Twitter is picking up steam as a social networking tool.
Many PR and marketing professionals are already on-board, using it for business as well as social connections.
Still, like anything new, Twitter does it have its group of non-believers and nay sayers.
Some friends and colleagues have heard about it but don’t want to take the time to learn about it. Others think of it as a “trick” to get you more exposed online so businesses can find another way to “touch you” and sell you something. And there is the other group who just label it as another passing fad until the next new technology hits the marketplace.
I use Twitter and like it. One can appreciate the brevity involved in delivering the message. You get 140 characters and that’s it.
“Follow”, in Twitter language, different services and you can get a constant flow of breaking news headlines. Non-stop, all day long.
Best of all you can connect with other thought leaders, journalists, and influential people in your industry (hopefully they are Tweeters by now). Many of which probably won’t return your email but will respond to a Tweet.
I’ve already seen one journalist I’m following put out a request on Twitter for a subject to interview for a particular story he was working on.
You can also see who others are following and connect with their Tweeters. And you can join a “Twibe”, a group of like-minded individuals who wish to exchange thoughts on business, a movie, school etc., much like other social networking sites.
While Facebook seems to be more of a family festival where friends can disseminate photos of their outings and vacations online, and LinkedIn tends more to be for hardcore business connections,…”Hey Bob, Do you know so and so with such and such company?” Twitter seems to fill a gap of something in-between.
Yes, you can keep-up with your friends, “Getting coffee now”, “Watching reruns of Married With Children” etc., but you can also make interesting connections with people you would have never thought about or known about.
I admit it. I’m hooked.
Questions or thoughts? You can follow me on Twitter @steveturnerpr.
