookmarking tool - I can add the tweet to my favorites and reference it later!
  • Immediate feedback/advice: Twitter folk are constantly tweeting. If I have an issue I want to poll people about, Twitter is a great place to do it. My recent personal struggle about whether to transfer my blog from Blogger to Wordpress, for example, has spawned an outpouring of input from my Twitter entourage (note: the jury - me - is still out regarding the potential platform switch).
  • Timely answers to my questions: Somewhat related to my second bullet point, my Twitter stream is a great question/answer forum. Just today, @mjkeliher, @TDefren and I were discussing some issues we had with FriendFeed, and @bmorrissey piped in with the answer to our prayers:
  • Networking: My Twitterati is a valuable network. Through them, I can connect and interact with important people. They refer me, and I refer them. Twitter makes people easily approachable (as if social media mavens weren't already approachable ;o). It's not uncommon but absolutely welcomed to chat with people you've never talked to or met before. Via Twitter, your network can grow at an almost unbelievable rate.
Besides all of these resourceful ways to use Twitter, I also get a lot of enjoyment out of the 140-character Twitter-treats my Twitterati posts. They have the tendency to be pretty witty sometimes, and even though it may be trivial, it's fun to hear about their crazy skiing adventures or their victory in baking the perfect pie.

Currently, my flip phone is not very Twitter-friendly. I'm eying some Blackberries - you can imagine my tweeting frequency will only increase once I get my hands on one of those.

What are some other effective ways you use Twitter?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

This great; twitter is not silly. It'd hard to "get into" like a lot of social media stuff... For instance, if you're completely raw to Facebook or Twitter, you can't extract the value until you've invested time into using it, without the promise of anything until you hit critical mass. It's good to keep highlighting why that investment is so worthwhile.

pamelump said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
pamelump said...

Note: previous comment was written and deleted by me due to my mistake. Sorry!

pamelump said...

Aaron, you make a great point here. To read more about Aaron's argument, check out his post at http://aaronwhite.tumblr.com

maringuy said...

Pamela - nice. As a relatively new Twitter person I've been equally pleased and over it at once. The pleased parts are usually when I have a specific need - some of the scenarios you described in your blog. And the over it parts are usually when all my tweets are simply daily updates I don't give a shit about - what people had for breakfast, etc. Then again I'm guilty of that too...

This was a pretty concise summary of lots of what works with Twitter though. Thanks! I'll start following you...on Twitter only of course, no stalking. ;)

Anonymous said...

Pamela,

Thanks for the great thoughts. I've been disappointed in Twitter, but I don't feel I need to be. I seem to receive a string of Tweets about what people find funny, what they're watching, or what they're eating. It's all Twutter (Twitter Clutter). But I can see where Twitter's instant connectivity and broadcast capabilities could be used for so much better. If you're getting out of Twitter what you say in this post, I obviously need better Twitter friends!

Anonymous said...

I am a Twitter newbie. Recently purchased and set up my BlackBerry for Twitter this week....it works GREAT. You won't regret it, worth every penny!

pamelump said...

Augie,

The best way to start is to pick a PR professional on Twitter and follow who they follow.


Anonymous,

Thanks for the tip! As soon as I get my first real world paycheck ... ;o)

Jason said...

Hmmm....well I guess I'll give it a try and see for myself. I've seen a lot of pro/anti Twitter blog stories in the past week but have found myself leaning towards the "it's a waste of time" school of thought. I suppose it's different but how many social networks do I need to be in? I'm afraid of the time drain on my already scarce available time and I don't care what anyone ate for breakfast. But I may reluctantly try it anyway

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Anonymous said...

Hi Pam,
I as well am a graduating senior, but over in Oregon, and a friend recommended this post to me. Loved it and I will continue to use your points when all my friends and family say I'm crazy for Twittering! See you on Twitter!
-Kelsey Thompson

Rachel H. said...

I just don't know if I can get into this Twitter thing...I'm not sure that I understand it yet!

Kevin said...

I'm relatively new to Twitter too (kevinwhalen), and I've started to use it to promote my blog - Thanks for the link to Chris Brogan's guest post - it was helpful.

PYLB said...

You make some good points, though there are innumerable effective ways to save contacts and bookmarks, make referrals, etc. without Twitter. That said, I wonder how valuable your instant feedback is when everyone's attention span is depleted due to the constant Twittering. There are times when I would rather someone thought about a topic or issue before blasting an instant response off-the-cuff. I do imagine how your Twitter frequency would go up if you had a Blackberry, and then I wonder when you'd ever get any work done. Being in touch constantly is not the same as being productive, or even paying (careful) attention.

I'm not against Twitter, but I have concerns about folks who might be too absorbed in it to find their way back to, well, the rest of the world outside of your mobile device. How do you pry yourself from Twitter long enough to do anything else?

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