Why Twitter may be more important than you think
So they make fun of Twitter on TV commercials, showing parents torturing their kids by tweeting the minutae of everyday life, “I am sitting on the porch”, etc. And oh, ha ha, it so funny that people tweet at all, how stupid, what a waste of time, etc.
Well, I too, do not care if you’re sitting on your porch. I also don’t care if you’re on your first, second or tenth cup of coffee. Quite honestly, if these are your tweets…I’m not following you.
What I do care about is what is going on with fellow marketers and writers. I also like to know about new WordPress widgets and plugins. I follow people who talk about Reiki (an ancient healing method that manipulates energy flow in the body), because…well just because.
I’ve gotten free books from following a local publisher. I’ve gotten discounts from tweeting about my favorite coffee spot. I’ve gotten advice from Twitter-folk who know more than I do about many, many topics. I’ve found new sources of information and training. I’ve complained to the customer service department of a couple of companies – and gotten replies and assistance. I’ve learned about local events that I may not otherwise have heard about. The list of how Twitter has enhanced my life goes on and on. Would I be lost without Twitter? No. But has it helped me in certain situations? Absolutely.
In spite of being an easy target for ridicule (mostly by those who don’t know what it is for, hence this post), Twitter can be a very useful little tool. Twitter lets you tell a lot of people a little something with one, succint post. If you can get the right people to follow you, you’re sending a highly targeted message. By using hashtags, you open up the discussion to many more people who may not be following you, but following your topic instead. Pretty cool, huh?
Remember – people follow you for a reason. Most of them don’t have time to weed through the stupid stuff. So make your tweets useful and relevant. Tweet with care! And maybe they’ll stop making fun of us…
