I just don’t get Twitter

…was what a friend said recently. A debate started about whether Twitter was a fabulous burgeoning social networking tool … or just another excuse to waste time instead of doing real work.

For the uninitiated, Twitter, describing itself as a microblogging tool (whatever that means), is an online social network, allowing Tweeple (yes … people who indulge) to post up 140 characters’ worth of news, questions, social trivia or just about anything that takes your fancy, as often as they like. Unlike Facebook you don’t need permission to ‘follow’ anyone’s updates, unless they’ve created a hidden profile which, to be honest, instantly makes Twitter a social eunuch and reasonably pointless – go back to Facebook! The more people you follow, the more updates you’ll see – you just have to remember to follow interesting people – friends, colleagues or celebs.

The updates (‘Tweets’) range from banal to more work-minded collaboration. A quick glance at the Tweets I’m following shows me these two:

“Ugh I just spilled water all over my chair – it was my bad thoughts about the salad place!!! ACK!”
“Social Media’s History And Trajectory – Notes From Danah Boyd (BoingBoing): http://bit.ly/eNwjr [We like Danah - alot]”

Like all online social networks, Twitter is only worth using if it’s useful. If it’s not – forget it and go and do something more productive instead. So – make it work for you, or leave it alone.

But. Like real life social networks, you get what you put in and you have to put in before others put out. When I asked the Twitter community what would you say to someone who says ‘I just don’t get Twitter’, one of the best answers was “You don’t have to … you’re not the target audience”.

Just because you’ve got a telephone doesn’t mean that lots of people will pick you out of the phone book to be their friend. If you want to get maximum value, mimic what you’d do at any networking event, or social situation:

1 – Associate with interesting people: ‘Follow’ as many interesting or potentially interesting people you can find , either by contacting them, or looking at your friends’ and colleagues’ feeds and seeing who looks good (you can always remove them later).

2 – Engage: Tweet to your heart’s content. Just remember that if you want to become one of those interesting people, pose questions, post links and yes … tell us about the personal stuff as well.

Ok, so why bother? Here are some of the reasons others have given:

- Building informal relationships with a global community, at great speed and zero expense
- Feedback on new products
- Following news as it happens and before the newsfeeds have had a chance to publish anything
- Access to high profile individuals (remember, you can follow ‘anyone’)
- “I get my news from BBC World’s Tweets, 24/7”
- Being contacted, without requesting, by the customer service department of a company, when someone was having real problems with a product (see “100 days of Twitter”)
- “It’s the water cooler, it’s the people you turn to, it’s the parish pump, it’s the pub, it’s the club, it’s just always there.”

Still need convincing? Ok – a couple of good articles on benefits and experience and the Twitter and links to the profiles of those who wrote them:

- “100 days of Twitter: The Twuth is out there” by Jennifer Frahm
- “Twitter Tips for Newbies” by Barbara Gibson (Chair of the International Association of Business Communicators)
- “Is Twitter the new list?” by Martin Malden, blogger and internet marketer
- “How Twitter’s spectacular growth is being driven by unexpected uses” video with Twitter’s CEO Evan Williams

Don’t forget to look me and my Tweets up on my profile.

… and thanks to @JM71 for inventing a word for those who don’t do Twitter … “Twuddites”

The Long Dog