Most days it seems like the entire world is on Twitter, and with an estimated six million unique monthly visitors it may not be long before that’s true; the social networking phenomenon has reached new heights with this micro blogging service that’s been captivating users since 2006. Used as mundanely as keeping up to date on friend’s whereabouts or as importantly as letting people know where to go during an emergency, there’s no doubt that tweeting has usurped traditional news media as the fastest way to disseminate information.
Micro Blogging with Macro Application
While Pear Analytics has called forty percent of tweets “pointless babble” every tweet means something to someone; broadcasting your dinner options is certainly not life changing, but the beauty of Twitter is that there’s always someone out there to respond. Twitter users are extremely plugged in, and in our changing digital world they’re often on the cutting edge of information: in the 2007 fires in California, users tweeted to let friends and family know they were safe; the Red Cross uses Twitter to give statistics and directions to disaster victims; anti-communist protesters tweeted to mobilize for events in Moldova this year. It’s not just about what’s happing in the small sense—it’s about what’s happening with the world.
Twitter and Your Business
This application of Twitter has more far reaching effects than it may have started out with. We’ve gone from quick updates to shows on CNN, from using the site for friendship to using it for business. All technology changes and grows as it is exposed to new users and ideas, but Twitter’s meteoric rise has allowed it to become a platform for peer-market advertising. When followers of your business love what you're doing they invariably tweet about it, passing along information and adding to the perceived value of your products. Using Twitter to talk about your blog, newest ventures and products is a fantastic way to get information out quickly to millions of people, and it’s just plain smart—that’s using what the site was built to do to your advantage.
Woofer
This, friends, is rich: “an homage to Twitter” called Woofer has emerged, and to be able to upload a post you must use at least 1,400 characters. There is a copy and paste function and for the most part quoting famous novels and texts is the method for reaching that lofty quota, but if this catches on we bet everyone who reads and updates will miss the succinct tweets they used to make fun of--instead of "Had italian for dinner" we could get "The evening began with a smooth glass of Chianti, and as I perused the menu..."!
Everybody's Doing It...
Aside from the professional uses of Twitter, it’s fun. Stealing on to post a tweet can quickly lead to an exploration of the global mind, and it is fascinating to peek into other’s lives on as intimate a level as their tweets allow. Jumping from group to group, seeing who’s following you, looking up old friends…Twitter allows you an extraordinarily personal look at someone else’s day. Even the biggest celebrities use Twitter: Ashton Kutcher has more followers than there are people living in Ireland. Oprah tweets. Feeding our celebrity fascination is part of the Twitter experience, and it’s never been easier to feel connected, even to people you don’t know and will never meet.
Easy to make fun of, easier to become addicted to: that’s the Twitter appeal. Once you start tweeting and getting a response it’s hard to stop, and after you’ve applied social networking to your business you’ll be hard pressed to find a reason to quit! Make the most of this unique platform while it’s still new, and get ready to jump into a life that’s being lived increasingly online.
