Web 2.O friend Tom Russo of Millennialliving.com sent me this video link, Twitter in Plain English, created by Commoncraft. I am hearing more and more about Twitter.
What’s Twitter? As you learn from the above video clip, it’s an unobtrusive way of sending and receiving short status messages via the web, instant messaging, or your cell phone. Or, to quote the website:
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
Here’s a sample of Twitter, from Web 2.o Expert Beth Kanter’s account, relating to a conference in which she participated this week:
| What metaphors do you use to explain web2.0 to noobs? I used sex. David Lee King uses chain saws? And you? http://tinyurl.com/5daj7u | |
| @ComMetrics is this just the early adopters debate? URL? | |
| @betsyh in my group, the non-adopters were 20-25% of the room, but that was only my workshop. I think Chicago is in par with other places | |
| @thatwoman do you have your paper online? Url? I would love to read it .. sounds similar to nonprofits | |
| @tet3 can only imagine how hot and muggy philly must be .. there’s a nice breeze here in chicago |
As to biz apps, Brian P Watson, in Twitter, the Next Small Thing for Business, quotes a program designer who said that business uses were not what they had in mind.
Co-founder Biz Stone says Twitter was not intended for businesses, but possible uses have emerged. “Twitter works well for distributed teams and in-conference environments,” he says. “We’re keeping an eye on user behavior so we can learn more and grow the service where it makes sense.”
In his How Can I Use Twitter for Business, Tris Hussey clarifies that this has the most business use for road warriors or people whose jobs are travel-intensive
… for travel updates, if you’re running late, if you have an urgent message, a piece of news. Really anything that you might need to communicate…. Because Twitter is a distributed communication system you can send a tweet from your cell phone via SMS and your followers get it (via the web, IM, or SMS as per their choice).
Since most people use Twitter for fun and to stay connected, Tris then poses the question about involving business associates in your personal life: “Won’t my business friends get sick of it?” Have two accounts, he advises, although he only has one.
I don’t travel for business, so I’m still skeptical that I need Twitter. Who’s doing Twitter, and how is it helping you in your business? Please leave me a comment.
Related Later Post
52 Links on Twitter for Business, with Brief Descriptions
Many more recent links at my Twitter bookmark in Delicious
As you can see with @ComMetrics we use Twitter to canvass our network and others for ideas, get interesting links and more:
social media – ropes to skip – Twitter – FAQ 3 why should I join and use Twitter?
One of the greatest use of Twitter is during a conference, sharing ideas with other participants by using a hashtag such as #SMIuk08 I explain this here:
SMIuk08 Conference – so blogs are dead – is your CEO’s video on YouTube the answer?
And no, I believe it is a waste of time and outright annoying if people mix business with pleasure when sending tweets. I do not care to know that you are going out to a restaurant. If you want to do this, maybe you need two accounts, one for your real friends and the other for business.
So has Twitter helped, yes it has helped our bottom line:
unified communications – what it means with Twitter, Friendfeed, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us
Hope this answers your question about how Twitter is helping our business.
Thanks for the comment, Urs. Went back and read your links. Business-related benefits I see mentioned are:
1. During a conference, Twitter allows attendees to keep blog readers, editorial boards, and other associates informed of news.
2. In general “followers” can get advice from experts in real time, that others do not see.
3. Thought leaders and experts can canvas followers for quick feedback and ideas.
4. “Lurkers” can follow important people without bothering them.
5. All can get interesting links and info
6. “A way of meeting interesting people” first online and then perhaps in person
Just wanted to summarize this for readers. Again, thanks for the feedback.
I’m reading Harry Gold’s post — Primer on Social Media Marketing Components and Tactics. He says “…consider setting up a Twitter account if you have a customer base that wants quick alerts from you (e.g, tech updates, patches, special sales).”
There’s a good article about using Twitter
“How to Stop Wasting Time at Twitter Without Giving it Up”
http://joelfalconer.com/how-to-stop-wasting-time-at-twitter-without-giving-it-up/
My opinion -
Twitter is a combination of fun, networking and social media marketing. You can get ideas and latest news and discuss them right away with people from the industry (but you have to find them first on twitter :) ).
It is of course also a great promotion tool.
I believe Twitter is not a waste of time at all.
@spodjed
I recommend 2 webpages where you can research what’s going on on Twitter.
http://www.twellow.com/
http://summize.com/
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