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Twitter 101

twitterPart 1

Initially I thought of writing Social Media 101, but truth be told I am a huge Twitter fan, can’t stand evil Facebook although I do have an account, still assessing Tumblr’s value, no idea where to begin with Google+,Pinterest drives me nuts however I love instagram but that’s pretty pictures. Twitter is ‘ma thang’.  At 140 characters, it means I can share thoughts in the moment, no need to make a note then sit and write a blog post later!   Yes, some may call that lazy, I’d call it efficient.

Here’s my witter about Twitter

Amazingly, in this uber connected world we live in, I still find people who ‘don’t do Twitter’ – who’d have thought! – and the reality is for many that’s also because they don’t ‘do’ social media.  That’s fine, it IS allowed (really?!).

However, there are those who would use it if they ‘got’ it, some who say ‘I feel I should do Twitter but I don’t know where to start’.  Or they are like my husband, who opened a Twitter account back in 2008 but rarely uses it (13 tweets, following 27, 13 followers) and doesn’t see value in it.  That’s until I win yet another prize through Twitter and he gets to benefit from joining me at dinner, theatre, etc!

So, what IS Twitter?

My Twitter profile

My Twitter profile

Twitter describes sells itself as a place where you “create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers”.  It’s an online social networking and microblogging service, where users send and read short 140-character text messages, that may include  photos, videos and web links, called “tweets”.

It’s real time, it’s public, it’s global.  Only registered users can read and post tweets, unregistered users can only read them. I consider tweets as short broadcasts.  Once you send a tweet, it’s out there for all to read, whether they are following you or not.

It’s a great way to connect with many different people and businesses locally and globally from like minded people, those who share similar interests and hobbies, brands you love, keep up to date with the news or a source of learning from subject experts and yes, even your favorite band or celebrity.  For some they use it to promote themselves and use it as a business tool to showcase their expertise and network.

That is, unless you lock your account – but then that would lead me to a rant about it being SOCIAL and you can’t be social if you lock all the doors and windows, close the curtains and stay inside! You can tweet, but no one will hear you.  Pointless.

Twitter is about interactions.

In the next part of this series I will go into why ‘do’ Twitter,  then go on to the how.

P.S. Since I first drafted this series the Kiwi, my husband, has taken heed of the content of my posts and in an update to the above I can confirm he’s now tweeted 58 tweets, is now following 118 tweeps and now has 25 followers.  Will keep you updated!

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